Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bids bittersweet farewell to courts

Tennis legend Rafa Nadal left the court for the last time on Monday, 22 Grand Slams later.

It was a bittersweet goodbye, as he and Spain were knocked out of the Davis Cup. Nadal lost 6-4, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands.

With tears in his eyes and an arena packed with emotion, Nadal gave a special thanks to his fans, who he said have always given him their unconditional support.

"Throughout these 20 years you carried me on your shoulders, you helped me to win in the good moments and you pushed me to keep fighting through the bad ones," he said.

The 38-year-old Spaniard also explained how he would like to be remembered: “ The titles, the numbers, are there, so people probably know that, but the way I would like to be remembered is as a good person from a small village in Mallorca,” adding that he was “just a kid that followed their dreams and worked as hard as possible."

A video was then showed with highlights from his more than two decades on tour and the collection of recorded tributes from current or former players such as his Big Three rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal turned up at the French Open for the first time as a teenager in 2005 and left as the champion. He has won the competition a record 14 times.

He won it for the final time in 2022 — his last major championship anywhere.