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Rafael Nadal has less than a year retired, and the 22-time Grand Slam champion shows no signs of regret.
Speaking to the media at the Laureus World Sports Awards held in Madrid on Monday night, Nadal was open about his time away from the court. Spanish legends say he won't miss out on playing, and his reason is because he found the game “happy.”
Spain's Rafael Nadal will respond during a match against Germany's Alexander Zverev on the second day of Roland Garros at Stade Roland Garros on May 27, 2024. (Susan Murin Usa is today's sports)
“The truth is, I don't miss it. In fact, I miss it zero,” he said via CBS Sports. “But I miss Zero, not because I'm tired of tennis or fighting tennis. I'm not at all opposed. I'm happy with tennis.”
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The 38-year-old Nadal is largely considered one of the greatest ever, and for decades he competed with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for some of the most intense battles on the big tennis stage. “Big 3” collectively won 66 Grand Slam singles titles among them, as they became known.
Only Djokovic remains active.
Nadal announced his retirement from sports in October after being injured later in his career.
Rafael Nadal will face Novak Djokovic (SRB) in the first round of men's tennis synrus during the summer match of the Paris 2024 Olympics held at Stade Roland Garros on July 29, 2024. (amber searls-usa today's sports)
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“It was clearly a difficult decision and it took me a while to make,” he said in his retirement announcement. “But in this life, everything has its beginnings and ends, and I think it's the right time to end a career that has been longer and far more successful than I could have imagined.”
Nadal added Monday. Despite nothing missing, if he is still healthy today, he is still playing.
“If that were possible, I would still be playing because I loved what I did,” he said. “I was passionate about it. It was like my life. It was when you realise you can't do it anymore, you try to close the chapter. And I closed it.”
Rafael Nadal is waving to the crowd after losing to Austin Krazisek and Razyev Lamb (USA) in a men's doubles quarter-final tennis match during the summer Paris 2024 Olympics match held at Stade Roland Garros on July 31, 2024. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)
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Nadal won 14 French open titles, with the US opening four times four times, and twice in the Australian Open and Wimbledon respectively. He won gold in Beijing in 2008 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
His retirement followed the Federers in 2022.
Ryan Gaydos of Fox News contributed to this report.
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