Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, who announced his retirement on Thursday, will leave the sport as the second-highest-earning player with more than $130 million in lifetime earnings.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion is only behind Novak Djokovic, who has amassed $184 million in his career, according to the ATP Tour’s official website.
Nadal said in a video message for “X” that he was ending a career of almost 23 years. He will play his final professional match for Spain at the Davis Cup in November.
“The reality is that the last two years in particular have been difficult. I don’t think I’ve been able to play without restrictions,” Nadal said in the video, citing injuries that have kept him from playing the entire schedule.
Nadal, 38, stood out from the crowd and was praised by fans as a gritty fighter who rose to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He is known as the “King of Clay” due to his overwhelming strength at the French Open, and has won a record 14 times, including the most recent in 2022.
Nadal has also earned millions of dollars from sponsorship deals, including a long-standing partnership with Nike, from which he acquired his own logo in 2013.
Nadal hasn’t talked about his next steps. He will be competing in the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the coming weeks. Nadal will face Djokovic, world number one Jannik Sinner and fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. The winner will receive $6 million in prize money, more than a professional Grand Slam tournament.
