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FUENGIROLA, Spain (AP) — Rafael Nadal felt a hand on his left shoulder as he walked out of a conference room at a resort on Spain’s southern coast Monday following his first question-and-answer session with reporters since announcing this week’s Davis Cup Final 8 will be his last event before retirement.

Nadal turned to see Carlos Alcaraz, his Spanish teammate and heir apparent, who wanted to whisper something. Nadal, 38, and Alcaraz, 21, might share a court one last time on Tuesday, when Spain is scheduled to face the Netherlands on Tuesday in the quarterfinals on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga.

Then again, maybe they won’t both play Tuesday: Neither Nadal nor Spain’s captain, David Ferrer, would say Monday whether the 22-time Grand Slam champion will participate. What is clear is that Nadal’s career soon will be over.

What will he miss the most?

“I mean, probably the feeling of competition, (to) go on court and see the fans out there, the atmosphere when you play big matches,” Nadal said. “And at the end of the day, (it) is about the adrenaline that you feel before, at the end, and during the match.”

The Spain-Netherlands winner will play in the semifinals on Friday against Canada or Germany. The championship will be decided on Sunday.

“I’m not here to retire. I’m here to help the team win. It’s my last week in a team competition, and the most important thing is to help the team. The emotions will come later,” said Nadal, wearing the squad’s red polo shirt with a tiny red-and-yellow Spanish flag on the left sleeve.

“I’m enjoying the week. I’m not putting too much attention to the retirement,” Nadal said. “It will be a big change in my life after this week.”

Nadal said it doesn’t “make sense to keep going, knowing that I don’t have the real chance to be competitive the way that I like to be competitive, because my body” won’t allow it.

At the team news conference held at a hotel in Fuengirola, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the competition venue, Nadal was asked how he has been feeling in practice in recent days and whether he is ready to play.

“That’s a question for the captain,” Nadal responded, drawing a laugh from Ferrer, sitting to the star player’s left.

Ferrer’s answer?

“I don’t know yet,” he said.

Perhaps this will factor in: Nadal is 29-1 in his Davis Cup singles career, a .967 winning percentage that is the highest for anyone who has played more than 15 matches. Way back in 2004, Nadal lost his Davis Cup debut to the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak — and he’s won all 29 matches in a row since.

There will be two matches in singles and one in doubles in each matchup. Nadal could appear just in singles, just in doubles — perhaps alongside Alcaraz, his partner at the Paris Olympics — in both, or not at all.

“Maybe we can be a part of that story of his finish here,” Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann said, looking ahead to a possible semifinal. “It would be nice to get a chance to play against him one more time.”

Ferrer’s lineup doesn’t need to be submitted until 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), an hour before play begins. The reason the 9,200-capacity arena is sold out for Tuesday: It could be the last chance to see Nadal play a match that matters.

“His last moments on court probably are going to be super special. Not (just) for me, but for everyone,” Alcaraz said. “It’s going to be an emotional day.”

Nadal has been dealing with a series of injuries the past two seasons and has been limited to only 23 official singles matches in that span, including a 12-7 record this year.

“OK, I can hold for one more year. But why? To say goodbye in every single tournament? I don’t have that ego to need that,” Nadal said, adding that he has “been thinking for a long time” about retiring.

He hasn’t played a real match since the Paris Games in early August, when he lost in the second round of singles to Novak Djokovic and in the quarterfinals of doubles.

“I’ve tried to prepare as hard as possible for the last month and a half. I’m trying to give my best for this event,” Nadal said. “When you don’t compete so often, it’s difficult to maintain the level consistently. But the improvement is there every day. I believe that.”

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AP Sports Writer Tales Azzoni in Madrid contributed to this report.

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AP tennis:

TORONTO – Manulife Financial Corp. says chief executive Roy Gori will retire in May and be replaced by Phil Witherington, who is currently serving as chief executive of Manulife Asia.

The insurer says Gori will officially retire as chief executive on May 8, 2025, but will continue as an adviser to the company until Aug. 31, 2025.

Gori joined Manulife in 2015 as chief executive for the company’s business in Asia and was appointed chief executive of the overall company in 2017.

Manulife board chair Don Lindsay says the company is well-positioned for sustained future growth because of Gori’s disciplined focus on execution and the tremendous team and culture he’s built.

Manulife says Witherington served as chief financial officer of the company for five years before he took over running the insurer’s business in Asia.

Witherington is expected to continue in his current job as he works with Gori on transition planning and will name a successor in the coming months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:MFC)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in October rose eight per cent compared with September.

The national housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 240,761 units in October, up from 223,391 in September.

The increase came as the annual pace of urban housing starts rose six per cent to 223,111 units.

The annual pace of multi-unit urban starts such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses gained seven per cent at 175,705, while the rate of single-detached urban starts increased one per cent at 47,406 units.

The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 17,650.

CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said the Prairies, Quebec and Atlantic provinces have seen higher activity this year, while Ontario and B.C. recorded declines.

“Despite these results, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres,” Dugan said in a news release on Monday.

Actual year-to-date housing starts between January and October 2024 were up 12 per cent in Montreal from the same period last year, while in Vancouver, actual starts were down 18 per cent after a record high year in 2023.

In Toronto, actual year-to-date housing starts were down 21 per cent from 2023.

CMHC said the six-month moving average of the annual rate of housing starts was flat in October at 243,522 units.

TD economist Rishi Sondhi said October’s “healthy” level of starts “sets homebuilding off on the right foot in terms of its contribution to overall economic growth in the fourth quarter.”

But the outlook for housing starts remains “soft,” he said, even when considering October’s gains.

“This is largely due to the outsized weakness expected for Ontario, which will bring down the national figures,” Sondhi said in a note, adding starts in Ontario over the past 12 months have fallen to levels last seen in 2020.

“Pre-sales activity remains exceedingly weak in the GTA, pointing to more of the same through 2025. This is the key factor underpinning our forecast that starts will decline next year, even with homebuilding likely to hold up better in other parts of the country.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.