Rafael Nadal retires: King of Clay's glorious career in numbers

Rafael Nadal said that he will retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup knockout stage later this year, pulling the curtains down on his 23-year-long career. Nadal turned professional in 2001 and went on to win 22 Grand Slam singles titles.

In Short

• Rafael Nadal had turned professional in 2001
• Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam singles title
• Rafael Nadal will last play in the Davis Cup in Malaga

Rafael Nadal pulled the curtains down on his illustrious career on Thursday, October 10, after ruling the roost for more than two decades. Since turning professional back in 2001, Nadal kept growing in stature as his career progressed and earned the reputation of being a colossus on clay, especially for his incredible success at the French Open.

After 23 years, Nadal called time after injury plagued his career since he last won the clay-court title at Roland Garros. Last year, he dropped out of the top 10, and he gradually lost his footing amid Novak Djokovic’s dominance and rise of newbies like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Nadal said that he would bid adieu to professional tennis after the Davis Cup Finals, which is scheduled to take place from November 19 to 24 in Malaga. In a video on his social media platform, Nadal announced his decision to retire.

"It has been some difficult years, these last two especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end,” Nadal said.

Here is Rafael Nadal’s glorious career in numbers

2 – Rafael Nadal retires with 22 Grand Slam titles, only second after Novak Djokovic’s tally of 24 singles titles

14 – Rafael Nadal retires with 14 French Open men’s singles titles, the most in the Open Era. Former World No.1 Bjorn Borg is second with six titles.

30 - Rafael Nadal has played 30 Grand Slam finals, third after Roger Federer’s 31 and Novak Djokovic’s 37.

63 - Rafael Nadal has most clay court titles to his name in the Open Era.

81 – Rafael Nadal also has the record for the longest winning streak on clay from 2005 to 2007.

1 – Rafael Nadal is the only man in history to win a Career Grand Slam and bag an Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles.

92 – Rafael Nadal has won 92 ATP singles titles, fifth after Jimmy Connors (109), Roger Federer (103), Novak Djokovic (99) and Ivan Lendi (94)

19 – Rafael Nadal holds the record for most consecutive years winning an ATP singles title from 2004 to 2022.

23- Rafael Nadal holds the record for the most wins against World No.1 tennis players.

24 years, 3 months, 10 days – Rafael Nadal had become the youngest player to win a Career Grand Slam after he won the US Open title in 2010.

3- Rafael Nadal had become one of the three players to complete a Career Golden Slam in men’s singles. The others are Andre Agassi and Roger Federer.

209 – Rafael Nadal held the record for the World No.1 for 209 weeks.

5- Rafael Nadal also finished as the World No.1 five times in his career (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019).

912 – Rafael Nadal stayed in the top 10 of the ATP rankings for 912 weeks from April 2005 to March 2023.

15 – Rafael Nadal won at-least one Grand Slam for 15 years, first from 2005 to 2014, and then from 2017 to 2020 and 2022.