Multiple world tennis champion Rafael Nadal has ended his career

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, who repeatedly became the first racket of the world since 2008, ended his career after losing a match against Botik van de Zandshulp.

This is reported by The Guardian.

The Spanish tennis player lost to his opponent from the Netherlands with a score of 6:4, 6:4 in 1 hour and 50 minutes. It was his first Davis Cup singles loss in 20 years — the 38-year-old had won 29 times in a row.

"Maybe in a way itʼs good if it was my last match. I lost my first Davis Cup match and I lost my last. So we close the circle," says Nadal.

After the match, he stayed on the court for a special ceremony. Nadal thanked his family and everyone who supported him throughout his career. In his speech to the audience, he emphasized that he would like to remain in peopleʼs memory as "a good person from a small village in Majorca." He believes that he "achieved even more than he could have dreamed of."

As the BBC writes, Nadal Rafael ends his career as the second most successful player in menʼs singles in terms of the number of victories at Grand Slam tournaments, behind only Serbian Novak Djokovic.

The athlete from Spain won the French Open singles title a record 14 times. He won 112 of 116 main matches at Roland Garros. Nadal is also a four-time US Open champion and has won the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice.

He won Olympic gold in singles and doubles and helped Spain win four Davis Cup finals, most recently in 2019.

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