November 19, 2024 – the day when the tennis world came to a standstill. The sport witnessed the end of a remarkable 23-year-long journey! Almost 10,000 people inside Malaga’s Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena had moist eyes as Rafael Nadal bade farewell to his tennis career. “The reality is that you never want this moment to come. I’m not tired of playing tennis, but my body doesn’t want to play tennis anymore,” the Spanish maestro said with tears rolling down his cheeks. Fast forward four months, the Spaniard is now keeping himself busy doing amazing things with his foundations, academies, and chain of hotels. How much is he enjoying his post-retirement life?

A few weeks back, Nadal made a public appearance after a long gap at the Mundo Deportivo’s 77th annual Grand Gala. After receiving the award at that prestigious event, Nadal shared the heartbreaking reality of life in retirement during his speech. The 22-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t picked up a racket since retiring from the sport in November 2024.

Talking about his post-retirement experience, he said, “Since I retired a few months ago, I’ve been a little out of this world for a while.” The 38-year-old admitted that it wasn’t easy to move on from something that he loved so deeply over these two decades. “On a personal level, I am happy, and on the other hand, I am trying to adapt to what is a new facet of my life that, for the moment, I am coping very well. At the moment, I do not miss the day-to-day; I am fine as I am. In the end, the last few years were difficult, that also helps me not to miss it so much. I retired three months ago. I cannot say it with total clarity, but at the moment, I am fine,” he added.

For Rafael Nadal, the biggest satisfaction was to be able to “retire in peace.” Has he been peaceful after retirement? Well, adapting to life outside tennis will definitely take some time, but seeing him play football, have breakfast with his family, and spend time with youngsters in his academies shows how relaxed he has been post-retirement. Recently, he also made an appearance on the podcast of the American tennis legend Andy Roddick.

Roddick has always been a huge admirer of Rafael Nadal. He even hailed him as “Great Rafa” while sharing a heartfelt reaction following his retirement announcement last year. In the recent episode of his podcast, Served with Andy Roddick, the former US Open champion had an interaction with Nadal after a long time.

During the conversation, Nadal revealed that after his retirement, what has changed is that he is not in a rush to get out for dinner, to go prep for the next day, or to get ready for the next match.

“Yeah. I mean, when you are on the tour, I think the way that you approach your daily basis is completely different than when you stop it. Then, when you are there, you feel that you need to be on the on a rush all the time. And even when you have, I remember when even when I have a few free days, days off, I wanted to do all these things that I am not able to do it now. So the time is is precious now. It’s different, different approach is still adapting to all of this,” Nadal said,

He further added, “But of course, give me the feeling that I can enjoy more what I am doing now. I am not thinking, okay, I only have one hour because I have to be there. I have to, you know, it’s a different approach.” Rafael Nadal admitted that he’s enjoying this new part of his life, but at the same time, he also mentioned that “big changes take a few time.”

Andy Roddick bringing his long-time friend on his podcast was a dream-come-true moment for all the tennis fans. These two rivals have faced each other ten times in their careers. Although Roddick trails the Spaniard by 3-7, the American has time and again showcased his admiration for the ‘King of Clay.’ Talking about Nadal’s dominance on clay, there is a small section of fans who consider Rafael Nafal as a one-dimensional player. In a previous episode of his podcast, Roddick addressed those fans, saying, “Don’t you dare peg Rafael Nadal as a claycourt guy, he was so much more.”

Apart from praising Nadal for his heroics on the court, Roddick has previously also praised Nadal for how he has carried himself he was off the court! “We are lucky to have someone like Rafa in tennis for as long as we have. Every single person he comes across, it’s like he doesn’t have an off day with people, right? Shaking hands of every single person, there’s no chance he can feel like doing that crap every day. There’s just no chance. True gentleman,” the 42-year-old once said.

Is Rafael Nadal the G.O.A.T among the ‘Big 3’ according to Roddick, then?

Andy Roddick highlights the factor that keeps Novak Djokovic ahead of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

Andy Roddick struggled to beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in his playing days, but he has a 5-4 record over Novak Djokovic. So, he has vast experience of playing against all of them. Who, according to him, is the real G.O.A.T? Although, Roddick previously rejected drawing a comparison between these three tennis legends, saying, “I think it’s kind of dumb. It is like handing out Oscars before you watch the ending of a movie. It doesn’t really make much sense,” last year he finally stepped into this debate.

During one of the episodes of his podcast, he asserted that while people may bring various different factors in the G.O.A.T. debate, maths will ultimately hold the final sway. Roddick acknowledged Roger Federer as one of the “best players” that he ever played against, “But you line up the three (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s) resumes, if you choose any of them except for this one [Novak], you are an insane human. Very simply, that’s the way it is. Everything else is about preference of what you like to watch.”

According to Roddick, any attempt to discredit the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s numbers is purely a sign of “wilful ignorance” and nothing else. So, per Roddick, despite Federer and Nadal having more flair in their game, it’s Novak Djokovic who is the G.O.A.T. Do you agree?