The feeling that this week an era in tennis is ending was already felt on Monday morning in the first press conference that Rafael Nadal gave since he arrived in Malaga on Thursday. The myth, who is hanging up his racket in the Davis Cup after an extraordinary career of 23 years and at least 92 titles as a professional, answered the questions of the more than one hundred journalists who came from all over the world. In a mammoth room of the luxurious Higuerón Hotel in Fuengirola – where the players stay – together with the captain of the Spanish team, David Ferrer, and his teammates Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista, Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez, the Spaniard saw how the event took place. It became almost a monograph on his figure.
The champion of 22 majors, one of the greatest competitors in the history of the sport, explained his feelings about participating this Tuesday in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands (5:00 p.m., Movistar+) —it is still unknown whether he will play the singles, the doubles or both— , spoke about how he would like his farewell to be, made a summary of the injuries that punished him in the last three years, was optimistic about his personal future and answered more and more questions while Ferrer, Alcaraz and company witnessed almost a soliloquy of expectation that has created the goodbye of the Balearic Islands at 38 years old.
The last dance of the king of clay, idol of so many tennis fans around the world, has become a global event that has filled a city as touristy as Malaga outside of high season, in the final stretch of autumn. . The hotels, with prices at more than 100 euros per night, register an occupancy rate of over 93%, the town is full of posters and screens with the face of the Manacor tennis player, there is a giant canvas with his image and the phrase “Thank you , Rafa” hanging in front of the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace —where the tournament is held— and the tickets to watch today’s tie against the Dutch, for the hypothetical semifinals in Spain (Friday, against Germany or Canada) and for the final (Sunday) were sold out on October 2nd.
Eight days after sold outthe Spaniard, who on September 23 had confirmed that he would compete in the final phase of the Davis Cup, announced his withdrawal after a fruitless and frustrating fight against the toll his body has paid. The last matches of the greatest icon of Spanish sports as a professional have skyrocketed the resale price to amounts that border on the obscene. On pages like Milanuncios and Viagogo there have been tickets for tens of thousands of euros in which balls, pens or rackets are sold with which “tickets to see Rafa Nadal are given away.” The scandalous amounts forced the tournament organization to issue a statement last week in which it recalled that resale is illegal in Spain and warned that it will not be responsible for the validity of tickets that have not been purchased on the website or the official stores.
Nadal’s farewell has somehow overshadowed or at least left the tournament in the background, which has gone from being the Davis Cup to becoming, above all, the event in which the Spaniard will put an end to his successful career under the Malaga coat. The Junta de Andalucía expects that the economic return due to the relevance that the competition has acquired, which also coincides for the first time in the same city with the Billie Jean King Cup, will be more than ten times greater than the ten million euros invested by the autonomous administration in organizing this edition.
Alcaraz, the team leader and number three in the world, said a few days ago that this was going to be the most special tournament of his life — and at 21 years old he has already won four majors and no one knows where the ceiling of his career is—and just a few hours ago he stated that he would try to naturalize the feelings and pressure of a day as emotional as this Tuesday, in which if Spain is left out, Nadal says goodbye to tennis . At the press conference, the 14-time Roland Garros winner tried, however, to give normality to the situation that is being experienced this week in the city, where the atmosphere of the stadium will be charged with emotion. “I’m not on that rollercoaster of emotions because it’s something I’ve accepted. Although I am a sensitive person, you have all seen me over the years put things into perspective both in good times and in bad times. Life goes on and all professional athletes go through this process,” the Spaniard was honest, adding: “I’m not here to retire, I’m here to help the team. Emotions are for last, while you have to be focused.”
Nadal, who in the afternoon played with good tone against Alcaraz on the center court of the Martín Carpena with a tank top, white ribbon and sneakers and red pants, also tried to remove the focus of his goodbye and put them on the trophy, which he already He has won five times, the first two decades ago, when in 2004 he knocked down Andy Roddick in the final in Seville in a key match against the United States to tie the second point of the tie. “I don’t have an ideal farewell. Movie endings are usually for American movies. I realized a long time ago that I wouldn’t have one of these. It’s not something that worries me. My farewell is going to be what it is going to be, and in that sense it would be fantastic to help the team, [ser] all very competitive trying to win the Davis Cup. And this, apart from the fact that it would be a nice farewell for me, would be a great joy for everyone,” he said.
The tennis player from Manacor insisted on Friday in an interview with the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation that if he did not feel prepared for the singles, foreseeably against the 80th in the world, Botic Van de Zandschulp, he would be the first to speak to Ferrer to tell him that is not in condition. “I don’t know how I can respond or I can’t respond if I play. For months I have played very little on the circuit, so I will try to make every effort every day to arrive as well prepared as possible in case I am on the track,” he noted on Monday. The captain immediately assured that he has not yet made a decision – he will do so today – but in training in the afternoon Nadal left a good feeling and tied on the hard court of the center in four games with Alcaraz, who has just been left out of the ATP Finals in the group stage after a cold complicated his performance. The Murcian will play the singles against the Dutch leader, Tallon Griekspoor (40th), and there is also a doubles – in which Rafa may also be involved – to break the tie that will not be played if the match is decided and both teams agree to it.
I didn’t end up burnt out from tennis. If I could, I would continue playing,” says the Spaniard.
Nadal’s epilogue at the Martín Carpena – with a capacity of 9,700 spectators – comes against his will after failing to recover from the injury he suffered in Australia in January 2023 and which led him to have hip surgery and lose part of his psoas iliac. Since then, he has never been able to jump onto the court without feeling limited by his physique except in specific moments. “I haven’t ended up burnt out of tennis like other people have, I still enjoy it. If I could, I would continue playing tennis, but I don’t have the opportunity to play and train at a level that really compensates me on a personal level,” he said.
In the farewell, Djokovic is expected to be there, the rival he faced the most times – 60 official matches with 29 victories for the Balearic and 31 for the Balkan – and who tormented him the most. Nole, the only man with more Grand Slams than him (24), said the day Nadal announced his retirement that he would come to Malaga to “pay tribute to a stellar career.” The king of clay, however, hinted on Monday that the one who will not be in his final will be Federer, with whom he had a formidable rivalry that propelled tennis to another level and to whom he said goodbye in the Laver Cup in September 2022 on the track to tears: “I haven’t spoken to Roger, I think he has a very tight schedule. It’s going to be my last week on the professional circuit, but I don’t think it’s going to be my last farewell. “There will be other opportunities to do something.”
