It’s over. Rafael Nadal played his last tennis match. But anyone who expected great emotions was disappointed. Everything happened somehow too quickly.
Rafael Nadal kneeled in again. He clapped, enthusiastically jumped up from his seat again and again, communicated animatedly with team boss David Ferrer, called out tips on the pitch, and encouraged the audience. He did everything he could to extend his career by at least two days. However, he necessarily did this in an unusual position.
Off the field. In the stands, in the box of the Spanish Davis Cup team. He had to watch idly as his teammates Carlos Alcaraz and the doubles specialist Marcel Granollers lost in two close sets to the Dutch Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp in a high-class match. This victory brought the Dutch into the semi-finals and elimination for the Spanish team. For Nadal, this defeat meant the end of his career.
Davis Cup deliberately chosen
“Rafa” consciously chose to say goodbye here in Malaga at the Davis Cup final tournament. The Spanish team captain, David Ferrer, did him a favor and put him on. In singles. When asked when this idea first occurred to Ferrer, he replied: “I decided on Monday. Rafa had continued to improve over the course of the training days. It was a close decision between him and Roberto (Bautista Agut) and I finally decided that Rafa would play.”
Rafael Nadal and coach David Ferrer hug.
Whether that is the whole truth or whether there was too much public pressure for Nadal to celebrate his farewell on and not off the court remains a Spanish secret.
Lower details of the Zandschulp
However, the Dutchman van de Zandschulp turned out to be the big spoilsport. Outwardly completely unimpressed by the intimidating backdrop of 9,500 spectators, he played his game matter-of-factly and revealed how little the Rafael Nadal at the end of 2024 still had in common with the Nadal of three years ago. It was clear that he wasn’t walking as well as he used to. He tried to compensate. With emotions. Trying to shorten the points by attacking the net. The old game that Nadal had used to intimidate his opponents for 20 years no longer worked on this November evening in southern Spain.
Ulli Schäfer, Sportschau, November 20, 2024 12:34 a.m
The defeat was clear. Carlos Alcaraz then won his match against Tallon Griekspoor, giving Nadal and the Spanish fans hope once again. When the Dutch doubles finally converted their match point, everyone had to get used to the idea that a great career ended almost quietly that day.
Standing ovation for Nadal
Tuesday (November 19th, 2024) started almost overloaded with emotions. When the two teams marched in, there was the first standing ovation for Nadal. He had tears in his eyes during the Spanish national anthem. There was also a minute’s silence for the victims of the flood disaster in Valencia a few weeks ago. The Spanish team brought a Valencia flag onto the pitch.
What followed after the match was a farewell that was strangely lacking in emotion. Tournament director Feliciano Lopez, who has only been away from the court for a few years, had announced in advance that they had come up with something special. There was little sign of this in the hall.
Speech in Spanish by Nadal
Nadal’s speech, which he gave largely in Spanish, was met with polite applause from the audience. The picture directors in the hall seemed slightly desperate to find great emotions, but they only found them in parts of Nadal’s family and Carlos Moya, the long-time coach. Even the farewell video with Real Madrid greats like Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta and David Beckham and colleagues like Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer was received almost cautiously.
Before the tournament began, it looked like at least Novak Djokovic would be there to see his decades-long competitor retire. But neither he nor Federer appeared in person. It almost seemed as if no one was prepared for a defeat that day against the Netherlands.
At the end of the farewell ceremony, the hall announcer asked Nadal how he would like to be remembered. Nadal replied in English: “The titles speak for themselves. I would like to be remembered as a good person from a small village in Mallorca. Many people work hard and do their best. I am one of the few who have been lucky enough to spend an incredible life playing tennis .”
One last greeting to the audience. Then an almost oversized career was history.
