Nadal announces retirement

The 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal of Spain announced Thursday that he will retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November, reported Xinhua.

"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," the 38-year-old said in a video on social media.

Nadal dominated the French Open with a record 14 titles. He also claimed four US Open title and won Australian Open twice. Nadal was also a two-time winner at Wimbledon.

Nadal has been a leading figure in men's tennis for over a decade, along with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the "Big Three". The Spaniard has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the ATP for 209 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.