Rafael Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion and widely regarded as one of the most exceptional players in the history of tennis, has announced his retirement from professional tennis.

Nadal’s forthcoming participation in the Davis Cup final 8 for Spain in November will mark his final appearance as a professional tennis player. His illustrious career includes 22 Grand Slam titles, with an unprecedented 14 victories at the French Open, solidifying his status as one of the most accomplished sportspersons of all time.

The champion, in an emotional video posted on X on Thursday, said, “I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially.”   

“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 said in the video in Spanish.

The 38-year-old mentioned that he has been dealing with numerous injuries over the past few years, leading to significant time away from the sport. This year, the left-handed player has only participated in seven tournaments, experiencing an early exit in the first round of the French Open – an event he has historically won 14 times.

His most recent performance was at the Paris Olympics, where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in straight sets during the second round.

Nadal boasts an impressive total of 92 ATP singles titles, which includes 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal. Notably, he is one of three men in tennis history to achieve the Career Golden Slam in singles. The announcement of his retirement came through an emotional video shared on social media.

In the lead-up to his retirement, Nadal withdrew from the 2024 Laver Cup, which was intended to be his final professional event on the court. Following the Paris 2024 Olympics, Nadal confirmed that the Laver Cup would be his next appearance for the year. This would have marked his fourth participation in the Laver Cup, after competing in Prague in 2017, Geneva in 2019, and partnering with long-time rival Roger Federer in doubles for the latter’s final match at The O2 in London in 2022.

The 22-time Grand Slam Champion had previously hinted that 2024 might be his last year on the tour. With a season match record of 12-7, his latest competitive outing was at the Paris Olympics, where he was eliminated in the second round by Novak Djokovic.

The Israeli military on Thursday claimed the death of Rawhi Mushtaha, head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that besides Mushtaha, Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio on Hamas’ political bureau and Hamas’ Labor Committee, and Sami Oudeh, Commander of Hamas’ General Security Mechanism were also eliminated in a joint IDF and ISA strike in Gaza, approximately three months ago.

IDF further said that Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck and eliminated the terrorists while they were hiding in a fortified and equipped underground compound in northern Gaza.

“The compound served as a Hamas command and control center and enabled senior operatives to remain inside of it for extended periods of time. The IDF will continue to pursue all of the terrorists responsible for the October 7 massacre and will operate against anyone who threatens the State of Israel,” the Israeli Army said in a post on X.

The IDF stated that Mushtaha, alongside Yahya Sinwar, established Hamas’s General Security Mechanism. According to reports, both served a prison sentence together in an Israeli jail and Mushtaha was considered to be the most senior figure in the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip and, during the war, maintained civil control of the Hamas regime while simultaneously engaging in terrorist activity against Israel.

The reports further stated that Mushtaha was Sinwar’s right-hand man and one of his closest associates.

Mushtaha had been one of Hamas’s most senior operatives and was a key decision-maker in how the terror organisation deployed its fighters and assets, the Israeli military noted.

The Gazan terror organisation, according to the IDF, refrained from making an announcement of the killing of its three senior Hamas operatives in an airstrike by the Israeli Army around three months ago to prevent morale loss among its fighters.

According to Israel, the Hamas leader was involved in military decisions while also acting as the Head of Hamas Civil Governance in the Gaza Strip and holding the Prisoners Affairs Portfolio. It added that he also formerly held the finance portfolio.

The Israeli Defense Forces today announced that it started limited, localised and targeted ground raids against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing hostilities between the Jewish nation and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

Reports said that the Israeli troops had already entered Hezbollah tunnels near the nation’s border with Lebanon before the Israeli Defense Force made the ground invasion announcement on Tuesday morning.

The army stated that the targets were located in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.

Just a few hours before the IDF announcement, Israel warned residents in Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, to evacuate. The warning was followed by a series of strikes in Beirut.

Notably, the IDF’s ground operation comes days after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Meanwhile, over 1,000 people have died in the past two weeks since the cross-border hostilities first started, while up to a million others are likely to have been displaced.

Reports said that special Israeli forces entered a network of subterranean warrens that Hezbollah members reportedly dug near the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon.

Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military said in a tweet that the Air Force and IDF Artillery are supporting the ground forces and that Operation Northern Arrows will continue according to the situational assessment and in parallel to combat in Gaza and in other arenas.

The IDF announcement follows a day after Israel’s National Security Cabinet approved the next phase of its war with Hezbollah. Furthermore, Israel had also informed the US about a number of operations, including ground operations, in Lebanon.

In the last 24 hours, nearly 95 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, mentioning that 172 others were also injured in the same period.