Rafael Nadal received a huge ovation from tennis fans when he arrived on Sunday for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Saudi Arabia.

In his first public sighting since retiring from the sport in November, Nadal was spotted arriving at the King Abdullah Sports City venue in Jeddah to huge acclaim from spectators.

The 38-year-old, wearing a black suit, was escorted through the backstage area by security personnel.

And the Manacor native couldn’t resist pulling off a grin as he saluted the fans in the stands with a wave before walking to find his seat.

Nadal became the second member of the ‘Big Three’ to bow out from tennis, following Roger Federer’s decision to hang up his racket in September 2022.

Andy Murray also retired in August this year following his exit from the Paris 2024 Olympics, leaving only Novak Djokovic from tennis’ golden generation on the big stage.

In his 23 years as a professional, Nadal won 22 Grand Slam titles – including 14 at the French Open – and 92 overall on the ATP Tour.

Despite only stepping away from the court a matter of weeks ago, Nadal couldn’t resist a chance to catch a glimpse of the stars of tomorrow in Sunday’s final.

With tennis royalty watching on, Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca pulled off a stunning victory to beat American starlet Learner Tien and become the youngest NextGen winner since Jannik Sinner in 2019.

Before the final was played, Nadal gave some valuable advice to the sport’s next generation talents Fonseca and Alex Michelsen and, with it, provided a fascinating insight into his insatiable thirst to win matches.

“For me it’s about a personal feeling that if I don’t give my best, I don’t try my best, I come back home and I am not calm with myself,” Nadal said.

“At the end, it’s the fear of not being satisfied with myself. It’s about, ‘Okay I can lose, I can play terribly, I can play good’, but what cannot happen is not going off the court knowing that I tried.

“For me that is the key at the end, to have the personal responsibility to give your best regardless of the situation.

“Sometimes giving your best is a disaster, in terms of you are playing so bad… If you are mentally there and able to accept the challenge, accept that you are playing terribly but you need to fight with what you have that today, a lot of days you have the level to win that match.

“Then the next day, you play a little bit better and win the match, and somehow things can change quickly in our sport.”