One of the all-time greats, Nadal is set to step away from tennis at the end of the year with 22-time Grand Slam titles, a record 14 French Open victories, 209 weeks as world No. 1, Olympic gold, and 92 career titles.

Nadal will play for the final time for Spain at the Davis Cup Finals in November.

As Nadal joins fellow tennis legend Roger Federer in retirement, what are the most memorable matches of his career?

The 2008 Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer was called the “greatest match ever” by John McEnroe.

A match that memorably ended in near-darkness on Centre Court might have been wrapped up sooner as Nadal won the opening two sets and had two championship points in an absorbing fourth set tie-breaker.

But Federer fought back – following an incredible Nadal passing shot in the tie-breaker with one of his own – and forced a deciding set.

A rain delay at 2-2 in the fifth set only added to the tension, and although the covers came on, the final was not pushed back to the next day.

The players returned after half an hour and eventually it was Nadal, beaten in the last previous two Wimbledon finals by Federer, who prevailed in the gloom in four hours and 48 minutes, falling to the turf in celebration.

Nadal’s first Australian Open triumph was not won the easy way.

In the semi-finals, he withstood a barrage of 95 winners to win a five-hour thriller against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who worried that the exertions of the energy-sapping contest might impact Nadal’s chances in the final against Federer.

“It is a pity for Rafa that he had to play such a long match ahead of the final when Roger only played three sets. I want him to be 100% to play in the final,” said Verdasco.

But Nadal showed no signs of weariness against Federer, saving 13 of 19 break points and proving the stronger in the fifth set to triumph.

“To receive this trophy from Rod Laver is a dream for me,” said Nadal after winning his first hard-court major.

It was a crushing loss for a tearful Federer, who was denied a 14th Grand Slam that would have moved him level with the then all-time men’s record held by Pete Sampras.

Nadal won the first of his four US Open titles in 2010 to complete the set of all four Grand Slams.

In a gripping final against Novak Djokovic he served brilliantly – as he had done all tournament – and kept his unforced error count low.

A heavyweight clash saw blows exchanged in a number of long rallies, but it was Nadal who came out on top, winning 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2.

“For the first time in my career, I played a very, very good match in this tournament,” said Nadal after the win.

“That’s my feeling, no? I played my best match in the US Open at the most important moment.”

Not a match that Nadal won, but undoubtedly one of the most memorable of his career.

Nadal and Djokovic slugged it out in the longest-ever Grand Slam final at five hours and 53 minutes.

Nadal twice looked to have victory in his sights as he took two of the opening three sets and later moved 4-2 up in the deciding set.

But Djokovic showed all of his fighting qualities as he staged a stunning comeback and eventually triumphed.

So physically demanding was the match that an exhausted Djokovic and Nadal couldn’t stand for the trophy ceremony and needed to sit on chairs.

“Physically it was the toughest match I ever played,” said Nadal.

Nadal has won so many matches at the French Open that it is almost impossible to pick out just a few of the best.

In 2008 he demolished Federer in the final in remarkable fashion, but in 2013 he beat Djokovic in one of the best matches of their incredible rivalry, lasting four hours and 37 minutes and ending with Nadal winning 9-7 in the fifth set.

It was brilliant, it was exhausting, it was thrilling, it was exhilarating. It was also a belated moment of revenge for Nadal after losing to Djokovic in an epic Australian Open final in 2012.

“I lost a match like this in Australia,” said Nadal. “This one was for me.”

It was a match that could have gone Djokovic’s way as he broke to start the fifth set and led 4-3. But at deuce Djokovic gave away a point when he ran into the net after hitting an overhead.

Nadal went on to break and took his chance to claim victory.

Perhaps the last great match that Nadal played.

At the start of 2022 there were doubts over whether he would even compete at the Australian Open after missing the last four months of the previous season with a foot injury.

Not only did he make it to Melbourne, but he reached the final.

His chances of victory, though, looked incredibly slim when he lost the first two sets to Daniil Medvedev and then trailed 3-2 in the third and facing three break points.

But Nadal somehow recovered from the brink and pulled off one of the most amazing comeback wins of his career in five hours and 24 minutes.

“It’s just amazing,” said Nadal. “Six weeks ago I didn’t even know if I would be able to be back on the tour playing tennis again. Having this trophy in front me of here – you really don’t know how much I fought to be here.

“Without a doubt it is one of the most emotional wins of my career.”