It was supposed to be a final exit. A little later, the 38-year-old had to accept the bitter truth as a spectator: the career of the greatest clay court player in history is over – it ends without a final title at his farewell gala in the Davis Cup.
Nadal’s loud attempts to cheer him on in the decisive phase of the duel also came to nothing. The bull of Manacor, the great rival of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, he has actually left the tennis stage. And he himself initiated the disaster with the last bankruptcy of his 22-year career.
Because the Spanish doubles also lost after the 22-time Grand Slam winner’s 4:6, 4:6 against Botic van de Zandschulp in the first singles, the home team surprisingly failed 1:2 to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the final round of the national competition . Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers lost 6:7 (4:7), 6:7 (3:7) against van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof in an extremely intense deciding match.
Alcaraz’s 7:6 (7:0), 6:3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor in the second singles match was therefore not enough. Due to the defeat, the Spaniards also missed a possible semi-final duel with the German team, which would like to book its ticket for the round of the best four against Canada on Wednesday (12 p.m./DAZN).
