Rafael Nadal confirmed that a new injury did not cause his retirement. Instead, it was the realization that he could not consistently be competitive at the highest level anymore.
The former world No. 1 will retire at the Davis Cup Finals. Team Spain's quarterfinal against the Netherlands will be played on Tuesday, and a victory against the Dutch is required to extend Nadal's career.
On paper, the Spaniards are undoubtedly the favorites to win the tie. The most significant obstacle might be handling the emotion of the occasion. Carlos Alcaraz admitted Nadal's farewell was much more important to him than winning the Davis Cup.
It is uncertain how much Nadal will feature. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has promised not to be on the court unless he can help Team Spain, even if that means not playing in the singles or doubles because he is not physically ready.
Nadal's physical issues stretch back to the start of his career. His uncle, Toni Nadal, revealed in an interview the tennis legend has taken painkillers during training sessions since 2005 when he was 18 or 19 years old.
Despite several injuries throughout his career, Nadal repeatedly fought through adversity to enjoy one of the most successful careers in sports history, most notably winning 14 French Open titles.
Those previous recoveries from injuries explain why Nadal fought hard for two years to return to a level good enough to challenge for the most significant honors. He played at this year's French Open and the Olympics but lost to Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, respectively.
His uncle Toni admitted Nadal decided to retire after finally accepting that overcoming the physical problems of the last couple of years would be impossible, even though the 38-year-old wanted to have one more good season on clay.
It had been unclear whether Nadal's retirement was linked to a new injury he sustained while trying to get himself fit and ready to compete at the highest level of tennis again.
Nadal confirmed in a press conference before the Davis Cup Finals that he did not pick up a new injury, and electing to retire was solely linked to realizing his body would not let him reach the top of the sport again.
"No, no, not new injury. It's about the things that I went through, and, I mean, with the surgery last year, and I don't gonna add the rest of the thing I had, but a few ones, make me feel that I cannot be enough competitive, and I am not able to enjoy my daily basis the way that I need to be competitive at the highest level, no?"
"So at the end of the day all relate to the question of myself is about, okay, I can hold for one more year, but why? To say good-bye in every singles tournament, I don't have that ego to need that."
"So at the end is about a feeling that I have been thinking for a long time. For me, today don't make sense or to keep doing know that I don't have the real to chance to be competitive the way that I like to be competitive, because my body is not able to give me the possibility to do that very often."