{"id":2938,"date":"2024-11-21T03:07:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T03:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2024-11-21T03:07:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T03:07:36","slug":"rafael-nadal-cries-after-playing-final-match-of-his-legendary-tennis-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI want to be remembered as good person and a kid who followed their dreams and achieved more than I ever believed possible,\u201d Nadal said<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Rafael<\/div>\n<\/div>
Rafael Nadal.<\/span>\u00a0Photo:\u00a0<\/span>Clive Brunskill\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

Tennis icon\u00a0Rafael Nadal\u00a0officially ended his career with tears as he played his final match.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

During the Davis Cup quarterfinals \u2014 where Nadal’s Spain lost against the Netherlands on Tuesday, Nov. 19 \u2014 Nadal, 38, was visibly emotional as he spoke about his legacy, according to\u00a0ESPN.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI want to be remembered as good person and a kid who followed their dreams and achieved more than I ever believed possible,\u201d Nadal said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cThe titles and numbers are there so people probably know that, but the way I would like to be remembered is being a good person from a small village in Mallorca where I had the luck to have my uncle as a tennis coach,\u201d he said at the special presentation held on court in his honor.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Rafael<\/div>\n<\/div>
Rafael Nadal.<\/span>Jean Catuffe\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Nadal continued, saying, \u201cI was a kid who followed their dreams, worked as hard as possible to be where I am today. At the end of the day, a lot of people try their best every single day, but I’m very lucky to have the life I have to live because of tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Nadal announced his retirement on Oct. 10, via a\u00a0video posted on X\u00a0(formerly known as Twitter).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that it has been some difficult years, especially these last two,\u201d the 22-time Grand Slam champion said in the video.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Rafael<\/div>\n<\/div>
Rafael Nadal.<\/span>Jose Hernandez\/Anadolu via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision and one that has taken me some time to make. But, in this life, everything has a beginning and an end. And I think it\u2019s an appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel super, super lucky for all the things I\u2019ve been able to experience,\u201d Nadal said. \u201cI have lived many moments that I will remember for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI want to be remembered as good person and a kid who followed their dreams and achieved more than I ever believed possible,\u201d Nadal said Rafael Nadal.\u00a0Photo:\u00a0Clive… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nRafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI want to be remembered as good person and a kid who followed their dreams and achieved more than I ever believed possible,\u201d Nadal said Rafael Nadal.\u00a0Photo:\u00a0Clive...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-21T03:07:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938\",\"name\":\"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-21T03:07:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-21T03:07:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":2000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"\u201cI want to be remembered as good person and a kid who followed their dreams and achieved more than I ever believed possible,\u201d Nadal said Rafael Nadal.\u00a0Photo:\u00a0Clive...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2024-11-21T03:07:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":2000,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938","name":"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-21T03:07:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-21T03:07:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/1-51.jpg","width":2000,"height":2000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=2938#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rafael Nadal Cries After Playing Final Match of His Legendary Tennis Career"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2945,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions\/2945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}