Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has announced his upcoming retirement from the sport after a glittering career in which he amassed 22 grand slam titles.

A passage from the Rudyard Kipling poem “If” is written on the wall of the players’ entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court. “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters both the same,” it reads. Competitors can glance at Kipling’s writing before they take to the London grass.

When a legend like Rafael Nadal announces his retirement, the world of sport cannot remain indifferent. It was not a surprising decision that the 22-time Grand Slam champion, who gave everything to this sport and could no longer continue to play at a level too far from what he was used to.