What a week for Spanish sports fans. A second sporting great has announced their retirement. Ok, so Nadal won’t actually retire until after Spain’s Davis Cup playoffs in Malaga next month. A fitting end for a man that represented Spain so valiantly throughout his illustrious career, winning four Davis Cup titles – in 2004, 2009, 2011, and 2019, as well as singles gold at Beijing 2008 and doubles gold at Rio 2016 alongside Marc López.

Maybe he inherited his patriotism from his uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, who represented Spain 62 times in football and famously missed a penalty against England at Euro ’96. Perhaps Nadal Sr. already had one eye on his nephew’s budding tennis career. Perhaps a young Rafael Nadal took inspiration from David Seaman's hairstyle.

The most recent memory we have of Nadal will be the fight he showed during the Paris 2024 Olympics. Despite having to recover from a number of injuries at the ripe (for tennis) old age of 38, Nadal battled to two victories before finally succumbing to defeat in the quarter-finals.

In many ways his whole career was a battle. To win that many matches on clay you have to be strong of character. Most clay courts are in hot climates which, when combined with long rallies, demands a high level of fitness and concentration. These became the cornerstones of Nadal’s game. That’s not to say he wasn’t talented. He was able to win eight titles across the hard and grass slams which alone would’ve been enough to put him joint fifth on the list of grand slam champions of the open era. He might not have the same highlight reels as some of his rivals, but he has a comparable trophy cabinet which speaks for itself.

When Nadal first announced himself to international audiences at the 2005 French Open his game raised eyebrows. Long of hair and loud of grunt, fans weren’t immediately taken by him. Much like his long-time foe Federer though, fans have warmed to him due to his class off the court. A kind and considered speaker, Nadal has also invested time and money in numerous charitable and philanthropic pursuits. The Rafa Nadal Sports Centre in his native Mallorca offers young talent the chance to combine high level sports coaching with a wider education.

It's probably fair to say that many tennis fans would rank Nadal below Federer and Djokovic in terms of overall ability. And I’d be among them. But one has to admire Nadal’s desire to get the most out of his talent, and his relentless desire to win every single game of every single match. What an example that sets to those young players coming through his academy. 

With the new torchbearer of Spanish tennis Carlos Alcaraz lining up alongside Nadal against the Dutch in Malaga next month, who’s to say that it won’t be a fairytale ending?

Vamos, Rafa.

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 By Leon Parrott