Rafael Nadal: “The day after I retire, I'm still going to be as happy as I was playing tennis”

Rafael Nadal feels he would be as happy in his post-retirement life as he is now on the tour.

In all probability, Nadal will call it a day before the 2024 season ends. His professional career started in the year 2001 and he has achieved as much as any tennis player could truly achieve over the last 23 years.

The 22 Grand Slam titles adorning his trophy cabinet and the 209 total weeks spent as the World No. 1 written against his column speak volumes of his dominance and consistency on the court in the last two decades.

Hearing his name taken with utmost respect on the grandest of stages in tennis since 2001 must have soothed the Spaniard's ears enough to keep him going. However, he believes that the days following his departure from the sport will bring as much joy to him as the days before did.

The 37-year-old echoed a similar thought in a recent interview with Marca as he said:

"I have the feeling that the day after I retire I'm still going to be as happy as I was playing tennis." (translated)

He also emphasized that his personal life while being a competitive professional has been different from what it might have seemed like.

"My life is a far cry from that obsession with tennis that you see from the outside," he said.

The Spaniard further claimed that he had experienced the norms of life just like any other person alive.

"I've been very intense and very hard-working but I went out, I had a good time... I haven't missed much of anything because of tennis. I've done fewer things than my friends, but I've done them," he added.

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About Rafael Nadal's 22 Grand Slam titles

Rafael Nadal with the 2022 men's singles French Open trophy.

Rafael Nadal possesses 22 Grand Slam trophies. Out of the 22, he has won 14 at the French Open and four at the US Open. Also, he has secured two titles each at the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships.

In the men's Major winners' tally, he ranks second behind Novak Djokovic, who has 24 titles to his name and tied third with Steffi Graf in the all-time list.

The first four Grand Slam titles of the Spaniard's professional career were unsurprisingly the ones he won at Roland Garros from 2005 to 2008. His ten other victories at the Claycourt Major came in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022.

Furthermore, Nadal won the US Open in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019. He lifted the trophies at the Australian Open in 2009 and 2022, and at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010.