Published on November 19, 2024 at 8:56 p.m.
Beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp during the Davis Cup quarter-final in Malaga, Rafael Nadal admitted that he did not have the level to play singles.
Rafael Nadal did not beat around the bush to explain his defeat (6-4, 6-4) against Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup, for what could be the very last match of his career . The 36-year-old admitted that he simply did not have the level to play in a match of this importance. “If I was captain, I wouldn’t be played the next game. Given my level, I wouldn’t choose myself, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to play. Today is perhaps my last individual match. David (Ferrer, the captain, editor’s note) made the decision for me to play, that’s why he is captain. I didn’t put any pressure on him. We knew there was a risk that I wouldn’t win the point. I will continue to train every day in case the team needs me at some point. I had trained well, I lost my first match in the Davis Cup (in the Czech Republic against Jiri Novak in 2004, editor’s note) and I lost my last, I have come full circle. »
Nadal: “I don’t have time to think”
Regarding the match itself, Rafael Nadal, whose eyes were misty during the Spanish anthem, admitted that he had difficulty managing his emotions: “I knew that this could be my last match as a professional and the emotions were difficult to manage. I didn’t have the ability to read the match fast enough to feel control. The points went by very quickly and I didn’t have time to think. When you’ve spent so much time away from competition, it’s all about the little details. I don’t have the automatisms of the players who are on the circuit. I didn’t have the mental agility to make decisions without thinking.” It now remains to be seen whether he will be entitled to another match to improve his mental agility…
