World tennis legend Spaniard Rafael Nadal has officially ended his brilliant career.
Unfortunately, the athlete ended his professional career not the way he probably would have liked.
Nadal lost his last match, a quarter-final encounter with Spain at the Davis Cup against a representative of the Netherlands.
On home soil in Malaga, the 38-year-old Spaniard failed to overcome Botik van Zandschulp in his last match (4:6, 4:6).
"Followed my dream"
It is curious that in all his time playing in the Davis Cup, this was only the second defeat for the Spaniard (he lost for the first time in 2004 to the Czech Jiri Novak).
By the way, Rafael won this team tournament five times as part of his national team.
After his last match, Nadal said the following:
The titles, the numbers, they are all there. But I would like to be remembered as a simple man from a small village in Mallorca who followed his dream and worked hard to become who I am today.
Career
During his career (the Spaniard has been playing professionally since 2001), Nadal has won 92 ATP tournaments.
He won 22 Grand Slam titles, including 14 Roland Garros, 4 US Open, 2 Australian Open and 2 Wimbledon.
The Spaniard also won the Olympics twice: in 2008 in Beijing (singles) and in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro (doubles).
Rafael was the world's number one tennis player for 209 weeks and was recognized as the best tennis player on the planet 5 times.
For reference
Rafael Nadal Parera is a Spanish tennis player and former world number one in singles.
