His farewell was over Rafael Nadal certainly imagined differently. Instead of the big ceremony that was hoped for, what happened after midnight in the arena in Málaga seemed quite improvised. But hardly anyone expected that Nadal’s Spanish team would be eliminated by the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup. And that the great Rafael Nadal would lose the last game of his career. That Nadal, who has won 92 titles, including 22 Grand Slams, one of the big three in world tennis, would fail because of number 80 in the world rankings, a Dutchman named Botic van de Zandschulp.
When the end was decided, it was quiet for minutes in Málaga, in the stands and around the Spanish team’s bench. Then some fans started chanting “Rafa, Rafa”. At some point the hall announcer called Nadal into the middle. The standing ovation turned into renewed chants. Nadal’s sister cried in the stands, his father looks shaken. The coach Carlos Moyá cried and the man of the evening also got teary-eyed. Like many hours before, when the Spanish anthem played before the first game. Rafael Nadal had just led his team as leader out of the catacombs towards the center of the pitch and for that alone the around 9,000 fans in Málaga had risen. It was still there, the hope for a more appropriate end to his career.
But there were also classic Nadal moments
So it was Nadal who initiated the Spanish 1-2 defeat with his 4:6 and 4:6 against van de Zandschulp. Carlos Alcaraz’s singles victory was not enough because the new Spanish tennis star with doubles specialist Marcel Granollers then lost in two close tiebreaks against the Dutch doubles van de Zandschulp/Koolhof.
But everyone, including the approximately 900 Dutch fans and remaining neutral spectators in the multi-purpose hall that had been converted into a tennis arena, knew about the much greater significance of this day: that the 38-year-old Nadal was ending his career. Unlike Federer’s farewell in 2022, which only had to be a show at the Laver Cup due to an injury, the Davis Cup gave the historic sporting day another level. Before, during and after Nadal’s match, a day of great emotions, sporting historical significance and competition conditions developed.
Nadal’s game was largely difficult for his supporters to bear, especially in the second round. The Mallorcan’s footwork was a bit slower, his forehand was too short, too wobbly and on the backhand side the clay court king was only required to defend himself. That shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Rafael Nadal has been out of the second round since
Olympic Games did not play a competitive singles match against Novak Djokovic. This year he took a break for several months after his early departure from the Australian Open and only completed a reduced clay court season with a few wins before the Olympic Games. At the French Open, which he won 14 times, he presented himself competitively; Alexander Zverev still defeated him in three sets. Nadal had already taken a break for the entire rest of the year after the Australian Open in 2023, but never fully recovered from hip flexor and knee injuries. In order to play professional tennis, Nadal has had to put in a lot of physical and mental effort in recent seasons. His last major title proves that he was able to do that: at the French Open 2022, he said he played with an anesthetized foot for two weeks.
His farewell was over Rafael Nadal certainly imagined differently. Instead of the big ceremony that was hoped for, what happened after midnight in the arena in Málaga seemed quite improvised. But hardly anyone expected that Nadal’s Spanish team would be eliminated by the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup. And that the great Rafael Nadal would lose the last game of his career. That Nadal, who has won 92 titles, including 22 Grand Slams, one of the big three in world tennis, would fail because of number 80 in the world rankings, a Dutchman named Botic van de Zandschulp.
