Novak Djokovic praised Rafael Nadal’s “legacy,” while Carlos Alcaraz described hearing about his fellow Spaniard’s retirement as “painful.” Nadal revealed on Thursday that he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November, marking the end of his 22-year Grand Slam-winning career. “Your tenacity, dedication, and battling spirit will be taught for decades. “Your legacy will live forever,” tweeted 24-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one Djokovic on Instagram. Djokovic and Nadal met 60 times, with the Serb winning 31-29. They clashed for the first time at the French Open in 2006, with Nadal winning, and Djokovic won their most recent match, also at Roland Garros, at the Paris Olympics earlier this year.
“I was a little shocked,” Alcaraz remarked after being eliminated from the Shanghai Masters in the final eight. “To see him leave tennis, which is what he loves, is painful, and it hurts me,” said Alcaraz, who will play with Nadal in the Davis Cup in Spain. “I will try to make the most of the time I will be with him… to take advantage of his last moments on court as a professional.” The world number two stated that Nadal had always been his inspiration and that he owes his professional tennis career to him.
He paid homage “to everything he has done for tennis, for all the people, for me” . Jannik Sinner, the world number one, said: “He’s an unbelievable person.” The 23-year-old continued, “He taught us young players how to behave on the court and how to deal with situations on the court.” Also, he must remain humble while succeeding.
The 38-year-old Nadal will complete his two-decade career with 92 titles and $135 million in prize money. Despite his record-breaking career, Nadal suffered from injuries, which were a terrible byproduct of his all-action, brutal-hitting style.
“Everything has a beginning… and also an ending,” says Sinner. “Only he understands how he feels. It’s a difficult one.” Sinner’s rivalry with Alcaraz has been compared to Nadal’s ‘Big Three’ confrontations with Federer and Djokovic. Djokovic is still in the Shanghai race and will face Czech teenager Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals on Friday “There are a lot of things we can take from them,” Sinner said of the three veterans. “We cannot compare ourselves to them. That is impossible, especially right now.”