Vamos Rafa! It's time to go for Spain's brave warrior

'Shy and funny' Nadal bows out as sport's ultimate competitor

Guided by that ailing body, after so long following his heart, Rafael Nadal this week called time on his playing days and ended a halcyon era for tennis.

The Davis Cup Finals brought the curtain down on one of the most glittering careers the sport has seen.

One of the most bruising, too, and the end would have come much sooner if the Mallorcan had not wrestled serious injuries for as long as he did.

Nadal, 38, bowed out alongside Carlos Alcaraz, his natural heir.

Alcaraz, the four-time grand-slam winner, once asked if Nadal was his favourite player, replied: "Rafa is my favourite everything", and he said this was "the most special tournament, because of the circumstances".

Nadal's retirement ended the richest era in the history of men's tennis. Between them, Nadal, Roger Federer and last-man-standing Novak Djokovic won 66 grand slams, and for two decades the trio pushed each other to preposterous levels.