▶ Davis Cup Final held in Spain
▶ Retired from the tennis court after the quarterfinals
▶ “It’s an honor to turn my hobby into a job”
Rafael Nadal (38, Spain), who finished his 24-year career as a player, expressed his simple wish, saying, “I want to be remembered more as a good person from a small town in Mallorca.”
Nadal lost 0-2 (4-6 4-6) to Botik Vanderjanjjulf (80th) in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals held in Malaga, Spain on the 20th (Korean time). It was his retirement game.
He, who had been living his final years with major and minor injuries to his hip joints and other areas in recent years, had announced that he would use the Davis Cup, a national competition, as a stage for his retirement.
Carlos Alcaras, a junior who followed Nadal in the second singles, brought the game back to square one, but Spain lost in the final doubles, confirming Spain’s elimination and Nadal’s retirement.
Thousands of Spanish fans flocked to the stadium, Carpena Arena, and at the end of the match, tributes were made from tennis players who competed against him, such as Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Novak Djokovic (Serbia), and sports figures such as Andrés Iniesta (soccer). The video was shown.
Nadal could not hold back his tears as cheers poured in from all directions.
“My uncle was a tennis coach and I was lucky enough to meet a great family,” he said. “I became who I am today by simply following my dream and working as hard as I could,” he said. “But many people do their best every day. I was very lucky and had unforgettable experiences thanks to tennis. “I want to be remembered as a player who achieved more than I ever dreamed of,” he said.
Nadal also added, “I’m not tired of tennis, but I’ve decided to accept that my body doesn’t want to play tennis anymore,” adding, “It’s been an honor to be able to turn my hobby into a career for so long.” Nadal, along with Federer and Djokovic, is recognized as the living history of tennis.
Born in 1986, he first reached the top of singles in a major tournament at the 2005 French Open, and has since won a total of 22 singles titles in major tournaments until the French Open in 2022. This is the second-highest number of major men’s singles wins, following Djokovic’s 24.
He won the French Open 14 times and was called the ‘Emperor of the Clay Court’. At the Olympics, he won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games and the men’s doubles gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Nadal said, “People will know more about my titles and records, but I want to be remembered more as a good person from a small town in Mallorca.”
Nadal did not regret losing the last game.
He lost on his Davis Cup debut in 2004.
It was Nadal’s only Davis Cup singles loss until the previous day, and he had been on a 29-game winning streak in singles since then, but on this day lost in the Davis Cup for the first time in 20 years.
Nadal said, “I lost my first match at the Davis Cup and I lost my last match as well. “That’s how we completed the ‘circle,’” he said with a laugh.
