Garbiñe Muguruza recently shared that a glamorous farewell for her compatriot Rafael Nadal would be particularly tough for him because of his legendary status and she wouldn’t have been able to play a farewell match before her retirement due to being too emotional.

Garbiñe Muguruza retired from professional tennis on Saturday (April 20) after a 12-year career that saw her win the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and 8 other WTA titles. The 30-year-old had a run of poor games during the 2022 season, and in January 2023, she announced that she would be going on hiatus, she didn’t return to the tennis court until she announced that she would be hanging up her racket at age 30.

In a recent interview with ‘The Telegraph,’ while speaking about her retirement, she mentioned that she would be unable to play knowing it was her final tennis match and that a glamorous farewell would make her cry. With 37-year-old Rafael Nadal coming to the end of his career and most likely playing his last season, she then shared that his farewell is going to be so hard for the living legend that he is.

“I’m not that type of person that could play knowing it’s my final match, I couldn’t play tennis, I’d be crying! It must be so hard when you’re a living legend like Rafa. It’s harder when you’re that big,” Garbine Muguruza said

In the same interview, she was also asked if it was particularly tricky to retire at such a young age, to which she responded that she never felt it was and felt rather fortunate to have played tennis. The two-time Grand Slam champion shared that she had trained with athletes from other sports and observed the challenges they faced due to the scarcity of opportunities, unlike tennis, which typically offers better sponsorships and higher prize money.

“I never felt that way. I felt very lucky to play tennis, it’s a popular sport and we have better sponsors, tournaments, more prize money. I’ve trained around many other athletes from different sports and I saw how hard it was for them. They didn’t have the same opportunities. I was like, ‘man, I don’t care if I’m criticised’. I’m so lucky,” Garbine Muguruza said

Garbiñe Muguruza and Rafael Nadal have topped the ATP and WTA rankings simultaneously

In September 2017, both Rafael Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza were at the top of the ATP and WTA rankings simultaneously, making it the second time two players from the same country had achieved World No.1 rankings in both the ATP and WTA rankings since Serena Williams and Andre Agassi in 2003.

Garbiñe Muguruza and Nadal were also scheduled to compete as partners in the mixed doubles category of the 2016 Olympics. They were set to face Czech duo Radek Štěpánek and Lucie Hradecká in the first round. However, Nadal pulled out because he already represented Spain in the men’s singles and doubles categories.