“Built a career that no one could imagine,” Marion Bartoli lauds retiring Rafael Nadal for inspiring ‘so many players’

Former French player Marion Bartoli was all praise for Rafael Nadal for everything he has achieved in his career.

“Built a career that no one could imagine,” Marion Bartoli lauds retiring Rafael Nadal for inspiring ‘so many players’

Marion Bartoli, Rafael Nadal (Images via The Guardian, X)

Rafael Nadal will hang up his racket after the Davis Cup in Malaga in November and former French tennis player Marion Bartoli lauded the 38-year-old for his career and for being an inspiration to many young players. Nadal is in Riyadh for the Six Kings Slam and will play his first match on October 17.
 
Nadal has not played much tennis since 2023 due to the injuries he was battling. This year, after making his comeback at the Brisbane International, he picked up another injury and, as a consequence, he remained on the sidelines until the Barcelona Open. 

YouTube video

And although Nadal hasn’t dealt with major injury concerns since then, he has so far been a shadow of his old self. Bartoli, who retired in 2013 after bagging the Wimbledon the same year, praised Nadal for his work toward his improvement. 

Today we see (Carlos) Alcaraz and the inspiration Rafa was for so many players… He built a career that no one could really imagine because the numbers are almost humanly impossible to achieve. And it’s complicated to imagine them but I was sure that he would have an immense career. He reinvented himself, he developed his game, he knew how to be more aggressive.

Marion Bartoli said on RMC Sport (H/T: We Love Tennis)
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Marion Bartoli pays tribute to Rafael Nadal after his retirement announcement

Rafael Nadal will be the second member of the Big 3 to retire from tennis after Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro called time on his career following his doubles match with Nadal at the 2022 Laver Cup.

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Rafael Nadal (2)
Rafael Nadal (Image via X)

Novak Djokovic, 37, will continue to play although he has decided to focus more on Grand Slam tournaments and skip several others due to his age. Both Federer and Djokovic joined many others on social media in wishing Nadal for the next chapter of his life. Marion Bartoli also joined the list as she took to Instagram to share a heartwarming post. 

I am not sure I will be able to express in 1 post how much RAFA has been, throughout my career an inspiration just like Roger and Novak. An inspiration on how much I should work, I should try again and again to get better.

Marion Bartoli wrote on Instagram

Check it out here:

Nadal will retire as the winner of 22 Grand Slams, next only to Djokovic who has 24 of them. Fans probably will get another chance to see the two greats lock horns with each other if they win their respective semifinals in the Six Kings Slam. Nadal will face the winner of the quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune, while Djokovic will square off against the winner of Jannik Sinner versus Daniil Medvedev.