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20 Nov 2024 | 15.33
Longevity, eternal legacy, and a bittersweet feeling due to the emerging nostalgia. That's how one can assess what is felt hours after the retirement of Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard did not have the farewell he dreamt of, but that is truly challenging, as history insists on showing. We look back at some cases and focus on which great tennis players retired at a more advanced age.
Saying goodbye is never easy, even if you had time to prepare for it. Rafael Nadal is no longer a professional tennis player, and it's hard to accept. If something prevails in our hearts, it is the privilege of witnessing his exploits, being able to consider his career itself as one of the most epic ever seen. The Balearic player set impressive precocity records, such as being the youngest player to win all four Grand Slam titles, but he has also managed to break astonishing longevity records.
- Nadal is the eighth oldest Grand Slam winner in history to retire.
Proof of this is that he is the eighth Grand Slam winner to retire at an older age. Rafa played his last official match at 38 years, 5 months, and 18 days old, demonstrating an exemplary ability to stay at the top. His case is even more remarkable as other great players had many interruptions, but Nadal's consistency in maintaining his elite status is something memorable, as demonstrated by some of his most impressive records in this regard.
🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal retires at 38y 5m 18d old 👏
— TennisMyLife (@TennisMyLife68) November 19, 2024
He is the 8th oldest Slammer to retire from professional tennis
🇦🇺 Ken Rosewall played his last ATP match at 45y 11m 18d.
Longevity 👏 pic.twitter.com/mmrIcUnL7X
The bittersweet taste left by the Spanish player's farewell in Malaga makes many fans lament considering that it did not live up to his career. Therefore, it is interesting to see how other great players in history said their final goodbye to tennis.
- The most beautiful and well-prepared farewell ever seen might have been Federer's.
For instance, the Grand Slam winner who played his last match at an older age, Ken Rosewall, was thrashed 6-0 6-3 in an ATP tournament held in his hometown, Melbourne, against his compatriot McNamee, 43rd in the world at that time. The Australian tried to extend his career as much as possible and ended it in 1980, three years after his last title, in Hong Kong, and eight years after his last Grand Slam victory.
A similar case was that of Rod Laver, who retired from tennis well past 40 and went three seasons without winning a title before deciding to end his career in 1979, losing to the 16th in the world, John Alexander. Perhaps the legend who had a better organized and more beautiful farewell was Roger Federer. The Swiss couldn't bid goodbye in an official tournament due to injuries, but everything that happened at the Laver Cup 2022 was one of the most iconic moments ever seen in this sport.
Far from the case of Björn Borg, whose premature retirement greatly distorted his ending. The Swede abruptly ended his career in 1981, at only 25 years old. He then spent three consecutive seasons playing only the Monte Carlo tournament and attempted a comeback in 1991, keeping his wooden racket but was overwhelmed by time and the technology of new rackets. It was sad to see a legend of that magnitude attempting a return more for marketing, out of financial need than anything else.
- Legends like Borg, Lendl, Wilander, or McEnroe had endings incompatible with their historical significance.
Not even John McEnroe had a dream farewell, playing his last professional match in 1994 at the Rotterdam Open, where he was defeated by Gustafsson in the early rounds. The departure of Andre Agassi was more standard; he identified the moment when his body could not keep playing and bid farewell at the US Open, losing in the third round to Benjamin Becker in a closely contested match.
More painful was the exit of Ivan Lendl, retiring due to physical issues in his last professional match during the US Open 1994. Also at a Grand Slam, albeit in a different way, the legendary Boris Becker said goodbye. It was at his favorite tournament, Wimbledon, in the 1999 edition, losing to the then world number 2, Patrick Rafter, in the third round. Neither could Mats Wilander enjoy a fanfare and retire at his peak since he went through a negative spiral for five seasons, culminating in a clear defeat in Beijing against the 77th in the world then, the Czech Martin Damm.
- Sampras's case is the most special of all time.
Perhaps the exception that confirms the rule is Pete Sampras, whose end was not exactly filled with pomp and joy either. The American left tennis at 31, having just won the final of the 2002 US Open against his longtime rival Agassi. It was memorable, worthy of a documentary, if not for the fact that the American never stated that it would be his last match.
It seems he didn't even have it in mind, but after clinching that title, training again seemed like an uphill task, and he never stepped on the court again. Pistol Pete is the only example of a major player who bid farewell at the pinnacle. In any case, if this journey proves anything, it's that cinematic endings don't exist, and the goodbye of a legend is never equal to the legacy it leaves for eternity. This has also happened in the case of Rafael Nadal. The big question now is how the most decorated tennis player of all time, Novak Djokovic, will say his goodbyes.
This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Así es como se retiraron las grandes leyendas del tenis mundial
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