Rafael Nadal had a glorious career and called time in 2024 after playing the Davis Cup for Spain. Nadal ended his career with 22 Grand Slam titles and achieved everything in his record books. 

The Spaniard was struggling with injuries at the fag end of his career and could not play consistently on the tour. Nadal admitted his hip was never going to be the same and thus decided to hang his boots.

Former world number one Andy Roddick asked Nadal why he chose to play the 2024 French Open.

“Easy question, because I did it a lot of times in the past,” Nadal said on Roddick’s podcast .

“So I wanted to explore that possibility again.

“If the doctors told me you had 0% chance to come back, to compete again for the things you are used to, I probably would not have done it.

“But the doctors gave me a percentage of positive chances that I will have the chance to come back and recover 100% from the hip.

“That’s why I tried, that’s why I gave myself time to explore if that was the case or not.”

Nadal suffered a serious hip injury in 2023 and then struggled to play consistently. The Spaniard suffered a straight set loss in the opening round against Alexander Zverev in the 2024 Roland Garros.

Realising his time at the top of the tennis world was all but over, Nadal decided to retire.

“When I realised that was not the case and my hip would never be the same as before and I would not have the chance to compete for things that I’m excited for, I decided to take a step away,” he said.

Nadal won 14 French Open titles in his illustrious career.