Rafael Nadal insists on more time to arrive at a decision about retirement; admits his "objectives for the year are over"

Rafael Nadal recently stated that he is yet to make up his mind about retirement. For the most part of the ongoing tennis season, it was widely expected that the Spaniard would hang up his racket at the end of the year. However, the former World No. 1 has still not confirmed it and continues to maintain that he is training regularly.

After sustaining a hip injury at the 2023 Australian Open that saw him sidelined for almost a year, Nadal returned to action at the start of this season at the Brisbane International. However, during his quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson at the ATP 250 event, he sustained a fresh injury. Another spell on the sidelines followed as he missed the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and the Miami Open.

The 22-time Major winner came back in time for the European claycourt swing in a bid to prepare himself for the French Open. However, the best finish he could muster across the Barcelona Open, the Madrid Open and the Italian Open was a fourth-round finish in the Spanish capital. At the French Open, the record 14-time winner of the claycourt Major fell to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev in the first round.

Nadal played no part in the grasscourt season, as he chose to focus on his singles and doubles campaigns at the Paris Olympics. In the buildup to the Paris Games, the former World No. 1 reached the final of the Nordea Open in Bastad, Sweden, but lost to Nuno Borges.

At the Olympics, Nadal's singles campaign came to an end at the hands of great rival Novak Djokovic in the second round. In men's doubles, he paired up with Carlos Alcaraz, but the duo was ousted in the quarterfinals by eventual finalists Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek of the USA.

The Spaniard hasn't played since the Paris Games and withdrew from the ongoing 2024 US Open as well. However, he has confirmed his 2024 Laver Cup participation.

Recently, Nadal featured as a guest on El Hormiguero, a Spanish talk show. During his appearance on the talk show, the former World No. 1 said that he still hasn't decided on his retirement.

"Let me take my time to make my decision. When I have made up my mind, I will say so," Nadal said.

The 22-time Major winner went on to admit that he has failed to meet the objectives that he had set for himself this year.

"My objectives for the year are over and I haven’t achieved what I would have liked to. I train every day and I enjoy other things in life," Nadal added.

Nadal has also been announced as one of the headline acts at an exhibition event later this year.

Rafael Nadal set to feature at the Six Kings Slam in October

Rafael Nadal (Source: Getty)

Nadal is slated to be one of the headlining acts at the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event to be organized by Riyadh Season and played in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The event is set to take place in October, with the lineup also featuring Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune.

For participation alone, every player will receive a compensation of $1.5 million. The winner of the event will take home a whopping $6 million, a record in tennis prize money history, significantly eclipsing the $3.6 million on offer for the winner of the US Open.

Before he heads to Saudi Arabia though, Nadal would be hopeful of playing a prominent role for Team Europe at the 2024 Laver Cup in Berlin. The last two editions of the event have seen the trophy go Team World's way.