Coco Gauff a bit funnily remarked that talking about retiring players at times resembles speaking about the dead before paying a very nice tribute to Rafael Nadal and telling an anecdote that she will never forget.
As you all know very well by now, the Spaniard confirmed on Thursday that this was the end of the road for him. However, he still has one more official tournament to play as he plans to represent his country at the Davis Cup Finals in mid-November.
In a video announcement that lasted over four minutes, Nadal started by saying that "everything has a beginning and an end." Also, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said in his message that he was "at peace" with his decision.
For 20-year-old Gauff - who is now widely regarded as one of the biggest stars in tennis - watching the 38-year-old announce the news was an emotional moment since he was someone she grew up watching and idolizing.
"He was or is my favorite person to watch. These retirements, we talk about like they're dead (smiling). But he is my favorite person to watch practice honestly. The intensity that he brought on the practice court and obviously on the match court is something that I felt like watching is unmatched," the 2023 US Open champion said.
"Watching the video, a bit emotional because Rafa is all I've known growing up. Yeah, he's all I've known. Pretty sure he's won Roland Garros for like the majority of my life. I guess it's something that's unfortunate. It's going to happen to everybody one day. Hopefully it was completely on his terms. I know maybe this year he didn't have as many injury-free moments as he wanted to."
Gauff pays tribute to Nadal's greatness
For 17 years, the Spaniard was winning Grand Slams and playing the game at the highest possible level - his first Major win came at the 2005 French Open and his 22nd and last at the same place two years ago. During his career, he also collected a total of 92 titles - won an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles - and four times led Spain to a Davis Cup main glory.
A bit surprisingly, one thing that Nadal never won was the ATP Finals although he made two finals there and was also a semifinalist on four other occasions.
Also, there is that stunning record of 14 French Open titles.
"Overall, the career he had is something that players and people dream of. Off the court he was always speaking to me, always saying congratulations to me whenever I did well. It's something that is very rare when you come across top players, especially when they're not on the women's side, maybe on the men's side. I don't know, I just felt things he would do, he went out of his way," Gauff said.
Gauff reveals one moment with Nadal that she will never forget
In 2022 - the year when the Spaniard won his last French Open title - an 18-year-old Gauff also made her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros.
That year, the American impressively reached the final without a dropped set. And after one of her wins, Nadal congratulated her in the locker room as he was passing by. For the current world No. 4, it was an unbelievable moment as she couldn't believe what had just happened.
"I remember at one point he said congratulations to me the year I went to the finals of the French Open. I kind of did a double take because I couldn't believe he was speaking to me. Actually, I don't think I posted the picture, but this we traded pins at the Olympics, which is the one thing I wanted to do. He was super nice with that. We were both waiting on the shuttle. It was the last shuttle of the day, like 11 p.m. I asked him if I could have one of his pins. He gave me one. Carlos was there, too, but Carlos didn't have any pins. I only took the picture with Rafa there. I was like, Carlos, you can't be in it because you didn't give me a pin. Yeah, just something like that I'll remember. And something I'll definitely tell my kids because it meant a lot to me," Gauff said.
Meanwhile, the American tennis star is currently in great form as she has also made the Wuhan semifinal after winning Beijing. Now, she is set to battle against top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka for a place in the final.
If Gauff wins, she will improve to 10 consecutive wins and also come one win away from collecting back-to-back WTA 1000 titles for the first time in her career.
