He also spent his entire career battling his own body, with Nadal’s injuries both acute and chronic carving the trajectory of his career and to an extent the way he played tennis. King of clay. Warrior.

Nadal put a curtain on his astonishing career last week and Jim Courier would like to the Spaniard publish a book.

Rafael Nadal’s relatively low-key retirement ceremony at the Davis Cup has been defended by the head of the International Tennis Federation as being dictated by the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s wishes.

Tennis legend Roger Federer wrote a heartfelt letter to Rafael Nadal on Tuesday before the Spanish star joins him in retirement. Nadal is participating in the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain this week before saying goodbye to the sport he has played professionally since 2001.

The muscular, left-handed Spaniard, who retired Tuesday with 22 major victories, was a thrilling one-off.