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Rafael Nadal retires from tennis at the end of the 2024 season

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 11, 2024

The Spanish legend will end his professional career at the Davis Cup final, reports ATP.

KEY FACTS

Rafael Nadal announced that he will retire at the end of the 2024 season on social network X. “Hello everyone, I am here to inform you that I am retiring from professional tennis,” Nadal said in Spanish in the video.
The 38-year-old Spaniard will participate in his last. professional Davis Cup finals tournament in Malaga from November 19 to 24.
Rafael Nadal is a 92-time tour-level champion, and spent 209 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP rankings.
He is a 22-time winner of Grand Slam titles, which includes a record 14 Roland Garros crowns.

KEY QUOTE

“Obviously this is a difficult decision and it took me a while to make it, but in this life, everything has a beginning and an end and I think the time is right to end a career that has been long and far more successful than I could have imagined.”

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WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Nadal will end his storied career on home soil in Malaga, where he will be part of Spain’s Davis Cup squad, which also includes Carlos Alcaraz. The host nation play their quarter-final match against the Netherlands on Tuesday 19 November at 17:00 local time. “I am very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and the presentation of my country,” said the tennis player.

“I think I’ve come full circle because one of my first great joys as a professional tennis player was the Davis Cup final in Seville in 2004. I feel super, super lucky for all the things I’ve been able to experience.” Nadal, who is 12-7 so far in 2024, went on to thank his ATP Tour rivals, his team and his family (including his uncle and former coach Toni Nadal). Although his body has rarely allowed him to compete at full fitness over the past two seasons, the Spaniard’s characteristic dedication to the sport has not waned. He attributes part of his desire to continue playing for so long to the advent of his son, Rafael. “Coming home and seeing my son grow every day was the force that really kept me alive and with the energy to continue,” says the Spaniard.

SPANISH LEGEND

Rafael Nadal is extremely popular among fans all over the world. His powerful left-footed strokes, combined with his almost unrivaled desire to compete and his role as part of the ‘Big Three’ alongside Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, mean that he will end his career as one of the greatest icons of tennis.

“Finally, you the fans – I can’t thank you enough for what you made me feel,” Nadal said at the end of the video. “You gave me the energy I needed at every moment. Really everything I experienced was a dream come true. I leave with the absolute peace of mind that I have given my best and that I have made an effort in every way. I can only end with a thousand thanks to everyone and see you soon.”

FORBES ESTIMATES

According to our estimates, Nadal is the sixth highest-paid tennis star in 2024 with an income of $23.3 million. About $23 million of that amount is off-court income from various endorsement deals, as injuries kept him out of most major tournaments this past year. The exception is the French Open, where he lost in the first round to Alexander Zverev.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

X Bets On A Better Video Editor To Lure Original Creators And Reduce Recycled Content

X is rolling out new video editing and recording tools for its iOS app as the platform seeks to encourage more original content and strengthen its creator ecosystem.

A Push Toward Original Video

The update introduces several features aimed at helping creators produce and edit videos directly within the app. New tools include multilingual caption overlays with customizable styles and green-screen effects that can use photos from a user’s camera roll or other posts on X.

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“One of our biggest priorities is to give creators the tools to create original content [and] reward those creators,” X Head of Product Nikita Bier wrote in a post on the platform.

“We have plenty more updates coming to the video editor in the coming weeks,” he added.

Encouraging Native Content

According to Bier, the goal is to make it easier for creators to publish original videos on X rather than reposting content from other platforms.

Video has become an increasingly important part of X’s strategy. Bier said posts containing video already account for nearly half of all impressions on the platform, investing in creator tools a key priority.

Competition For Creators Intensifies

The launch comes as major social media platforms compete to attract and retain creators through editing tools, audience reach and monetisation programmes.

While X already offers creator revenue sharing, it faces competition from platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Meta, all of which provide more mature creator ecosystems and established content management tools.

Meta, for example, allows Reels creators to report unauthorised reposts and add attribution to eligible content, while YouTube has long relied on automated systems to identify copyrighted uploads.

Spam And Bots Remain A Challenge

The new editing tools also arrive as X continues its broader efforts to combat spam and automated accounts. Earlier this year, Bier said the company was detecting and suspending around 208 bots per minute, adding that a significant share of the product team remained focused on anti-spam development.

The challenge extends beyond X. Reddit has introduced AI-powered tools to combat increasingly sophisticated spam, while Digg shut down its app earlier this year after citing the growing difficulty of managing automated content.

For now, X’s new video editor and recorder are available only on iOS, while the Android version remains under development.