Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday he will retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career in which he won 22 Grand Slam titles and Olympic singles gold.

"I am retiring from professional tennis. The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two especially," Nadal said in a video on social media.

"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."