Tennis great Rafael Nadal announced his impending retirement from the sport on Thursday at age 38 after winning 22 Grand Slam singles titles during an unprecedented era he shared with his rivals in the so-called Big Three, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

However, Nadal's official tennis racket sponsor, Babolat, is doing an excellent job of creating equipment that ho

Now 38, Nadal bid farewell to the sport he ruled for nearly two decades. His exit comes after Spain's defeat to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday night

Fittingly, his bookend Grand Slam titles came at Roland Garros, and it’s impossible to discuss Nadal's career without mentioning that site. Still, it’s also important to remember that he completed a career Grand Slam, earning at least two trophies at each of his sport’s four most prestigious tournaments.

"The farewell to someone as important as Rafa was watered down; very important people in his career were missing."

Rafael Nadal started the final tournament of his farewell season with a defeat in a quarterfinal match against the Netherlands in the Davis Cup finals here on Tuesday. Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam winner,