Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, will retire from tennis at the end of this season.
The 38-year-old will represent Spain in his final appearance at next month’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
Nadal has barely played over the past two seasons because of injuries and suggested last year he could retire at the end of 2024.
In a video message released on Thursday, Nadal said: “I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, the last two especially.
“I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations.”
Nadal retires as the second-most successful men’s singles player of all time, behind only long-time rival Novak Djokovic.
Known as the ‘King of Clay’, Nadal won the French Open singles title a record 14 times, winning 112 of his 116 major matches at Roland Garros.
No player has won as many Grand Slam singles titles at the same tournament.
Nadal is also a four-time US Open champion and won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice.
He also took Olympic singles and doubles gold and helped Spain win four Davis Cup finals, most recently in 2019.
Alongside enduring rivals Djokovic and 20-time major champion Roger Federer, Nadal formed the ‘Big Three’ that dominated the men’s game from the early 2000s and drew in legions of fans.
“What a career, Rafa! I always hoped this day would never come,” said Federer, who famously cried alongside Nadal when he retired in 2022.
“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love. It’s been an absolute honour.”
Why Nadal has decided now is the right time
When announcing he would not play in the 2023 French Open, Nadal said he planned to retire at the end of 2024 because of the series of injuries which were taking their toll on his body.
But, having returned earlier this season, Nadal became increasingly non-committal about his future.
The former world number one regularly said he wanted to keep playing as long as his body let him.
Now, after a chastening defeat by long-time rival Djokovic at the Paris Olympics in July, he has decided the time is right.
“It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make,” he said.
“But, in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.”
After returning to competitive action in Brisbane in January, Nadal was sidelined again with a thigh injury, missing the Australian Open.
Nadal played four tournaments during the European clay-court season, culminating in a first-round defeat at the French Open.
Since then he has played just two more tournaments – in Bastad and the Olympic Games at Roland Garros.
Last month he was included in Spain’s squad for the Davis Cup Finals, which takes place between 19-24 November.
“I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could ever have imagined,” Nadal said.
“I’m very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country.”
He has not played competitively since teaming up with Carlos Alcaraz – long seen as Nadal’s heir at the pinnacle of Spanish men’s tennis – in Olympics doubles earlier this year.
Alcaraz said being given the opportunity to play with his idol was an “immense gift” and the news of his retirement was “tough to accept”.
“I was in shock a little bit,” added Alcaraz, who heard the news shortly before he lost in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals.
“Losing him, in a certain way, is going to be difficult for us, so I will try to enjoy as much as I can when he’s going to play.”
