Rafael Nadal’s announcement that he was retiring from tennis was greeted with sadness on Thursday on the Spanish island of Mallorca where he was born and lived throughout his career. Regional television station IB3 will dedicate three days of special programmes to the 38-year-old and local newspapers on the Mediterranean island splashed huge headlines on their online editions to the news that Nadal would retire after the Davis Cup finals in November. Domingo Bonnin, a 60-year-old fisherman, said that while he was happy for Nadal because his retirement was “well deserved”, he also felt “sadness because we are losing a reference in sports and as a person.”

“Effort, courage, constancy, perseverance are values that society does not take for granted and he is a clear exponent of these values, of constancy, of things well done, of effort, of sacrifice,” he told AFPTV on the streets of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands.

While other athletes from the island have reached the top of their sport such as motorcycle racer Jorge Lorenzo, or tennis player Carlos Moya who was number one in 1999, none have matched the global impact of Nadal, with his 22 Grand Slam titles and his two Olympic gold medals.

“He is an icon, worldwide, not only in Mallorca,” said 59-year-old waiter Jose Angel Gallego.

‘Great legacy’

Nadal’s ties to Mallorca run deep. He opened his tennis academy and a museum in his hometown of Manacor where he started playing tennis and was coached by his uncle Toni Nadal from 2005 to 2017.

His wife, Maria Francisca Perello, is from the island which is home to around 920,000 and is one of Spain’s top tourist destinations.

“He leaves a great legacy, not only as a sportsman but also as a person because he is a very noble guy, very family-oriented and for me an example for all young people and for all sportsmen and women in general,” said 63-year-old civil servant Jose Martinez.

“It is something that had to happen, he has done everything there has been and to do in the world of tennis, and sooner or later all great athletes have to retire,” he added.

Tomas Patrick Carmody, a 32-year-old restaurant manager in Palma, echoed this view.

“If the time came and if he considered that it was the right time, even if it hurts all of us who have followed tennis for many years, well, nothing, we will have to accept it and move forward and new generations are coming, are arriving in force and hopefully enjoy as much as we enjoy Rafa,” he said.

Some said the time had come to pass the torch to Spain’s new tennis star, 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, the current world number two who is from the southeastern region of Murcia.

Elena Ferrer, a 46-year-old architect who was visiting Mallorca, said she hoped Alcaraz “achieves the same or even more” than Nadal “because they are both number one for us”.

Rafael Nadal’s retirement announcement on Thursday left Novak Djokovic as the last man standing from tennis’s golden era but with major question marks over the Serb star’s own long-term future in the sport. Djokovic remains marooned on 24 Grand Slam titles, a record for a man but still level with Margaret Court in the all-time total. For the first time since 2017, he will finish a season without a Grand Slam trophy. Djokovic, who will be 38 next May, salvaged his season by winning Olympic gold in Paris, a victory he described as his “greatest achievement”.

That made him only the third man after Nadal and Andre Agassi to clinch a career Golden Slam of all four majors plus Olympic gold.

However, Djokovic has been pushed into the shadows by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz who split the four Grand Slams between them in 2024, confirming their status as the brightest stars in tennis’s new generation.

This year was the first since 2002 that at least one of the Slams had not fallen to either Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer who retired two years ago.

Djokovic’s stunning third round loss to Alexei Popyrin at the US Open was his earliest exit in New York since 2006.

‘Worst tennis’

“I played some of the worst tennis I have ever played,” admitted a crestfallen Djokovic after his title defence came to an abrupt end.

Djokovic’s rollercoaster year has seen him lose his Australian Open title to Sinner who also ended his stay as world number one, a lofty status he had enjoyed for a combined 428 weeks.

Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, succeeded him as French Open champion after Djokovic withdrew from his scheduled quarter-final with a knee injury which required surgery.

Alcaraz then blew the Serb off court to defend his Wimbledon crown before Sinner swept to the US Open title.

The issue for Djokovic is that his aura of invincibility has crumbled.

Popyrin was so unmoved by his New York victory that he described his Montreal Masters triumph earlier in the summer as being “way bigger” than defeating a player widely regarded as the greatest of all time.

When Sinner swept Taylor Fritz off court in a brutally one-sided US Open final, he became the first man since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same season.

That is a feat that eluded Federer, Djokovic, Nadal as well as Pete Sampras and Agassi.

Two years Sinner’s junior, Alcaraz already has four Grand Slam titles to his name.

“It’s nice to see new champions. Nice to see new rivalries,” said Sinner in New York.

“I will always have players who are going to make me a better player, because there are going to be times where they beat me.

“Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players.”

The 23-year-old beanpole Italian has six titles this year while second-ranked Alcaraz has four.

Alcaraz is making Grand Slam history faster than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

100 titles?

None of the three legends managed to win four majors before their 22nd birthday.

Djokovic did not win his fourth Slam until the 2011 US Open, when he was 24.

Nadal was 22 when he earned his fourth at the French Open in 2008 while Federer was 23 when he collected a fourth major at the 2004 US Open.

Alcaraz could claim a career Grand Slam while still 21 if he wins a maiden Australian Open in January next year.

Despite the gloomy forecast, Djokovic still has targets on the horizon — should he capture the Shanghai Masters this weekend, he’d become just the third man to win 100 career titles.

He described that goal as “extra motivation”.

“My love for tennis will never fade away,” said the world number four.

Rafael Nadal said Saturday that he is likely appearing at the French Open for the final time but cautioned it was “not 100%” certain, describing the tournament where he has been champion 14 times as a “magical place”. “It’s a big, big chance that this is going to be my last Roland Garros, but if I have to tell you it’s 100% my last Roland Garros, sorry, but I will not, because I cannot predict what’s going on. I hope you understand,” said the Spaniard.

Nadal, who will celebrate his 38th birthday on June 3, faces world number four Alexander Zverev in the first round in Paris on Monday.

The Spanish legend has racked up 112 wins in 115 matches at the tournament since his title-winning 2005 debut when he was just 19.

He has 22 Grand Slam titles — second only to Novak Djokovic’s 24 on the all-time men’s list — but his career has been plagued by injuries.

Nadal has played just four tournaments since January last year after suffering a hip injury and then a muscle tear.

As a result, his ranking has slumped to 276 in the world and he comes into the French Open unseeded.

“I have been going through a long process of recovery with a very difficult injury, almost two years of suffering, but I feel better now,” he added.

“I have fewer limitations than three, four weeks ago, without a doubt.”

Nadal had to sit out the 2023 French Open through injury.

The year before he won his 14th title but revealed that he could only play with daily pain-killing injections in his feet.

‘Positive legacy’

“In some ways I don’t want to close the door 100%. I am enjoying playing tennis. I am travelling with the family. They are enjoying,” added Nadal on his reluctance to call time on his career.

“So give me some time. Maybe in one month and a half I say, okay, it’s enough, I can’t keep going, but today in some way I cannot guarantee that that’s going to be the last one. But of course it’s a big chance.”

Nadal arrives in Paris having yet to make a clay-court quarter-final this season. In Rome, he was defeated in the second round.

“I feel competitive in training. Maybe not in an official match, but when I enter the court, I feel like I can beat anyone,” he said.

Nadal holds a 7-3 winning record over Zverev.

Five of those victories came on clay including a semi-final triumph at Roland Garros in 2022 when the German was forced to quit with ankle ligament damage.

In Paris so far this week, Nadal has practised in front of packed courts.

He hit with fellow former champion Stan Wawrinka who described Nadal as “strong as ever”.

Fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev, who trained with him on Thursday, said he was happy not to face him in the first round.

“This place is magical for me. If in the bottom of my heart, I didn’t have any hope to have success here and to create a beautiful thing this year, I would not be here in front of you guys,” added Nadal.

“So I still have the motivation and a small, at least is a small hope to play well.”

And if 2024 turns out to be Nadal’s French Open farewell?

“I just can say thanks to all the love I received from all the players, from the organisers, from the tournaments, from all the community of tennis and sport.

“I feel very proud that probably I leave a positive legacy there.”

French veteran Gael Monfils, who is also 37 and first played Nadal in 2005, said: “we should enjoy it as much as we can”.

“I wonder if we’re not going back to traditional tournaments as they were played a long time ago, because the last 20 years are not run-of-the-mill normal years,” added Monfils of two decades dominated by Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer.