After long fight for glory, Nadal leaves with a legacy of memories

MALAGA, Spain — Rafael Nadal was the "King of Clay" who also reigned on every other surface as he accumulated 22 Grand Slam titles while his even-keeled and humble demeanor, on and off the court, endeared him to rivals and legions of fans.

One of his defining qualities was the astonishing ability to tough out marathon wins, but he clearly enjoyed playing and competing and showed humility in victory and poise in defeat.

"The important legacy is that all the people I have met during these 20 years have a good human memory of me," said the 38-year-old Spanish superstar who will retire from tennis at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga this week.

"At the end of the day, the personal issue, education, respect and the affection you can treat people with comes before the professional issue, because that is what remains."

Nadal was born on the island of Mallorca in June 1986. His father Sebastian was a businessman, his mother Ana gave up working to raise her children.

One of his uncles, Miguel Angel Nadal, played professional football for Barcelona, although Rafa grew up to be a Real Madrid fan.

As a child, Nadal played football in the streets of his hometown of Manacor, before focusing on tennis under the coaching of another uncle, Toni Nadal, who guided his career from 2005 to 2017.

'Super-ambitious'

Nadal's ferocious left-hand top-spin forehand was to become his trademark shot, while his uncle's focus on attitude shaped the player and the man.

"When I was young my uncle said to me, ‘if you throw your racquet I will stop coaching you’," Nadal said. "If I make a bad shot, it is my fault — not the racquet's.

Fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya, also his coach in his closing years on tour, was impressed by the youngster.

"I could see, by the sheer intensity with which he trained, that he was super-ambitious and desperate to improve. He hit every shot as if his life depended on it," said Moya.

Nadal turned professional at 14 and made his Wimbledon debut in 2003 at 17.

At 18, he was part of the Spanish team that won the Davis Cup, playing, and winning, one singles match in the final.

Nadal won his first major title in 2005 at his maiden French Open, two days after turning 19. He won his last, a 14th Roland Garros, 17 years later.

Nadal amassed 92 titles and was a two-time Olympic gold medallist despite playing in an era that also boasted Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the two other members of tennis's dominant “Big Three”, for more a decade.

Federer faced Nadal in 14 Grand Slam finals, winning only four, the Swiss player ending his career with 20 majors — two fewer than the Spaniard.

'Beginning and an end'

Nadal's physical playing style took a toll — injury sidelined him from at least 11 Grand Slam events.

But he kept fighting back. After the second half of his 2021 season had been wiped out, he returned to break Federer's record at the 2022 Australian Open and added a 22nd major at the French Open just after his 36th birthday.

"If you don't lose, you can't enjoy victories. You have to accept both things," Nadal said.

After that victory, he insisted he was not concerned if Djokovic broke the record.

"It's something that does not bother me if Novak wins 23 and I stay at 22. I think my happiness will not change at all, not even one percent."

Djokovic won three titles the following year to take his total to 24.

Nadal faced Djokovic 60 times, the last of which was at the Paris Olympics in July in a clash that proved to be Nadal's final competitive singles match before he announced his intention to retire.

The pair fought out the longest Grand Slam final of all time — five hours and 53 minutes at the 2012 Australian Open in which the Serb triumphed.

In his private life, Nadal started dating Mery when he was 19 and they married in 2019. They had their first child, Rafael, in October 2022.

"I love the sea," he has said repeatedly. He owns a yacht and likes fishing and has become more than a very capable golfer.

"I'm excited to bring to an end a long and beautiful part of my life, relishing these last moments as normal, accepting that everything has a beginning and an end."