Rafael Nadal has announced that he will retire from tennis after next month’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. And his rival Nick Kyrgios has paid tribute to him by revealing he had “nightmares” about the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

Nadal has endured an injury-hit couple of years and had previously suggested the end of his career was on the horizon.

And the 38-year-old confirmed the news as he posted a four minute and forty second video on social media on Thursday.

Tennis stars from across the globe have reacted to the announcement, with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Roger Federer speaking out.

And Kyrgios, who faced Nadal on nine occasions on the court, has also had his say following the icon’s retirement announcement.

“Damn. I’ve had nightmares that have woke me up about Rafa,” the 29-year-old wrote on X (formerly Twitter). I’m gonna miss them. This was someone that I used to prepare for, he was a motivation – I guess an inspiration. F*** – it’s true – people do bring the best out of you. You were one of those people. Damn.”

Kyrgios stunned Nadal on Centre Court at Wimbledon as a teenager when the players met for the first time in 2014. The Australian blew the then-world No. 1 off court in four sets to progress to the quarter-finals.

Nadal got his revenge at the All England Club with a second round victory over Kyrgios in 2019 after dispatching the big-serving star in the final of the China Open two years previously.

The duo were then scheduled to meet in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022, but Nadal was forced to withdraw ahead of the showdown due to an abdominal tear. Kyrgios went on to lose to Djokovic in the final.

Kyrgios and Nadal have had a tumultuous relationship at times, with tensions rising during a match at the Mexico Open in 2019 when the Aussie complained that his opponent was taking too long between serves.

Kyrgios then threw in a cheeky underarm serve, which resulted in Nadal exclaiming: “He lacks respect for the public, the rival and towards himself.”

Announcing the decision to bring down the curtain on his career, Nadal explained: “The reality is that it has been some difficult years – these last two especially I don’t think I’ve been able to play without limitations,” an emotional Nadal explained as he addressed fans in his video.

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