Rafael Nadal pays heartfelt tribute to ‘inspirational’ Serena Williams: ‘From a selfish point of view it’s sad…’

Inarguably, one of the greatest woman sportspersons, Serena Williams has won a record 23 grand slam titles. Tennis legend Serena however will hang her racquet after the US Open this year. Ever since she has announced her retirement, wishes and accolades are pouring in from different quarters. Joining the bandwagon, tennis great Rafael Nadal paid a heartfelt tribute to Serena, hailing her as an “amazing inspiration” and “one of the greatest sportspersons of all time”.

Serena has lost 2 out of three matches in 2022 so far, and will face Emma Raducanu at the Cincinnati Masters. This is also her final WTA 1000 appearance before US Open. “Plenty of memories.” He further added “She is one of the greatest sports [people] of all time. I feel lucky to share a tour for a long period of time with her.”

Reminiscing Serena’s great contributions to the game of tennis, Nadal said “Of course, from a selfish point of view it’s sad that she’s leaving the tour but, on the other hand, we can’t thank her enough for all the things that she did for our sport.”

Nadal wished her all the best for her evolution away from tennis and said “I think she’s an amazing inspiration for a lot of people around the world and I think she deserves to choose whatever works for her better at this stage of her life. So I wish her all the best.”

Nadal who had withdrawn from the semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios in Wimbledon, due to an abdominal tear, is returning to action in the The Western & Southern Open. Speaking to the media about his injury last month, Nadal highlighted “Of course, I had a small tear in the abdominal so it’s dangerous. The abdominal is the place that is dangerous because in every serve you put a lot of effort there, so I need to take things a little bit easier and do the highs the proper way. That’s what I’m trying to do. Try to be a little more conservative but I hope I can be ready to play.”

Nadal has won a total of 22 grand slam titles, the most by any player in history. His contemporaries Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are trailing him with 21 and 20 grand slam titles respectively.