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Rafael Nadal is less than a year after retirement, and the 22nd time Grand Slam champion shows no sign of regret.
Addressing the media at Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid on Monday evening, Nadal was frank about his time away from the courts. The Spanish legend said he was not sure to play, and his reason is because he left the “happy” game.
Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts to a point in his match against Alexander Zverev from Germany on the second day of Roland Garros at Stade Roland Garros on May 27, 2024. (Susan Mullane-USA TODAY SPORTS)
“The truth is that I don’t miss it. In fact, I miss zero,” he said, via CBS Sports. “But I miss it zero not because I finished tired of tennis or fighting tennis. Not at all, the full opposite. I have finished finishing tennis.”
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Nadal, 38, is largely considered one of the greatest of all time and has made decades alongside the sides of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for some of the most ferocious battles of tennis on the big stage. “The Big Three”, as they became known, have collectively won 66 single -slam titles between them.
Only the Djokovic remains active.
Nadal announced his sport retirement in October after injuries hindered the second half of his career.
Rafael Nadal plays against Novak Djokovic (SRB) at Tennis Men’s Tennis Sinlges in the first round during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games at Stade Roland Garros on July 29, 2024. (Amber Searls-USA today Sports)
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“This is obviously a difficult decision, which took me a while to take,” he said in his retirement announcement. “But, in this life, everything has a start and an end. And I think it’s the right time to end a career that has been long and much more successful than I could never have imagined.”
Nadal added on Monday, although he was not missing, if he was still healthy today, he would still play.
“If it had been possible, I would always play because I liked what I did,” he said, according to the report. “I was passionate about that, and it was like that all my life. It’s just that when you realize that you can no longer do it, you try to close this chapter. And I closed it.”
Rafael Nadal goes to the crowd after losing against Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram (USA) in a double male double tennis match at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games at Stade Roland Garros on July 31, 2024. (Kirby Lee / USA TODAY SPORTS)
Nadal won a record 14 Open of France The titles, the US Open four times and won the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice, respectively. He accumulated gold medals in 2008 in Beijing and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
His retirement followed Federer in 2022.
