Rafael Nadal is quite possibly in the midst of his final season in professional tennis. He has had a career most would die for, winning 22 Grand Slam titles and amassing 209 weeks as the world’s no. 1 player.

However, he has also had to suffer a lot due to injuries over two decades on the ATP Tour. He has recently recovered from a hip injury but may still be some way off from regaining full fitness. He will be 38 in June and will likely decide that enough is enough in a few months’ time.

Nadal deserves a proper sending off

The Spaniard is one of the greatest players of all time and deserves to retire from tennis in a grand manner. Past greats like Roger Federer and Serena Williams had grand ceremonies at the Laver Cup and the US Open (both in 2022), respectively.

However, while Federer’s farewell was emotional, he had stopped playing well before that tournament took place. Hence, his defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon in 2021 can effectively be called the match that signaled his retirement. The Laver Cup is not known for stiff competition and is played in a somewhat friendly spirit.

Nadal is the most resolute and tough of all tennis players, so his last match should be played in a competitive environment and shouldn’t be too wishy-washy. Hence, he should play his last match at Grand Slam only. Unfortunately, no Major is played on Spanish soil, so he might not be able to retire in his motherland.

The Spaniard should retire at Roland Garros

Speaking of Grand Slams, nobody has ever dominated one as Nadal has at Roland Garros in Paris.

He has won the French Open 14 times, with Bjorn Borg having the second-highest tally among men, with six. The Spaniard has an otherworldly 112-3 win-loss record on the red dirt in Paris and should retire there, provided he’s fit enough to play the tournament.

He could also do it on his home soil at the Madrid Open – just as Serena did – but Nadal should rate that as his least-favourite claycourt tournament. He has won there only five times, while his victories at each of the other key tournaments in the European clay swing are in double digits.

If the Spaniard retires on home soil, it couldn’t have been in any other place than Barcelona, as he has won the Barcelona Open 12 times and the centre-court there is named after him.

However, as he didn’t retire there, he shouldn’t look beyond the French Open in terms of selecting the place of his retirement. There can be no better place than the French capital to celebrate Nadal’s legendary career.