With little chance of adding to his 14 titles, Rafael Nadal will end his 19-year career at the French Open and leave behind a record and reputation that are unlikely to be surpassed.
The great Spaniard, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, won his first title at Roland Garros as a teenager in 2005. A week later on Monday, he will celebrate his 38th birthday.
Former world number one Rafael Nadal, who is currently ranked 276th in the world, has only participated in 15 matches since January of last year due to a depressing string of medical issues that included a hip injury and a subsequent muscle tear. These issues have prevented Nadal from competing in 12 Grand Slam events during his career.
“I’m going to play the tournament thinking that I can give my all, 100 percent,” explained Nadal after a second-round exit in Rome.
“And if 100 percent is not enough to win a match, I’ll accept that. But I don’t want to step onto court knowing that I have no chance. If there’s a 0.01 percent chance, I want to explore that and give it a go.”
Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are the trio of tennis that ruled the two-and-a-half decades in men’s tennis and between them share 66 grand slam titles. At present, Djokovic has the maximum unnder his belt 24 grand slams while Federer has 20.
