It's the end of an era: Rafael Nadal, with a touching and long message on his social channels, announced his farewell to tennis at the end of the 2024 season. The Spanish tennis player communicated to fans that he will only play the Davis Cup Finals in November in Malaga, before the final farewell.
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"Thank you very much to everyone," wrote the Spanish champion in all languages through a moving post on X, accompanied by a truly touching video. "Difficult decision but it's the right time," said the legendary Spaniard in the video.
Tennis is preparing to lose the King of Clay, the only tennis player able of winning 14 Roland Garros titles. His battles with his eternal rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, are unforgettable, with the Serb who will remain the last of the Big 3 still active, starting from 2025. As Federer himself said, the moments that precede retirement are never easy to face. And this will have happened to Rafa too, who tried to fight and leave a mark this season. Spain can't wait to pay homage to him and welcome him to Malaga for the Davis Cup finals, giving him the deserved tribute for his extraordinary career.
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What legacy does Rafa leave to posterity? A phrase comes to mind to sum up his career: willpower is everything. Willpower allowed Nadal to be reborn after an endless series of serious injuries, to return to winning and dominating when everyone had already written him off.
Willpower allowed Rafa, in the early stages of his career, to improve every day, to chase his long-time rival, Roger Federer, culminating in the 2008 Wimbledon final. Willpower allowed this extraordinary athlete to perfect his tennis to the point of obsession, pushing his physique to the limit, projecting his career into a dimension that is difficult for anyone to reach.
What is left for us now that another fundamental piece of the Big 3 will leave tennis? What is left for us now that the greatest interpreter of all time of clay-court tennis has announced his farewell? We are left with a truly cumbersome legacy, heavy to collect for anyone who tries to take it in hand. We are left with the deeds of a champion out of time and space, who gave great emotions to the millions of fans who followed him for years. We are left with an ancestral void in our bellies, not filled by his 22 Slams or by the records he achieved. We are left with the face of a boy who gave everything for tennis, for his fans and for his country, who will remain forever immortal in the pantheon of sports gods.
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