Rafael Nadal has announced he will retire from tennis at the end of the season.

In a video shared on social media on Thursday, the 38-year-old Spaniard, who has won 22 Grand Slams, including 14 French Opens, said he will retire in November after the Davis Cup finals in Malaga.

Nadal said he has been playing with “limitations” due to injuries, necessitating the need to quit tennis. He also paid tribute to his family and the tennis world.

“Hello everyone. I’m here to let you know that I’m retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it’s been some difficult years, these last two especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations,” he said.

“It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end, and I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.

“… my family is everything to me. My mother, I think has made all the sacrifices she had to make so that we would always have everything.

“My wife, Mary, we’ve been together for 19 years. Thank you for everything you have done. I think you’ve been the perfect travel companion during all these years of my career. To come home and see how my son is growing every day has been a force that has really kept me alive and with the necessary energy to continue.

“My sister, I think we have always had an incredible relationship. My uncle who is the reason I started playing tennis. I believe that thanks to him I have also been able to overcome many situations that have been difficult in my sporting career. And to my father who I believe has been a source of inspiration for me in every sense of the word. I think he has been an example of effort, of overcoming. Many. Many thanks to my father in a very, very special way.

“And finally, you the fans. I can’t thank you enough for what you have made me feel. You have given me the energy I need at every moment. Everything I have experienced has been a dream come true. I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way.”

Mil gracias a todos
Many thanks to all
Merci beaucoup à tous
Grazie mille à tutti
谢谢大家
شكرا لكم جميعا
תודה לכולכם
Obrigado a todos
Vielen Dank euch allen
Tack alla
Хвала свима
Gràcies a tots pic.twitter.com/7yPRs7QrOi

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) October 10, 2024

Dubbed the “king of clay”, Nadal won the French Open on his first attempt as a 19-year-old in 2005. He won the title nine times in his first 10 attempts. He has won it 14 times overall, with a 96.6% win rate.

Nadal won all four Grand Slam titles at 24 years and an Olympic singles gold medal, becoming the youngest player to achieve both feats in the Open Era. His illustrious career includes 92 ATP and 36 masters titles respectively.

Segun Odegbami, the Nigerian football legend, has solicited financial assistance for his ailing colleague Peter Fregene.

Fregene, popularly known as the flying cat or Apo, is a former goalkeeper of the Nigeria national football team. During a career spanning over two decades — from the 1960s to the 1980s — the 77-year-old won the Nigerian FA Cup with both ECN and Stationery Stores.

In a statement on Tuesday, Odegbami disclosed that Fregene is hospitalised in Sapele, Delta state, and urgently needs medical attention and financial assistance.

The 72-year-old former striker said his colleague is “waiting for help to be moved by ambulance” to the Ohara Teaching Hospital.

He said although “Tony Ojesina covered the ambulance costs, more funds need to be paid before he can be moved” to the teaching hospital.

Odegbami also lamented what he described as “the lack of a functional welfare scheme for retired athletes” in Nigeria.

He expressed frustration that retired athletes now have to rely on the goodwill of “Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Babatunde Fashola, Benson Ejindu, and Allen Onyema to support Fregene’s medical expenses,” adding that they can’t keep burdening them.

Odegbami also appealed to sports enthusiasts to put Fregene in their prayers.

Read the full statement below:

I am frustrated because I am publishing this ‘horror’ picture (a picture of Fregene in hospital bed), wishing I have the capability to do what needs to be done for a colleague without having to resort to yet another public appeal to the same few Nigerians that have, through the years, intervened in the matter of ill-health of a few retired, suffering Nigerian football heroes.

By now, we must have exhausted any remnant of ‘goodwill’ we have with Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Babatunde Fashola, Benson Ejindu, Allen Onyema, and a few other Nigerians that often came to the aid of a few lucky sports heroes several times in the past.

Even if they have not complained, we are ashamed to go back to them again.

Why don’t we have, or why can’t we set up, even on our own, a simple welfare scheme for active and retired athletes across all sports in the country, to take care of our declining health in old age, long after our sports careers?

Doing so does not require knowledge of rocket science. What are needed are the will, hard work and a few good and committed people of integrity.

The danger now is that the number of retired aging sports heroes languishing in poverty, neglect and ill health is legion already, and growing. Their stories are ugly and shameful.

Government has demonstrated time and again that sport is not a priority. 64 years after Independence they cannot and will not see it differently, period.

So, Peter Fregene is a reminder to us all again. As I look at him lying comatose on a hospital bed in Sapele and sending the suffering he must be going through, my frustration is mounting.

It appears doing something for, and beyond, Peter is a responsibility that ‘fate and metaphysical aid’ seem to have put around my neck. So, we shall see, as our people would say when they do not know what’s coming next.

So, what is the situation with ‘Apo’ now? He is still waiting for help to come in order to be moved by ambulance to the Ohara Teaching hospital, Ohara, Delta State. He has been waiting since yesterday.

I hope Globacom that have been taking care of his every need in the past one year would respond once again and come to his aid.

A friend sitting next to me yesterday as I discussed Peter with his wife on telephone last night, Tony Ojesina, immediately paid for the cost of the ambulance that would convey him there. But he still has other bills to pay before he can be moved.

Fregene was the first-choice goalkeeper for the Nigeria national football team from 1968 to 1971. He was then recalled for the 1982 African Cup of Nations finals. He also represented Nigeria at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.

Alex Iwobi’s colleague has been blamed for the Cottagers’ loss at the Etihad Stadium.
Alex Iwobi played commendably in Fulham’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday, but his colleague has been on the receiving end of fierce criticism from ESPN’s Alejandro Moreno.

Despite scoring twice — and having gone ahead — through Andreas Pereira and Rodrigo Muniz, a Mameo Kovacic brace and Jeremy Doku strike sealed a nervy victory for Pep Guardiola’s men, who returned to winning ways after consecutive Premier League draws against Arsenal and Newcastle United.

Success for City means they stay level with Arsenal on 17 points with Liverpool one clear atop the standings.

However, Saturday’s match could have gone differently had Adama Traore converted his multiple chances, failing to put away three opportunities categorised as clear-cut.

According to FBref, Marco Silva’s men edged the Expected Goals (xG) 2-4-1.5 and Traore failed to take opportunities adding up to xG of 1.0.

This prompted Moreno’s remarks about the Spain international’s showing in Manchester, with the former striker focusing on the 28-year-old’s lack of composure in front of goal.

“Adama Traore is proof to the rest of the world that you just can’t have it all,” said Moreno on ESPN. “You can have the pace and you can have the strength, but when it comes to finishing…that’s the story of his career and it’s not just today (Saturday).

“This is something we have seen from Adama Traore that the final product is just not there. His ceiling is so much lower than it should be.

“If you just take the physical aspects of the game, Adama Traore is at the top of the world but when it comes to that final product, he goes all the way down to the very bottom.”