22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal opened up about his “most proud of” moment from his career ahead of retirement in November 2024.
According to Tennis365, Nadal has won a record-extending 14th Roland Garros title, and the 92 ATP crowns winner looked back at his career to reflect on his favorite moments of his career.
The 38-year-old, in an interview with AS, revealed some of the most memorable moments of his career “that have had great value,” saying, “Roland Garros 2006, for example. Because it was the first year after the foot injury. Really, and I don’t want to make an epic story, it’s true, we didn’t think I would play tennis at a competitive level again.”
He further added, “But when you have just started and you have spent your whole life preparing for it, and in the first year that you really have a good one, they tell you that you will not play again, it is hard.”
Nadal kept counting his favorite moments and said, “And then Wimbledon 2008, the Olympic Games that year, which were also very nice, were key in my career. All of 2013, because after 2012, when I was unable to play from Wimbledon to Vina del Mar (2013) and I still had a lot of pain in my knee, everything that happened was very emotional... And Australia 2022 is one of the most exciting things I have ever experienced.”
Former world number one expressed that what he is “most proud of” is finishing his career and leaving tennis with the “satisfaction of feeling valued and loved.”
Nadal who announced his retirement in an emotional video that later became the most-liked tennis video will play his last match in the Davis Cup Finals at Malaga in November 2024.
