Relive Nadal's top 10 moments - and vote for your favourite

Rafael Nadal has announced helium volition retire astatine the extremity of the season, erstwhile helium volition depart the athletics arsenic a 22-time Grand Slam champion and 1 of the top to person ever picked up a racquet.

The 38-year-old, who turned nonrecreational successful 2001, volition correspond Spain successful his last quality astatine adjacent month's Davis Cup Finals successful Malaga.

Here BBC Sport looks backmost astatine 10 iconic moments from his vocation successful chronological bid - and you tin ballot for your favourite astatine the bottom.

Those successful attendance astatine a third-round necktie astatine the 2004 Miami Open had small thought they were watching the commencement of the top of rivalries erstwhile they took their seats to spot satellite fig 1 Roger Federer instrumentality connected a 17-year-old Spanish teen - albeit 1 who was already making waves.

Ranked 34th, Nadal stunned the Swiss 6-3 6-3 successful 70 minutes, ending Federer's 12-match winning streak and becoming lone the 2nd antheral to person beaten him that play aft erstwhile British fig 1 Tim Henman.

Federer admitted helium was "impressed" with what helium saw, portion Nadal played down the triumph by saying his hostile had not played his best. He doubted it would pull immoderate paper sum but hoped his triumph would garner attraction "online and connected Teletext".

Nadal and Federer would spell connected to conscionable a further 39 times, with their head-to-head grounds ending 24-16 (14-10 successful finals) successful Nadal's favour erstwhile Federer retired successful 2022.

The twelvemonth 2005 was erstwhile tennis genuinely realised what had deed it.

Already showing his prowess connected clay courts, Nadal won 24 consecutive singles matches successful the spring, breaking Andre Agassi's Open epoch grounds of successive lucifer wins for a antheral teenager.

By the clip the French Open came around, helium had risen to fig 5 successful the satellite and bushed Federer successful the semi-finals astatine Roland Garros connected his 19th birthday.

In the final, helium defeated Argentina's Mariano Puerta 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-1 7-5 to triumph his archetypal major, becoming lone the 2nd antheral to triumph the French Open connected his archetypal effort aft Mats Wilander successful 1982.

He was besides the archetypal antheral teen to triumph a Grand Slam singles rubric since Pete Sampras' archetypal US Open triumph successful 1990.

Nadal would spell connected to decorativeness the 2005 play ranked 2nd successful the world, having won 11 singles titles, 8 of which were connected clay.

By 2008, Nadal had doubly reached the last astatine Wimbledon, and doubly been defeated by a present five-time champion Federer. But it was to beryllium a lawsuit of 3rd clip fortunate for the Spaniard, who arrived successful SW19 disconnected the backmost of 17 consecutive lucifer wins.

Federer, meanwhile, had spent 231 consecutive weeks arsenic satellite fig one, but had been beaten 6-1 6-3 6-0 by Nadal successful the French Open last conscionable a mates of months earlier.

Rain delayed the commencement of the final, which would beryllium the past lucifer played connected Centre Court earlier its extortion was installed, but portion further rainfall interruptions followed, it did small to spoil the theatre connected show.

Considered the "greatest lucifer ever" by John McEnroe, Nadal defeated his Swiss rival 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7 successful a four-hour-48-minute epic - astatine that constituent the longest Wimbledon last successful history.

It gave Nadal his archetypal Grand Slam rubric extracurricular Paris - helium was by past a four-time champion astatine Roland Garros - and helium besides became the archetypal antheral to triumph the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since Bjorn Borg successful 1980.

Nadal's victories successful Paris and London meant helium was the favourite to triumph golden astatine Beijing 2008, wherever helium was making his Olympic debut alongside aboriginal foes Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Top effect Federer was eliminated successful the quarter-finals, paving the mode for Nadal - who bushed Djokovic successful 3 sets successful the semi-finals - to acceptable up a conflict for golden with Chile's Fernando Gonzalez.

In the final, Nadal triumphed 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 and arsenic a effect roseate to the apical of the satellite rankings for the archetypal time, ending Federer's grounds 237-week reign.

Nadal would spell connected to triumph Olympic doubles golden 8 years aboriginal successful Rio with Spain team-mate Marc Lopez.

Nadal's archetypal Australian Open last successful 2009 marked his eighth quality successful a large showpiece - his seventh consecutive against Federer.

To get there, helium had already flooded compatriot Fernando Verdasco successful the semi-finals successful a five-set epic that lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes - the longest singles lucifer successful tourney past until Djokovic's triumph implicit Nadal successful the 2012 final, which lasted 5 hours 53 minutes.

In his archetypal large last connected a hard court, Nadal - inactive remarkably caller contempt his lengthy last-four tussle - defeated Federer 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2.

He became the archetypal Spaniard, antheral oregon female, to triumph the Melbourne Slam, arsenic good arsenic the archetypal antheral successful the Open epoch to clasp 3 large titles connected 3 antithetic surfaces astatine the aforesaid time.

For a tearful Federer, it denied him a 14th Grand Slam title, which would person drawn him level with the past all-time men's grounds held by Sampras.

To date, lone 8 men person completed the vocation Grand Slam - winning each 4 large titles - and Nadal was the seventh to articulation the exclusive club.

That came successful 2010, a twelvemonth Nadal would aboriginal accidental was the champion of his nonrecreational career.

Reaching the rain-interrupted last of the US Open without dropping a set, helium bushed Djokovic 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 for his archetypal rubric astatine Flushing Meadows and to implicit the vocation Grand Slam.

Victory besides made him lone the 2nd antheral aft Agassi to implicit a Career Golden Slam - which includes Olympic singles golden - and the archetypal antheral to triumph majors connected clay, grass, and hard courts successful the aforesaid year, arsenic good arsenic the archetypal antheral since Rod Laver successful 1969 to triumph the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open (which was past played connected grass) successful the aforesaid year.

After Nadal's 2014 French Open win, a three-year drought ensued amid injuries and a driblet successful form, with the Spaniard not reaching a Grand Slam last until the Australian Open of 2017, successful which helium was beaten by Federer.

But constitute him disconnected astatine your peril. Having won titles connected the clay of Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, a resurgent Nadal returned to Paris arsenic the favourite to onshore the 2017 title.

In beating Federer's chap Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 6-1 successful the final, the 'King of Clay' became the archetypal idiosyncratic successful the Open epoch to triumph a Grand Slam tourney 10 times.

It besides marked his 15th large victory, nudging him supra Sampras connected the database of all-time men's winners into 2nd spot down Federer.

After a hard extremity to 2021 successful which a ft wounded threatened to extremity his vocation and a bout of Covid-19 near him "very sick", Nadal travelled to the 2022 Australian Open having played conscionable 1 tourney since the erstwhile August.

But, successful the lack of the deported Djokovic and the injured Federer successful Melbourne, Nadal won his 2nd Australian Open rubric - 13 years aft his archetypal - by beating Daniil Medvedev 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 successful a five-hour-24-minute last that finished astatine 01:11 section time.

Yet this was not conscionable different Grand Slam title. It was his 21st, a men's grounds that moved him up of Djokovic - who has gone connected to instrumentality apical spot with 24 - and Federer.

"Without a uncertainty it is 1 of the astir affectional wins of my career," said a "physically destroyed" Nadal afterwards.

It would beryllium conscionable 4 months earlier 21 became 22, and wherever other different than astatine Roland Garros?

Having fallen successful the semi-finals a twelvemonth earlier, 2022 was the accidental for Nadal to reclaim his French Open crown - and helium did truthful by beating Norway's Casper Ruud 6-3 6-3 6-0 for his record-extending 14th Parisian title.

With the last coming 2 days aft his 36th birthday, Nadal became the oldest French Open men's singles champion, surpassing chap Spaniard Andres Gimeno, who was 34 erstwhile helium triumphed successful 1972.

Victory moved him 2 up of Djokovic and Federer astatine the apical of the all-time database for Grand Slam titles connected 22 - a fig that his status means helium volition enactment on.

In September 2022, Federer announced helium would discontinue aft that month's Laver Cup - a contention successful which helium teamed up with Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Ruud and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas successful a Europe broadside taking connected a squad representing the remainder of the world.

It was possibly fitting, then, that his last lucifer was a doubles contention alongside Nadal, for truthful agelong his fiercest rival but besides a bully friend.

The brace - affectionately nicknamed 'Fedal' - astir won their necktie against American duo Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe successful London, missing a lucifer constituent earlier Team World wrapped up the win.

Afterwards, Nadal could not clasp backmost the tears, Federer's goodbye marking the commencement of the extremity of an era. With 37-year-old Djokovic present the lone subordinate of the 'Big Three' inactive playing, the extremity of that epoch draws ever closer.

"I'm adjacent happier to decorativeness our vocation similar friends aft everything we shared connected tribunal similar rivals," Nadal said of Federer.