22-time Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal announced that he is retiring from professional tennis earlier today. The 38-year-old who has etched his legacy in the sport as the ‘King of Clay’ will play his last tournament — the Davis Cup — next month.
Nadal’s retirement has sparked a lot of reactions from the entire sporting world. Chief amongst them was his Spanish compatriot, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion came onto his Instagram account to pen a wholesome thank you note to the Tennis icon.
Reposting the 38-year-old’s announcement on his stories, Alonso wrote in Spanish, “Thank you so much Rafa, all the best for whatever comes.” The duo share a solid friendship despite competing in completely different sports. They were also seen partying together in Monaco recently.
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Both Alonso and Nadal’s successes have run in parallel over the years. The first two Grand Slams of his career came at the French Open, consecutively between 2005 and 2006 — at the same time when Alonso won his two world championships back-to-back with Renault.
Since then, Nadal went on to rack up 20 more titles making him statistically the second-most successful men’s tennis player (only behind Novak Djokovic who holds a record 24 Grand Slams).
Much like Nadal, Alonso too finds himself in the twilight of his career. The 43-year-old recently penned a multi-year deal with Aston Martin which means he will race at least into 2026. However, he did concede that this was probably his final F1 contract.
That said, Alonso isn’t keen on hanging his racing helmet up completely. In the past, the Spaniard has expressed his desire to keep racing in other categories with the Dakar Rally being one competition he is itching to conquer.
