Rafael Nadal retirement decision analysed ahead of Davis Cup farewell – ‘It’s not his mind that’s tired’

Nadal announced that he would call time on his career after the Davis Cup finals in November, having won 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record-breaking 14 on the clay courts of Roland-Garros.

The 38-year-old has been hampered by persistent injury niggles throughout his career, and the last two years have been particularly frustrating for him, with numerous issues cutting short his return to action.

His most recent singles appearance was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he was knocked out by eventual gold medallist and long-term rival Novak Djokovic.

Nadal’s pending retirement means that he will become the third of the ‘big four’ to retire from the top of the men’s game, following in the footsteps of Roger Federer in 2022 and Andy Murray earlier this year.

Djokovic is looking to add to his 24 major titles and is currently world No. 4 after his shock defeat in the third round of the US Open to Alexei Popyrin.

Corretja, Nadal’s compatriot and two-time French Open finalist, claimed Nadal’s body will not allow him continue to play.

“He’s not retired because his mind is tired or [he’s had] enough now,” Corretja said.

“It is because his body doesn’t allow him to do it. That’s why he took his time, as he always did on court as well. He took his time between points, between matches. He was a very calm guy that needed his time. He did the same [deciding] to retire.

“I understand him very much, so that he doesn’t regret any of the months that he took to take this decision, because this is going to be forever.

“You don’t want to take that decision and then regret it and say like, ‘Oh no, why did I do that?’. So I think it was the perfect timing for him.”

Corretja also acknowledged that Nadal’s achievements have made his own life “better” since he retired from tennis in 2005.

“When you are a tennis player, you feel like you’ve been living moments that you probably won’t live again,” he said.

“The emotions, the expectations, the nerves. With Rafa, he made me feel like I was a part of him [when I was] commentating on tennis, analysing and interviewing him.

“I felt like I was very close to living the same sort of adrenaline that I had when I was a tennis player. That’s because Rafa goes together with ‘epic’. Every single match he played, every single shot when he was running side to side, when he was never giving up, when he was feeling that he had to give his 100% again.

“So he represents very, very emotional moments, because every time Rafa was [producing] one of his biggest achievements in many of them, I was there personally.

“Then I had the chance to talk to him right away. So I feel very fortunate about it. I have to admit that Rafa made my life even better than I ever expected after I retired from tennis.”