Madrid: 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal ended his professional tennis career after his 6-4, 6-4 loss to Botic van de Zandschulp, as Spain was eliminated by the Netherlands at the Davis Cup on Tuesday.
The crowd yelled “Rafa, Rafa, Rafa” as the 38-year-old Spaniard cried while a video featuring his career highlights was shown on the giant screen.
“The titles, the numbers are there, so people probably know that, but the way that I would like to be remembered more is like a good person, from a small village in Mallorca. Just a kid that followed their dreams, worked as hard as possible. … I have been very lucky,” Nadal said in an on-court, post-match ceremony to honour his retirement.
Nadal dominated the French Open with a record 14 titles. He also claimed four US Open titles and won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice.
Nadal has been a leading figure in men’s tennis for over a decade, known as one of the sport’s “big three” along with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
The Spaniard spent a total of 209 weeks as the ATP world No. 1 singles player, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.
