Reigning French and US Open champion Rafael Nadal hinted at retirement at a recent award show in Barcelona, Spain.
The Barcelona Open, an ATP 500 event honors its champions for winning the tournament every five times with a larger trophy (replicate) made of silver. And the World No. 1 secured his 10th title at the competition by overwhelming Dominic Thiem of Austria earlier this year, meaning he bagged his 2nd De Godo Trophy.
The Majorcan had a sensational year where he won the Roland Garros and US Open crowns and ended the year as the top ranked player in the world.
While he is preparing for next month’s Australian Open in his hometown of Manacor, Albert Agusti, president of the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona 1899, and Javier Godo, Count of Godo in Barcelona, visited him at his home to hand over the famous trophy to him.
Nadal received the prestigious piece of silverware with utmost humility, but predicted that he will not get another trophy in his lifetime – possibly dropping a hint that he will retire well before the next five years.
“I’m very excited about this second big Barcelona trophy, but there will be no more,” Nadal said, via a video on YouTube.
Nadal received the trophy at his private museum in Manacor and Agusti was extremely happy to present the trophy, while disagreeing with the 16-time Major winner’s earlier comment.
“There’s no one better fit to receive this award in his own museum than Nadal,” Agusti said.
“(Nadal) is going to have to make room in this museum because there are surely more trophies to come.”
