The tennis world bid an emotional farewell to one of its favourite sons on Thursday morning, as 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 38.
The undisputed king of clay - who won an unparalleled 14 French Open titles, as well as four US Open crowns, two Wimbledon honours and two Australian Open trophies - endured an injury-plagued final two years of his career, but nothing that will tarnish his legacy as one of the greatest to ever play the game.
Famed for his long-time rivalries with fellow Big Three members Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, Nadal serves his last with a total of 92 top-level tournament wins, as well as two Olympic gold medals and 209 weeks at world number one.
Nadal will take to the court for the final time in November to represent Spain in this year's Davis Cup finals, and in a career spanning over 20 years and 1,307 singles matches, there have inevitably been a fair share of breathtaking battles along the way.
Here, Sports Mole takes on the task of whittling down Nadal's thousands of matches to the greatest five that he has ever played in his career.
5. Nadal vs. Puerta (2005 French Open final) - Nadal wins 6–7[6], 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
The moment where it all began for a then-teenage Nadal, the 2005 French Open final represented his inaugural appearance in the Roland-Garros Championship match, where Argentina's Mariano Puerta would provide a formidable foe.
The Argentine was also competing in his maiden Grand Slam final and took the first set against Nadal on a nail-biting tie-breaker, only for the Spaniard to exhibit his regal qualities on the clay in the three sets that followed.
Then aged just 19 years and two days old - having eliminated Federer from the semi-finals on his birthday - Nadal became the first man to win the French Open on his debut since Mats Wilander in 1982, and the youngest champion since Michael Chang in 1989.
While the 2005 French Open proved to be the catalyst for Nadal's meteoric rise to fame, his opponent Puerta tested positive for a banned substance immediately after the final and was given an initial eight-year ban before seeing it reduced on appeal.
4. Nadal vs. Federer (2009 Australian Open final) - Nadal wins 7–5, 3–6, 7–6[3], 3–6, 6–2
Seven months on from an engrossing Wimbledon affair - more on that later - Nadal and Federer crossed paths once again in the final of the 2009 Australian Open, the Spaniard's first major championship match on hard courts.
In contrast, his Swiss foe - who was out for vengeance after the unforgettable events of SW19 - had already played in eight hard court finals, winning all eight of them, but Federer was left inconsolable at the end of a five-st marathon.
Twice Nadal found himself a set to the good, and twice Federer responded to ensure that the contest would go the distance, but the Swiss icon then overcooked one final forehand on match point before the customary Nadal collapse.
As the Spaniard celebrated his first-ever Grand Slam hard-court triumph, many in the industry believed that Nadal's five-set success signalled a passing of the Grand Slam torch, as Federer was left to lament one of the most excruciating defeats of his career.
3. Nadal vs. Medvedev (2022 Australian Open final) - Nadal wins 2–6, 6–7[5], 6–4, 6–4, 7–5
Thirteen years on from reigning supreme Down Under for the first time, a 35-year-old Nadal found himself back under the lights of the Rod Laver Arena for the 2022 Australian Open final, where Daniil Medvedev stood between him and stardom.
Medvedev travelled to Melbourne as the reigning US Open champion and looked set to add an Australian Open accolade to his CV when he won the first two sets against Nadal, only to succumb to a mesmerising fightback from the Spaniard.
Indeed, Nadal miraculously recovered from his false start to prevail 2–6, 6–7[5], 6–4, 6–4, 7–5 in five hours and 24 minutes, becoming the first man in the Open Era to win an Australian Open final despite trailing by two sets.
Not until 1.11am the following morning did Nadal confirm a then-record 21st major title, but the Spaniard was incredibly involved in an even longer match Down Under a decade before - see below.
2. Nadal vs. Djokovic (2012 Australian Open final) - Djokovic wins 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5
On January 29, 2012, long-time adversaries Nadal and Djokovic fought tooth and nail in what many believe to be the greatest match of tennis to ever be played, barring perhaps the top pick on this list.
The Spaniard had many wrongs to right against his Serbian foe in the 2012 Australian Open final, having gone 0-6 in matches against Djokovic in 2011, and he was well on his way to a vengeful victory by taking two of the opening three sets.
However, renowned mentality monster Djokovic edged a critical fourth-set tie-breaker, and Nadal could not back up an early break in the fifth set as Djokovic prevailed in the longest-ever Grand Slam final in history, a five-hour and 53-minute marathon.
Djokovic was the one to fall down in exhaustion and elation this time around, as Nadal lost a Grand Slam final despite winning the first set for the first and only time in his illustrious career.
1. Nadal vs. Federer (2008 Wimbledon final) - Nadal wins 6–4, 6–4, 6–7[7], 6–7[8], 9–7
As unmissable as the 2012 Australian Open final was, if John McEnroe says that the 2008 Wimbledon championship match was the greatest of all time, then it is the greatest of all time.
Nadal vs. Federer. Centre Court. A quintessential British rain delay. The stage was set to a tee for an absorbing battle between two men at the peak of their powers, and the thousands lucky enough to obtain a seat for the final were not left disappointed.
Nadal came out all guns blazing as he won the first two sets of the final, only for Federer to harness his tie-break powers to level the contest and force a deciding fifth set, which for a brief moment looked like it would have to take place the following day after more inclement weather.
However, with four hours and 48 minutes on the clock, Federer netted a forehand for the final time to confirm Nadal's status as the new king of Wimbledon.
Ben Knapton
