Rafael Nadal Gave Surprisingly Frank Quote About Missing Tennis in Retirement

The all-time great doesn't miss the game one bit.
Nadal retired after the Davis Cup Finals in October
Nadal retired after the Davis Cup Finals in October / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It's been about six months since Rafael Nadal officially left the game of tennis. And he doesn't miss it at all.

In a surprising admission from the all-time great, Nadal said he misses tennis "zero" after being given the Sporting Icon honor at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid on Tuesday night.

"The truth is I don't miss it," Nadal said. "In fact, I miss it zero. But I miss it zero not because I finished tired of tennis or fighting against tennis. Not at all, the complete opposite. I finished happy with tennis."

Oftentimes it's the greatest athletes who have trouble moving on after retiring; it's a tough transition, to be so dominant for so long before a sudden and clean break from the game. But Nadal doesn't sound like he falls into that category because he retired without any regrets.

He certainly made the most of his career. Nadal holds numerous all-time records in the game of tennis and is the No. 2 all-time earner. He left it all out on the courts.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.