Tennis: As Rafael Nadal calls time on his career, the sport becomes a quieter place

Even in his final moments in his most cherished tournament, Rafael Nadal remained defiant.

For the first time in his career, he was handed a microphone, on the fabled red dirt of the Court Philippe Chatrier, after a defeat. The storylines in the buildup to the 2024 French Open was that this was going to be the last time Nadal would play at a tournament he had won a record 14 times.

But Nadal, battered, bruised, and bested by Alexander Zverev in the first round, refused to concede.

In that moment, he refused to say that it was the end. And in many ways, his defiance was symbolic to the player that was Nadal.

A grinder who chased down every ball to his side of the court, Nadal would find a way to send back an opponent’s seeming winner with unforgiving topspin. He would to it over and over, and over again. His body would bear the brunt of that brutal work load. But he would always return to play with the same intensity and hunger.

Younger opponents struggled to keep up with him. His biggest challenge though, was time. And on Wednesday, in an emotional post on social media, Nadal announced that he would end his illustrious career as a professional tennis player at the...

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