22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retire from tennis after next month's Davis Cup finals

MADRID (AP) — Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced in a video message Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal has competed infrequently the past two seasons because of injuries and said next month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the sport. He had hip surgery in 2023 and entered just two of the past eight major tournaments.

“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two, especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations,” Nadal said. “It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.”

Nadal’s unrelenting, physical style of play — every point pursued as though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of the greats of the game and the unquestioned King of Clay, the slow, red surface on which he dominated.

His record 14 French Open championships are more than anyone, man or woman, won at any one of the sport’s four major tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal that stands near the main entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and in the shadow of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.

In a result that symbolized where things stood for his body, and career, he exited in the French Open’s first round this year, a straight-set loss to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev.

Nadal returned to that site in southwest Paris for the Summer Olympics, where he lost to old rival Djokovic in the second round of singles and reached the quarterfinals of men’s doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.

Nadal hasn’t played since. His goodbye will also come while representing Spain, at Malaga in the Davis Cup.

In addition to his French Open triumphs, he won four trophies at the U.S. Open and two apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, giving him a career Grand Slam.

“I think it is the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined,” Nadal said.

His last pair of major titles arrived in 2022, at Melbourne in January and at Paris in June, pushing him ahead of Federer, who held the men’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles when he announced his retirement at age 41. Federer bid adieu in late 2022 by teaming with Nadal in a doubles match at the Laver Cup.

Both have since been surpassed by Djokovic, 37, who is up to 24 majors.

So much of Nadal’s success was seen, fairly or not, through the prism of his encounters with Federer and Djokovic. The tennis world, and plenty outside of it, were consumed with the debate over which was most deserving of the “GOAT” — “Greatest Of All-Time” — moniker. The world, tennis or otherwise, was fascinated by their matchups, their differing styles and personalities.

Who among those who witnessed it could possibly forget Nadal vs. Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open final? And so on.

Nadal played Djokovic 60 times, a record for two men in the Open era; Djokovic leads 31-29 overall, while Nadal leads 5-4 in Slam finals. Nadal met Federer 40 times; Nadal leads 24-16 overall, including 6-3 in Slam finals.

“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love,” Federer told Nadal via social media.

It’s certainly apt that Nadal’s last major title came at the French Open (beating Djokovic along the way) two years ago, and while getting painkilling injections for chronic pain in his left foot. He repeatedly dealt with, and frequently overcame, various injury issues over the years, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons were both limited because of hip and abdominal muscle problems.

Nadal hurt his hip flexor during a second-round loss at the Australian Open in January 2023, and wound up missing the rest of the year; there was an operation for that in June.

After briefly making a comeback this January during a tuneup event for the Australian Open, he had to pull out of the year’s first major with a torn hip muscle, then was sidelined again until a return on his beloved clay at the Barcelona Open in April.

Dating to late in 2022, when he was beaten in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows by Frances Tiafoe, Nadal is just 14-14, including 12-7 this year.

But his overall resume is unimpeachable: a total of 209 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings and nearly 18 years’ worth of consecutive weeks in the Top 10; 92 singles titles; 1,080-227 win-loss record; just shy of $135 million in prize money.

“Really, everything I have experienced has been a dream come true,” Nadal said. “I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way.”

Fendrich reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson and James Ellingworth contributed to this report.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE - Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball during the third round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Argentina's Leonardo Mayer at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Saturday, May 31, 2014, as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after beating Taylor Fritz of the US in a men's singles quarterfinal match on day ten of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Wednesday, July 6, 2022, as he announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal, of Spain, serves to Dmitry Tursunov, of Russia, during a match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Tuesday, March 17, 2009, in Indian Wells, Calif., as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. ( (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal bites the trophy, after defeating Tomas Berdych in the men's singles final on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Sunday, July 4, 2010, as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland during the final of the Monte Carlo Tennis Open tournament in Monaco, Sunday, April 27, 2008, as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal, of Spain, celebrates after winning a point against Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in New York., as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)

FILE - Spain's Rafael Nadal, right, and Switzerland's Roger Federer pose with their trophies after the men's final match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, June 5, 2011, as Nadal has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal of Spain leaps as he plays a return to Nick Kyrgios of Australia during their men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Tuesday, July 1, 2014, as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - Spain's Rafael Nadal lifts the trophy after winning the final match against Norway's Casper Ruud in three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0, at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Sunday, June 5, 2022, as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal, of Spain, returns a shot to Amaud Clement, of France, during second round play the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament, Saturday, March 10, 2007, in Indian Wells, Calif., as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

FILE - Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory over Marton Fucsovics of Hungary during the men's singles tennis competition, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France, as he has announced he will retire from tennis at age 38 following the Davis Cup finals in November. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted militants hiding among civilians, without providing evidence.

Israel has continued to strike at what it says are militant targets across the Palestinian enclave even as attention has shifted to its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran. The military launched a large-scale air and ground operation against Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.

In a separate development, the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers, who were hospitalized.

UNIFIL said in a statement that its headquarters and nearby positions “have been repeatedly hit.” It said the army also fired on a nearby bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system. It said an Israeli drone was seen flying to the bunker's entrance.

The strike in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah killed 27 people, including a child and seven women, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought. It said several other people were wounded.

An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances streaming into the hospital and counted the bodies, many of which arrived in pieces.

“We appeal to the world. We are dying!” one man screamed.

The Israeli military said it carried out a precise strike targeting a militant command and control center inside the school. Israel has repeatedly attacked schools that were turned into shelters in Gaza, accusing militants of hiding out in them.

Witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons said the strike occurred while school managers were meeting with representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police who provide security. They said there were no police in the room at the time.

The Hamas-run government operated a civilian police force numbering in the tens of thousands. They largely vanished from the streets after the start of the war as Israel targeted them with airstrikes, but plainclothes Hamas security personnel still exert control over most areas.

Hamas has continued to launch attacks on Israeli forces and fire occasional rockets into Israel more than a year after its Oct. 7 attack ignited the war.

Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities in that attack, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.

The Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas and the Palestinians, drawing Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.

The fighting steadily escalated, and eventually boiled over into all-out war in recent weeks, with Israel carrying out waves of heavy strikes across Lebanon and launching a ground invasion. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas deeper inside Israel, causing few casualties but disrupting daily life.

Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region that refer to themselves as the Axis of Resistance against Israel. Iran launched some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah militants.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that its response to the Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” without providing further details, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden.

The U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon were tasked with patroling a buffer zone set up after the monthlong Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of ignoring the U.N. resolution that ended the war and establishing militant infrastructure right along the border. It says the ground invasion, which has so far focused on a narrow strip along the border, is aimed at pushing the militants back so tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes.

Israel has warned people to evacuate from dozens of communities in southern Lebanon, many of which are outside the buffer zone.

Lebanon accuses Israel of violating other provisions of the U.N. resolution that ended the last war. It has said it will dispatch its armed forces to help U.N. peacekeepers control the border area and implement the U.N. resolution, but neither is capable of imposing anything on Hezbollah by force.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Tents are crammed together as displaced Palestinians camp along the beach of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)