Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal has competed infrequently the past two seasons because of injuries and said next month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the sport. He had hip surgery in 2023 and entered just two of the past eight major tournaments.

“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two, especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations,” Nadal said in a video message. “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.”

Nadal’s unrelenting, physical style of play — every point pursued as though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of the greats of the game and the unquestioned King of Clay.

His record 14 French Open championships are more than anyone, man or woman, won at any one of the four major tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal near the main entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and in the shadow of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.

He went 112-4 in the Slam held at Roland Garros, with titles arriving in 2005-08, 2010-14, 2017-20 and 2022.

During a news conference at his tennis academy in Manacor, Spain, in May 2023, Nadal said he would miss that year’s trip to Paris, the first time he sat out the tournament since entering it for the first time — and, naturally, claiming the championship — in 2005.

“You can´t keep demanding more and more from your body, because there comes a moment when your body raises a white flag,” Nadal said in Manacor. “Even though your head wants to keep going, your body says this is as far it goes.”

He reached that point Thursday.

Gauff building momentum >> Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk in just over an hour on Thursday.

It was the fourth-ranked Gauff’s eighth consecutive win on the WTA Tour’s Asian swing after the American won the China Open last week which moved her back into the top five in the rankings.

Golf

PGA returns to Utah >> Adam Svensson made a 35-foot eagle putt he thought he had missed and closed with a birdie from the bunker for a career-best 11-under 60, giving him a two-shot lead Thursday in the Black Desert Championship as the PGA Tour returned to Utah for the first time in 61 years.

Black Desert Resort had a gorgeous day to make its debut with a Tom Weiskopf design cut through an ancient field of black lava and surrounded by the red rock mountains some 30 miles from Zion National Park.

Svensson and so many others made short work of the course in ideal scoring conditions.

Henrik Norlander hit all 14 fairways and all 18 greens in posting his career-low of 62.

NHL

Toronto 4, New Jersey 2 >> Steven Lorentz had a goal and an assist, goalie Dennis Hildeby won his first NHL game and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Thursday night.

Hildeby, Toronto’s fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft, stopped 22 shots in his NHL debut.

Max Pacioretty, Bobby McMann and John Tavares also scored for the Maple Leafs.

The loss spoiled the home debut of Devils coach Sheldon Keefe, who was fired in May after guiding the Maple Leafs for five seasons.

Boston 6, Montreal 4 >> Jeremy Swayman stopped 21 shots in his first game since signing a new contract, and Mark Kastelic had two goals on Thursday night as the Boston Bruins scored four times in a row to overcome an early deficit and beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-4.

Elias Lindholm and Cole Koepke each had a goal and two assists for Boston, which lost 6-4 to the Florida Panthers in its season opener on Tuesday night.

After losing their opener in Florida with Joonas Korpisalo in net, a game they trailed 5-1 in the second period, Boston looked more at home with Swayman. The goalie remained unsigned this summer and missed all of training camp before agreeing to an eight-year, $66M deal on Sunday.