RIYADH, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal on Thursday expressed his anticipation of returning to China in the future and possibly even playing some matches, saying he is confident he will reunite with fans there.

Nadal made these remarks during the "Six Kings Slam" exhibition tennis tournament on Thursday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While participating in the tournament, Nadal greeted his Chinese fans during an interview with Xinhua. "I had great memories from China. I played all those years. Unfortunately, the last couple of years I was not able to be there because of the injuries." he said.

Nadal recently announced his intention to retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November. Reflecting on his decision, he said, "Yes, I will retire from professional tennis. I will be happy to be back in China in the future, and hopefully playing some good tennis too."

After losing to fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals of the tournament on Thursday, Nadal thanked his fans worldwide. He noted that, "they help me in every single way when I was in rough moments, in positive moments. They always have been there bringing me to the next level of energy. I really feel very fortunate. I had a very long and successful career and the support and the love all around the world."

Nadal is set to face Novak Djokovic in the third-place playoff. Speaking about his upcoming match with Djokovic, he said, "We faced each other plenty of times. So I want it to be a good fun playing against each other one more time in this match. Hopefully we can crate a good show, we can play a good match and give the fans a good level of tennis." Enditem

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