Tennis legend Rafael Nadal said he would retire next month from the sport in a video posted on social media.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these two especially,” Nadal said. “But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And I think it’s an appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”
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Nadal will hang up his racket after he represents Spain against the Netherlands in the Davis Cup in Malaga from Nov. 19-21. Nadal has led Spain to the Davis Cup title four times during his career.
Nadal, 38, built an incredible on-court resume during his 23-year career since turning pro in 2001. He won 22 Grand Slam singles championships among his 92 ATP titles. The slam total ranks second all-time among men behind Novak Djokovic’s 24. Fourteen of those victories were at the French Open, where he posted a career record of 112-4, with three of the losses to Djokovic. Nadal ranked No. 1 in the world for 209 weeks, including five times at year-end.
His career prize money of $134.9 million ranks second behind Djokovic ($184.5 million) and just ahead of Roger Federer ($130.6 million).
The Spaniard’s off-court game has also been strong, with an estimated $425 million in earnings from endorsements and appearances, bringing his total career earnings of $560 million, including prize money.
Nike has been Nadal’s biggest backer throughout his career; his annual payday after bonuses topped $10 million in years that he finished No. 1 in the world. Nadal’s other long-time partners include Babolat, Kia, Santander, Telefonica, Infosys, Cantabria Labs and Richard Mille. Nadal commanded seven-figure appearance fees at tournaments for most of the past decade.
Injuries have hampered Nadal over the last two years, as he’s played just 23 matches since the start of 2023, winning 13 of them, but brands are still signing him to represent them. Louis Vuitton recently tapped Nadal for an ad campaign with Federer. In January, Nadal became an ambassador for Saudi Arabia’s tennis federation with plans to open a Rafael Nadal Academy in the kingdom.
Nadal’s retirement means that Djokovic will be the last of tennis’s Big Three still active, as Federer retired in 2022. Between 2004 and 2023, Djokovic, Federer and Nadal won 65 of the 79 Grand Slams played. The trio won at least two Slams each of those years but was shut out in 2024 as Carlos Alcaraz and Janik Sinner each won two events.
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