Rafael Nadal’s career is OVER after Spain are knocked out of the Davis Cap – as tennis icon loses final game before retirement
- Rafael Nadal lost his match for Spain in the Davis Cup against the Netherlands
- Spain were defeated in the draw, meaning Nadal’s glittering career came to an end
Rafael Nadal’s glorious career ended as Spain was knocked out by the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup.
In his last event before his retirement, the 38-year-old lost his singles match against Botic van de Zandschulp, after which Carlos Alcaraz won his match, Spain lost the decisive doubles match.
When asked if it had been a satisfying ending, the fiercest competitor this sport has ever known replied: ‘No, satisfying is giving the team a point. That wasn’t the case, I lost my match. But at this point in my career I can’t complain much. I did my best, I tried to enjoy it and play with the right energy. It just didn’t work.
“It’s good in some ways if that was my last match: I lost my first match in the Davis Cup, and I lost my last,” said the 22-time Grand Slam champion. “So we close the loop.”
The prelude to this tie was pure theatre.
Rafael Nadal’s career is over after Spain was eliminated from the Davis Cup by the Netherlands
Nadal was defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Botic van de Zandschulp in what turned out to be his last ever match
Spain captain David Ferrer’s (right) decision to choose Nadal over Roberto Bautista Agut (left) was a major talking point ahead of the match in Malaga on Tuesday evening
The Spanish players went out one by one, before a white line appeared in the darkness in the tunnel and the most famous headband in the world emerged.
As fans in the arena roared along to the tune of the wordless Spanish national anthem, the emotion was etched on Nadal’s craggy face.
During the warm-up, the announcer went through all of Nadal’s Grand Slam titles and each title was cheered from the steel beams. It took a while, especially when they reached the French Open. ‘Champion de Roland Garros dos mille cinco’ – ‘OLE!’ – ‘Dos mille siete’ – ‘OLE’ and so on 14 times.
It was breathtaking to celebrate this champion of champions, but once the serious business got down to business, it became clear that Nadal was in trouble. He covered the court well enough, but struggled to get much momentum behind his groundstrokes as his forehands lacked their former fizz.
The selection of Nadal was controversial: from a purely sporting point of view, shouldn’t captain David Ferrer have chosen the reliable Roberto Bautista Agut? But with Nadal playing his last event before his retirement, it would have been a brave man to deny the 11,500 spectators the sight they came for.
Nadal insisted he was selected purely on merit and not sentiment.
“I really believe David has put the player on the field that he thinks has the best chance of winning,” he said. ‘From the start I told him not to feel any pressure to put me in.
‘It was of course a risk to put myself on the field to play the first game. But that’s the captain’s job. I’m sure he made this decision thinking what’s best for the team, and not for myself.”
Nadal insisted he was selected on merit and not sentiment but struggled during the match
The 38-year-old claimed it wasn’t a satisfying ending, but also said he had no complaints
“Probably the decision to put me on trial today didn’t work,” he admitted. “If I were captain, I probably wouldn’t choose the next day if we went ahead, that’s my feeling.”
In a twist of fate, the doubles match was destined to end a Grand Slam-winning career anyway. Dutch doubles specialist Wesley Koolhof is retiring after the Davis Cup and he was completely inspired to team up with Van de Zandschulp to defeat Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers.
Koolhof’s story continues, but one of the greatest stories tennis has ever told ended last night.