Rafael Nadal has announced his retirement at the end of the season, with the “matador” leaving the sport aged 38 and with 22 Grand Slam titles.
The Spaniard, who turned pro way back in 2001, will represent Spain in his final appearance at next month’s Davis Cup finals in Malaga as his final professional game.
Here are 10 of the most memorable moments in Nadal’s storied career:
1. 2004 Nadal’s first win against Federer
Back in 2004, at the Miami Open, one of the most memorable rivalries in the world of tennis began, namely that between Nadal and Federer.
They then met in the third round of the tournament, with the Swiss seeded as world number 1 and Nadal then just 17 years old but already attracting a lot of interest.
Ranked 34th in the world, Nadal stunned Federer 6-3 6-3 in 70 minutes, becoming only the second man to beat him this season after former British number one Tim Henman.
Federer admitted he was “impressed” by what he saw, while Nadal downplayed the victory, saying his opponent had not played his best.
Nadal and Federer met 39 more times, with their matches ending 24-16 (14-10 in finals) in favor of Nadal.
2. 2005 First Grand Slam title
In 2005, tennis really realized what Rafael Nadal was.
Even then, he showed exceptional skills on clay, winning 24 consecutive singles matches. With the feat, Nadal broke Andre Agassi’s record for most consecutive wins in the Open era of tennis by a teenager.
When it came time for the French Open, Nadal was already ranked number five in the world and was establishing himself as a serious contender for the title.
He makes a significant victory over Roger Federer in the semifinals, right on his 19th birthday.
In the final, Nadal faced Argentina’s Mariano Puerta and defeated him 6:7 (6:8), 6:3, 6:1, 7:5 to win his first Grand Slam trophy.
He thus became only the second player in history to win Roland Garros on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982.
Nadal also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras, who triumphed at the 1990 US Open.
This success was just the beginning for the young Spaniard, who finished 2005 as world number two with an impressive 11 singles titles, eight of them on clay.
3. 2008 First Wimbledon title
By 2008, Rafael Nadal had already reached the Wimbledon final twice, but both times he was defeated by Roger Federer, who at that time already had five consecutive titles at the tournament.
However, the third attempt proved successful for the Spaniard, who arrived at the tournament on a streak of 17 consecutive victories.
Federer also continued to dominate tennis at the time, holding the top spot as world number one for an impressive 231 consecutive weeks.
However, a few months before Wimbledon, Nadal crushed the Swiss in the final of the French Open with a devastating score of 6:1 6:3 6:0.
The 2008 Wimbledon final got off to a somewhat delayed start due to rain, with further interruptions also hampering the progress of the match.
However, this did not prevent the two rivals from creating one of the most memorable meetings in the history of tennis.
John McEnroe even labeled it “the greatest match ever”. After 4 hours and 48 minutes, Nadal triumphed 6:4 6:4 6:7 (5) 6-7 (8) 9-7, winning his first Grand Slam title outside Paris.
With the win, Nadal became the first player since the legendary Bjorn Borg to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, a feat Borg last accomplished in 1980.
4. 2008 Olympic Gold and World No. 1
Rafael Nadal’s victories at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2008 established him as the favorite for Olympic gold at the Beijing Games.
This is his debut at the Olympics, where he competes alongside his future great rivals – Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Top seed Roger Federer was eliminated in the quarterfinals, paving Nadal’s path to the final. He defeated Djokovic in three sets in the semifinals and secured a gold medal match against Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez.
In the final, Nadal triumphed with 6:3 7:6 (2) 6:3, and with this victory climbed to the top of the world ranking for the first time.
It thus ends Federer’s record 237 consecutive weeks as world number one.
In addition to the individual triumph, Nadal also won Olympic gold in doubles eight years later, in 2016 in Rio, with his Spanish teammate Marc Lopez.
5. First Australian Open title
Rafael Nadal’s first final at the 2009 Australian Open marked his eighth Grand Slam appearance and his seventh consecutive match against Roger Federer.
To get to this point, Nadal has already endured an epic five-set semifinal battle against compatriot Fernando Verdasco that lasted five hours and 14 minutes.
That match became the longest singles match in the tournament’s history until the 2012 final, when Djokovic defeated Nadal in a marathon match that lasted five hours and 53 minutes.
Despite a grueling battle in the semi-finals, Nadal comes out remarkably fresh for the final. In his first major final on a hard court, he defeated Federer after another grueling five-set ordeal 7-5 3-6 7-6 (3) 3-6 6-2.
With this win, Nadal became the first Spaniard, male or female, to win a Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
He also became the first man in the Open era to hold three major titles on three different surfaces at the same time – clay, grass and hard court.
For Roger Federer, it was a heartbreaking defeat that denied him the chance to win his 14th Grand Slam title, which would have equaled Pete Sampras’ record.
6. 2010 Winning a Grand Slam in New York
To date, only eight men in the history of tennis have managed to complete a Grand Slam in their career – winning all four major titles – and Rafael Nadal then becomes the seventh to join this prestigious club.
This happened in 2010 – a year that Nadal himself would later call the best of his professional career.
That year, Nadal reached the final of the US Open, going through the tournament without losing a single set.
In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic 6:4, 5:7, 6:4, 6:2 to win his first title at Flushing Meadows and complete his career Grand Slam.
With this triumph, Nadal not only adds the missing title to his collection, but also establishes himself as one of the greatest tennis players in history.
The win in New York also makes him only the second man since Andre Agassi to complete the so-called “Golden Slam” in his career – winning all four Grand Slams as well as Olympic singles gold.
In addition, Nadal became the first man to win the majors on clay, grass and hard courts in the same year.
With this feat, he matched the 1969 feat of Rod Laver, who last won the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same calendar year, even though the New York tournament was then played on grass.
7. 2017 “The Tenth”
Rafael Nadal’s victory at the 2014 French Open has been followed by a three-year drought filled with injuries and a dip in form.
During that time, the Spaniard did not reach a Grand Slam final until he reached the final of the 2017 Australian Open, where he was defeated by Roger Federer.
Despite the difficulties, Nadal should not be written off. After successful clay tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, he returns to Paris in 2017 as the favorite for the title.
In the final, Nadal met Federer’s compatriot, Stan Wawrinka, and defeated him decisively 6:2, 6:3, 6:1.
With this victory, the “King of Clay” became the first tennis player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam tournament 10 times.
The feat is also his 15th Grand Slam title, moving Nadal ahead of Pete Sampras on the men’s all-time winning list, trailing only Roger Federer.
8. End of drought
After a difficult end to 2021, in which a leg injury threatened to end his career and Covid left him “very ill”, Rafael Nadal is traveling to the 2022 Australian Open hoping to return to the court.
He has played just one tournament since the previous August, but his presence in Melbourne becomes even more significant in the absence of the deported Novak Djokovic and the injured Roger Federer.
Nadal won his second Australian Open title 13 years after his first, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final after an epic battle that lasted five hours and 24 minutes. The score is 2:6, 6:7 (5), 6:4, 6:4, 7:5, and the match ends at 01:11 local time.
This victory is not just another Grand Slam title for Nadal; it is his 21st, moving him to the top in men’s tennis history, ahead of Djokovic and Federer, who each have 20 titles.
After the match, a “physically devastated” Nadal said: “Without a doubt, this is one of the most emotional victories of my career.”
9. 2022 Number 22
Just four months after winning his 21st Grand Slam title, Rafael Nadal has added another one, taking his tally to 22, at his favorite tournament, Roland Garros.
After failing to qualify for the final in 2021, 2022 presents the Spaniard with the perfect chance to reclaim his French Open crown.
In the final, he defeated the Norwegian Kasper Ruud convincingly 6:3, 6:3, 6:0, with which he won his record-extending 14th title in Paris.
Interestingly, the final comes just two days after his 36th birthday, making Nadal the oldest French Open men’s singles champion.
He overtook Andres Jimeno, who was 34 when he won the title in 1972.
With this victory, Nadal climbed to the top of the all-time list of Grand Slam titles with 22, ahead of Djokovic and Federer.
10. 2022 Last dance with Roger Federer
In September 2022, Roger Federer announced that he would retire after the Laver Cup tournament, which takes place at the end of the month.
In this competition, he is partnered with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Casper Ruud and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the European team, which faces a team representing the rest of the world.
So it was perhaps fitting that Federer’s final match was in doubles with Nadal, his long-time rival who has become a good friend over time.
Affectionately referred to as “Fedal”, the pair nearly won their match against the American duo of Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe in London but missed a match point, allowing the World Team to finish victorious.
After the match, Nadal could not hold back his tears, and Federer’s farewell marked the beginning of the end of an era in tennis.
Now that the 37-year-old Djokovic remains the only member of the “big three”, the end of this golden period in tennis looks ever closer.
Nadal shared: “I’m even happier to end our careers as friends after everything we shared on the court as rivals.”