Rafael Nadal reveals one tournament he regrets not winning and makes candid retirement admission
Rafael Nadal speaks ahead of the 2024 Barcelona Open
Rafael Nadal speaks at a press conference
Rafael Nadal has admitted he was “100% ready” to retire from tennis as he explained the hip surgery he underwent in 2023 “simply didn’t work” as well as he needed to continue playing.
The Spanish icon brought the curtain down on his incredible career after losing to Botic van de Zandschulp his last-ever match at last month’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. Spain exited the competition at the quarter-final stage after their 2-1 loss to the Netherlands.
Nadal played eight events in 2024 and just four matches in 2023 having been plagued by various physical issues since winning his 92nd and last career title at the 2022 French Open.
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The 38-year-old Spaniard did not fully recover from the hip injury he sustained at the 2023 Australian Open.
In an interview with The National, Nadal divulged that he was at peace with his retirement since he gave everything he had left to keep going.
“I was ready for it,” the former world No 1 said. “It’s important I was 100% ready. The last year and a half have been very tough in terms of not being able to practise and compete on a regular basis and to the standard that I am used to.
“So I tried my best until the last day. I just did the surgery in my hip to try to keep going, but it simply didn’t work as good as I needed it to be to keep going.
“But I’m 100% at peace with myself that I tried my best until the last day, to have success, and to stay with calm with myself that I did all I could do to be very well satisfied with myself.”
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The Mallorcan recalled a conversation he had with his father Sebastian about what he would do after retiring: “He asked me what I want to do after tennis, if I want to relax and enjoy life or want to keep working and do things?”
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“My answer was, no, I don’t understand my life without having goals. Of course I want to enjoy the family, the friends, and it’s true that I worked a lot since I was a very, very young kid, so I want my time to enjoy life.
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“But I understand that in this life it’s important to have motivations, to have goals, and that’s why I have already prepared my future.
“And I am very excited about this new chapter in my life. It’s just very early to talk about it because I just stopped playing tennis one month ago, but I am very, very excited and I am just now organising my future.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion also identified the ATP Finals as the one tournament he regretted not being able to win.
“Of course I would like to have won the ATP Finals one time; that’s probably the only important event that I never won. But that’s it,” Nadal added.
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“I was a little bit unlucky that at the end of the season I was not in my best shape physically, a lot of time with injuries.
“Then I had very difficult rivals in front and I played all my career ATP Finals in indoor fast courts, on indoor hard, and at the beginning, indoor carpet.
“But nothing to complain [about]. If you ask me what I would have liked to win, of course I would love to have one of these. I had my chances; I was not able to convert them. That’s fine.”
Nadal won all four Grand Slam events multiple times, secured Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles and claimed 36 Masters 1000 titles.
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The Mallorcan’s best result at the ATP Finals is reaching the final, which he achieved in 2010 and 2013.
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