(AFP) - Rafael Nadal on Thursday announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career which brought 22 Grand Slam titles, global respect and inspired epic, iconic rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

"I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially," Nadal said in a video on social media.

"It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life everything has a beginning and an end."

The 38-year-old Spaniard is set to end his two decades as a professional with 92 titles and prize money alone of $135 million, indisputably one of the greatest tennis players in history.

"What a career, Rafa! I always hoped this day would never come," said 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.

"Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love. It's been an absolute honor!"

Current world number one Jannik Sinner said Nadal's departure from the sport was "tough news for the tennis world", but it comes after another injury-plagued season.

After being limited to four matches in 2023, Nadal returned from a year out in January but missed the Australian Open with a muscle tear.

He made his comeback at Barcelona in April and reached his first final in two years on the clay of Bastad in July.

Nadal though lost in the first round of the French Open to Alexander Zverev, making an emotional goodbye to Grand Slam tennis, before he was swept aside on the same Philippe Chatrier court by Djokovic at the Olympics.

His last appearance was a doubles quarter-final loss alongside Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Games.

"Thank you so much for being an example on every level, your legacy is incomparable," Alcaraz wrote on social media.

Nadal's farewell will come next month in Malaga, teaming up again with Alcaraz in the Spain squad as he bids to sign off with a sixth Davis Cup triumph.

"I think it's the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined," said Nadal.

"But I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country."

"I think I've come full circle," added Nadal, who won the Davis Cup for the first time as a teenager in 2004.

Nadal dominated the French Open where he won 14 of his majors, his first arriving just days after his 19th birthday in 2005, his last in 2022 briefly making him the event's oldest champion before Djokovic broke the record.

On the famous crushed brick of Roland Garros, he lost just five times in 118 matches.

He was also a four-time champion at the US Open and a two-time winner at the Australian Open, his first triumph coming in 2009; his second 13 years later.

Nadal also won Wimbledon twice, in 2008 and 2010 even though grass seemed to be the surface most likely to expose any shortcomings in his game.

His five-set victory over Federer in the 2008 championship match, which ended in almost complete darkness at the All England Club, is widely regarded as the greatest Slam final ever played.

Nadal claimed a career Golden Slam when he took Olympic gold in 2008.

He was a five-time year-end world number one and never left the top 10 from 2005 until March last year.

In total, he spent 209 weeks in top spot and between 2004 and 2022, won at least one title every year.

In his long rivalry with close friend Federer, who retired two years ago, he enjoyed a 24-16 edge. Nadal surpassed Federer's mark of 20 majors in Australia in 2022.

He and Djokovic, the all-time leader with 24 men's Grand Slam titles, met 60 times with the Serb ahead by two.

Despite his record-breaking career, Nadal was plagued by injuries, a painful by-product of his all-action, brutal-hitting style.

- Injury-plagued-

Ankle, wrist, knee, elbow and abdominal problems caused him to sit out 18 Grand Slam tournaments and withdraw mid-event on five occasions at the majors.

Nadal has for years suffered from a problem in his foot called Muller-Weiss syndrome, a rare and degenerative condition affecting bones in the feet.

At the 2022 French Open, he admitted that his title charge would have been impossible without daily pain-killing injections in his foot.

Nadal then underwent a medical procedure which required nerves in the foot to be burned to allow him to extend his career.

However, the creaks in the body were getting louder.

An abdominal strain forced him out of Wimbledon where he had made the semi-finals.

He was then struck down with a hip injury at the Australian Open the following January as he crashed out in the second round -- his earliest exit at the majors in seven years.

Nadal possibly sensed the writing was on the wall at the 2022 Laver Cup in London when he played alongside Federer in the great Swiss star's final tournament.

The two men wept and even grasped each other's hands as the Federer era ended.

"When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too," said Nadal.

© Agence France-Presse