End of an era: Tennis great Rafael Nadal announces retirement at 38

Rafael Nadal on Thursday announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career which brought 22 Grand Slam titles, global respect and inspired epic, iconic rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

"I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially," Nadal said in a video on social media.

"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."

The 38-year-old Spaniard is set to end his two decades as a professional with 92 titles and prize money alone of $135 million, his status long since secured as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Nadal has been included alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the Spain team as he bids to sign off with a fifth Davis Cup triumph in Malaga next month.

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

"But I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country."

"I think I've come full circle," added Nadal, who won the Davis Cup for the first time as a teenager in 2004.

22 Grand Slams titles - 14 French Opens, four US Opens, two Australian Opens and two Wimbledon crowns.

92 ATP Tour titles, including 36 Masters 1000 crowns. 63 of his titles came on clay.

1 Olympic gold medal in singles - 2008; 1 gold in doubles in 2016.

5 Davis Cup titles - 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2019

Weeks as world number one: 209

Number one in the world at the end of 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019

Nadal holds the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era, having won 81 consecutive matches on