Rafael Nadal reveals he pondered retirement after Roland Garros: 'I'm not going to lie...'

Following the retirement of 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer from professional tennis, 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal has revealed that even he considered ending his career, earlier this year. Federer made his final on-court appearance on Saturday by teaming up with Nadal for the doubles event at the Laver Cup 2022, playing for Team Europe. While the day saw two of the greatest players playing alongside each other for the last time, it also marked the end of the greatest period in men’s tennis history. 

However, this day could have come earlier this year, when Nadal pondered retirement during the French Open 2022 in June. Nadal made a comeback to the tour in January following a five-month long hiatus due to injury. Meanwhile, moments after Federer’s retirement on Saturday, the 22-time Grand Slam champion made a shocking admission about retiring. 

‘Thought that it might be my last tournament’: Nadal

On being asked about the thought of retiring during a conversation with Spanish media outlet AS, Nadal said, ”I don't know, I'm not at that moment yet. I was close to that time this year, I'm not going to lie to you. During Roland Garros, I thought that it might be my last tournament, this is the reality. Although from then on everything went very bad physically, I broke my abdominal twice, at Wimbledon and in New York."

Nadal missed most of the 2021 season due to a foot injury before making a winning comeback at Melbourne. He continued his winning momentum by winning his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and later won the French Open 2022 in June while batting with a foot injury. He then picked up an abdominal injury during Wimbledon 2022 and exited the tournament ahead of the semi-finals. 

What's next for Nadal?

“It has been an accumulation of important misfortunes, added to all these personal things. But I'm not in that moment and I don't want to think about that moment. Today, what I want is to get back to normality, for everything to go well with my personal life, which is the top priority, and then organize my life in the right way. Have peace of mind in my personal and professional life,” Nadal added.

Meanwhile, following Federer's farewell at Laver Cup 2022, Nadal withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons. He will now be replaced by Cameron Norrie in Team Europe. Teaming up with Federer in his last ATP Tour event, the duo returned with a 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 loss in two hours and 13 minutes to Team World’s Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.