One of the greatest tennis players of all time, Rafael Nadal has announced his retirement from the sport. In an emotional video, the 22-time Grand Slam champion bid farewell to the game in which he built his stature as one of the most loved sportspersons of all time. The Davis Cup final 8 for Spain will be Nadal’s last outing as a professional tennis player, to be held in November. Nadal remains one of the most decorated sportspersons of all time. Of the 22 Grand Slam titles he has won, the Spaniard clinched record 14 French Open titles.

Nadal also has a total of 92 ATP singles titles to his name, including 36 Masters titles as well as an Olympic gold medal. Nadal also holds the unique record of being one of three men tennis history to complete the Career Golden Slam in singles. He announced the retirement news with an emotional video on social media. 

“I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially,” Nadal said in the 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 an end.”

Mil gracias a todos
Many thanks to all
Merci beaucoup tous
Grazie mille tutti

Obrigado a todos
Vielen Dank euch allen
Tack alla

a tots pic.twitter.com/7yPRs7QrOi

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) October 10, 2024

Last month, Nadal had pulled out of the Laver Cup 2024, which was set to be his final event on court as a professional. Following the Paris 2024 Olympics, Nadal had confirmed Laver Cup will be his next event for 2024.

Berlin would have been Nadal’s fourth Laver Cup appearance, having competed in Prague in 2017, Geneva in 2019, and then alongside close friend and long-time rival Roger Federer in doubles, for the last match of Federer’s career at The O2 in London in 2022.

The 22-time Grand Slam Champion had earlier hinted that 2024 may be his last year on tour.

Nadal has a 12-7 match record on the season and last competed at the Paris Olympics, where he fell in the second round to Novak Djokovic.

With IANS Inputs

The Congress has been relegated from a junior partner in the incoming Jammu and Kashmir government to a relative non-entity, after four independent MLAs extended support to the National Conference, the ‘big brother’ in the alliance that won this week’s election.

Pyare Lal Sharma, Satish Sharma, Choudhary Mohammed Akram, and Dr Rameshwar Singh – who won the Inderwal, Chhamb, Surankote, and Bani seats – have backed the NC.

The party now has the support of 46 lawmakers – the majority mark in the 90-member House; this does not include the five to be nominated by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

This means the Kashmiri outfit now does not need the Congress’ support to govern, adding to an existential crisis that has dogged the party over the last decade, fuelled by all-too-many leadership squabbles and election losses, the most recent of which was Haryana.

It is a slim margin, yes. The loss of even of even one MLA drops the NC below the threshold and the Congress’ six seats (assuming the party can now hold on to all six) is back in play.

But, for now, the Congress is not a factor Omar Abdullah absolutely has to consider.

The NC had finished Tuesday’s counting of votes with 42 seats and the Congress six.

READ | NC, Congress’ Big Win Over BJP In 1st J&K Poll In Decade

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which dominated the Jammu region, as expected, scored 29; the saffron outfit’s count has since gone to 32 after support from the other three independents.

The People’s Democratic Party of ex-Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti collapsed, dropping all but three seats from its 2014 tally of 28 and, with it, any hope of playing ‘kingmaker’.

The result bucked exit poll predictions of a hung Assembly and offered some solace on a bad day for the Congress, after the party slumped to a torrid defeat in Haryana.

READ | “Arrogant, Overconfident”: Allies Twist  Knife On  Congress’ Haryana Loss

That loss invited scathing criticism from the party’s INDIA bloc allies; the Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool were particularly severe.

The Sena, the Trinamool, and the AAP slammed the Congress’ “arrogance” and “overconfidence” and, ahead of elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand later this year, as well as Delhi early next, lamented its ability to “turn a winning innings into a defeat”.

One other important announcement followed a meeting of NC MLAs this afternoon. 

Omar Abdullah was unanimously elected the legislative party leader and will become the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

This was expected; party patriarch Farooq Abdullah, his father, said as much Tuesday; he told reporters “Omar Abdullah banega Chief Minister” as his party strode towards victory.

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Israel’s military says it targeted Hamas fighters operating at the school in the town of Deir al-Balah. 

​Israel’s military says it targeted Hamas fighters operating at the school in the town of Deir al-Balah.