Rafael Nadal has admitted he is undecided over where and when he will call time on his tennis career – but it is clear his final appearance is now looming large.

While his one-time rival Andy Murray has confirmed he will end his tennis career at the Olympic Games in Paris, any suggestion that Nadal will follow in his footsteps have been banished and yet it could be his final hurrah.

After plenty of confusion, there now appears to be a degree of certainty over Nadal hanging up his racket at some point in 2024 given his recent comments.

His improved form as he reached his first ATP Tour level final since the 2022 French Open in Bastad last weekend fuelled hopes that he may continue his career into 2025.

That always looked like a long shot as the 22-time Grand Slam champion has stated on numerous occasions that he will end his decorated career at some point this year.

When his name appeared on the US Open entry list, his fans were given fresh hope that he might be planning to plan on beyond his initial retirement date.

Yet we saw a similar story at Wimbledon, where Nadal appeared on the initial entry list and pulled out long before the draw was made.

Now it seems we may expect something similar at the US Open, with Nadal hinting he merely included his name on the entry list to give himself the option to play in New York.

“I needed to book to have the chance to decide after that, that’s as simple as that. Nothing changed for me,” Nadal told reporters. “I’m going to decide what’s going on after the Olympics.

“By the way, I will be playing in the Laver Cup but I am, to be clear, and to not create false expectations, I am not sure at all to be in New York or not.

“No decision today and the decision will not happen before the end of the Olympics.”

It may be that Nadal is waiting for fate to decide when the time comes for him to end his professional career and it is conceivable that moment could come over the next few days.

If Nadal wins a gold medal for Spain alongside Carlos Alacarz in their eagerly anticipated doubles match-up, he may believe that is the moment he wants to bow out on.

He could then follow in the footsteps of his great friend and rival Roger Federer by playing his last competitive tournament at the Laver Cup in Berlin in September.

Federer waved an emotional farewell to tennis at the Laver Cup in 2022 and while the event does not mean as much to Nadal as it does to the Swiss superstar, it would be easier to orchestrate a fitting farewell at an event that could be built around the departing hero.

By then, we will know whether Nadal has opted to play at the US Open and he will need to make that decision based on several issues.

He would probably need to play at the Cincinnati Masters to get himself into shape on US hard courts before playing in New York and there are no guarantees that his body would stand up to the demands of playing on hard courts.

While he was naturally keen to play for one final time at Roland Garros, where he has won 14 French Open titles, he doesn’t have the same emotional attachment to the US Open and may opt against the potential of a month in America for a tournament he probably knows he cannot win.

The truth is every time we see Nadal on a tennis court now may be our last chance to glimpse a champion who has been losing his biggest battle with his body for some time.

“It is a reality, there are many chances that it will be my last year without any doubt,” says Nadal at the start of this year.

“There are chances that it may only be half a year, there are possibilities it may be a full year, that we may not be able to reach all that. These are things right now I do not have the capacity to be able to answer. This is the truth.”

“Perhaps surprisingly, an emotional Nadal gave a slightly more positive update after the loss versus Zverev. He said: “If I keep enjoying doing what I am doing and I feel myself competitive and healthy enough to enjoy, I want to keep going for a while.

“I don’t know for how long, but I am having fun. I need to give myself a little bit longer chance to see if my level is growing and my body is holding, and then let’s make a decision.

“Give me two months until the Olympics, and then let’s see if I am able to keep going or I say, ‘okay guys, it’s more than enough’. Let’s see.”

The Olympics have clearly been on his mind for some time as he plots his exit from tennis and we may not get to see Nadal in a competitive environment too many more times after he plays his final match in Paris.

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Source: Tampa Bay Times