Rafael Nadal has retired from professional tennis and started a new chapter of his life, in which he will have less stress and can spend more time with his beautiful family. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has dedicated most of his life to tennis and has been amply rewarded, having become one of the best athletes of the modern era.

The former world No. 1 played at the highest level until he was 38 years old and – although his last dance was below expectations – Rafa can be proud looking back on all the iconic moments of his career.

The Spanish legend broke all records on red clay by winning the French Open 14 times, but perhaps that was not his most epic feat. At the beginning of his career, no one thought that Nadal would win so much on other surfaces as well, becoming a complete player from all points of view.

Victories at the 2022 Australian Open and the 2022 French Open were the latest gems of one of the best careers in tennis history. The Spaniard said goodbye to his fans and the tennis world at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where he received a farewell ceremony that deserved more resonance.

Update on Nadal’s future

Many fans and insiders wonder if Rafa will continue to be linked to professional tennis even after his retirement.

A few days ago, former world No. 1 Mats Wilander speculated that Nadal could take on a coaching or consultant role in the future by helping his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.

However – in an interview with Eurosport – Alex Corretja flatly denied this possibility: “In my opinion, it’s impossible. 99.9% impossible, because you can’t say totally impossible in life. But I would be very, very surprised.

I think he’s going to need time to realize what he really wants to do. I have the impression that even if he has children and is busy at home, Andy has less to do on a daily basis.

Rafa lives in Manacor and he has his academy. So I don’t see him moving around much. Maybe Andy still wanted to travel, to have this experience.”

Corretja also added: “I don’t really see Rafa as a coach or a consultant for anyone. I would see him more as a consultant for something big like Real Madrid, contributing something to the club by giving a few speeches.

“I would see it for a short period of time. Three months or six months. But on a daily basis, I don’t really see it.”

Rafa will not become coach

This question arose because Andy Murray recently agreed to become Novak Djokovic’s new coach. The 3-time Grand Slam champion – who retired at the Paris Olympics this summer – will follow Nole to the 2025 Australian Open. However, Rafa has a very different life than Andy and has never expressed this wish. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has a great relationship with his young compatriot Carlitos Alcaraz and has given him some advice in the past, but he will never become his coach.

The two Spanish champions played doubles together at the Paris Olympics and shared a very emotional moment at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, but there will hardly be a professional collaboration between them.

The former Spanish champion has many passions and will calmly decide what to do in the coming years. Everyone’s hope is that he will remain linked to tennis, being able to make a truly significant contribution thanks to his enormous experience.

On the latest edition of her well-known podcast, former Serena Williams’ coach Rennae Stubbs discussed Rafa’s future: “What made me the happiest, the thing I got the most joy out of watching the doubles, because the guys lost 7-6, 7-6, was watching Rafa watching them.

I have never seen a guy more pumped watching another team try and win a match. He was up and out of the stands, he was pointing his finger.

There is no doubt in the next two or three years he will be the captain of the Spain Davis Cup team. He was yelling at David Ferrer. He was calling him over.

He was going up, saying stuff to him, he was yelling at Alcaraz, pointing his finger, saying stuff to him. It was so great to watch. None of it was over the top, none of it was inappropriate.

He was just so into it. He loves tennis. I know Roger Federer loves tennis, but I think Roger loved tennis and the whole thing about his fame and the people and he loved being loved.

“Rafa just loved to compete. The effort he put in in the singles match, he tried to ends of the earth in that match.”