Nearly two years have passed since Rafael Nadal officially called it a day on his legendary career.
Nadal retired at the 2024 Davis Cup, playing his last professional match while representing his country, Spain.
The ‘King of Clay’ recorded one of the greatest runs in tennis history, capturing 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record 14 Roland Garros crowns.
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But regardless of his achievements, Nadal suggested there is no chance of him returning to the ATP Tour anytime soon.
Rafael Nadal says the tennis chapter in his career is closed
Asked in an interview with CNBC if he would ever consider coming out of retirement as Serena Williams has done recently, the 40-year-old responded: I think I explored the limits enough during my tennis career.
“I’m in the next chapter of my life, that chapter is closed. And in a good way. I’m super proud of my tennis career. And now I am building my next career. So I’m enjoying that part.”
Discussing the possibility of going into coaching, Nadal said: I mean, you cannot predict what’s going on. I never say no, but it’s not in my plan, in my life plan, especially today.
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“I mean, I can help the kids at the academy sometimes if somebody comes to the academy. I can be there for a while. But I have plenty of things in my life that don’t allow me to keep travelling.
“I have business. I have to travel for that very often now, right now. So my new life doesn’t allow me to be 100 percent focused on coaching a player the way that the player needs to be treated.”
Rafael Nadal says he is happy with the way his career ended
The end of Nadal’s career was plagued with injuries, which ultimately forced him to retire from the sport.
“What I just did at the end of my career is make sure that I tried myself until the last moment,” said Nadal.
“Because I went through all this process of recovering from important injuries, unfortunately, a lot of times during my tennis career.
“So if I didn’t explore that limit every single time, probably my career will finish like 15 years before. So I tried because the doctors gave me a chance that maybe I can come back to my highest level in terms of movement, in terms of feeling to compete at my highest level.
“But the truth is my body never came back to that moment. My hip was not responding the proper way. But I needed to give myself that time to explore if I will be able to do it again or not.
“When I realised that my hip will not be the same anymore, I said, OK, it’s the moment to make a decision.
“But my personal feeling is, yes, I am happy the way my career is. And it is an easy answer for me because today I am 100 percent sure that there was nothing else there. There was nothing else in the tank to deliver on the professional level.”
Nadal’s longtime rival, Novak Djokovic, is still playing and will feature at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
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