Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 01:17
The day arrived that no one wanted to arrive. And much less at the first opportunity and in a setting as mystical as the Davis Cup. The farewell of Rafael Nadal Parera (Manacor, 1986) as a professional tennis player became final at the Martín Carpena in Málaga. «I have felt super lucky to receive so much love from everyone. I have experienced many of the most important moments of my career with many of you who are here, as part of the Spanish team. “It has been a privilege, we have experienced very beautiful things together and now it is your turn to continue living them,” the Spaniard said excitedly in a vibrant tribute that began with a video of some of his greatest hits after midnight on November 20. .
“A career ends, but a legacy begins,” said the speaker. With the cheers of the fans who once shouted their triumphs. Their titles. And his rackets. The more than 10,000 people who filled the coliseum where Unicaja usually plays gave another thunderous ovation, which lasted for quite some time. With the messages of ‘Thank you, Rafa’, on the screens of the Andalusian pavilion, they also began to chant his name before putting an end to a cycle that concluded in the same place where it began although its story has not completely ended, as if the possible adjectives for an unrepeatable tennis player were exhausted. “I’m just a kid who chased his dreams,” he reflected.
It is at least curious that in the life of each one of us something similar to what happens in tennis happens, and that is that we usually have a lot of people around us without which we would not be what we are, but nevertheless in the key moments We tend to be absolutely alone. The theme of loneliness in one of the sports with the greatest meritocracy is allegorical about the racket, and in which, as with existence, it is full of phases, which begin and end. «The reality is that you never want to reach this moment. I’m not tired of playing tennis. The body has simply reached a point where it no longer wants to play. “I feel super privileged, I have been able to make one of my hobbies my career,” he said, microphone in hand in the center of the track and surrounded by thousands of fans, friends, family and colleagues.
Icon of resilience and generator of energy, he wrote one more chapter, closing one stage to be able to begin another, the one that takes him away from the slopes forever. His last moan in Malaga provoked a huge interest in seeing him in his farewell despite the fact that there was no magic trick, being eliminated at the first opportunity against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. A bittersweet ending but like a movie, in which he could have been the protagonist, and which is just another beginning. Nadal loses a part of his life even though his legend will remain intact after having written an era in the Olympus of sport. «I am a person who believes in continuity, in maintaining the people who really love you and who make everyday life better. I have always tried to be a good person. I hope that’s how you perceived it. Honestly, I leave this world of professional tennis having found many friends along the way,” he continued.
A definitive withdrawal from the front line of competition for Rafa, whom any ordinary Spaniard treats like someone else in the family, at 38 years old, imposed by biology and multiple injuries, which, although late, made him stop after a last dance He left through the same door through which he gained glory and presented himself to the world in that 2004 Davis Cup in Seville, when he awakened the competitive beast. Four years earlier, being only a 14-year-old boy, and one of the greatest children’s promises on the planet, he served as standard bearer at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Only with his personality and presence did he manage to move many people, and above all his passion, knowing that he will always give everything he has regardless of how things go.
Sentiment in the anthem
He was always going to be there, and his last tournament as a professional was not going to be any less. He retired from competing, as he did throughout his career at the highest level despite patellar tendonitis in both knees and, more recently, iliopsoas that only allowed him to play in nine tournaments in the last two years. He already said it on some occasion, losing didn’t hurt him as much if he competed until the end. He knew that his figure could not be decorative because in his mentality, betraying himself would be betraying everyone. He fell to the Dutchman Van de Zandschulp (6-4 and 6-4) in front of the ten thousand people who packed the Unicaja coliseum, which exploded when he appeared through the tunnel, and who witnessed the Spaniard’s glassy eyes when the national anthem played.
Before competing, the feeling of goodbye was already drawn on his face. Legend in life, considered the great icon of Spanish sport and one of the great athletes in history, accumulated in his immense career, full of dedication and sacrifice, 92 individual ATP titles, including 22 Grand Slam, of which 14 are Roland Garros – king of clay – two Olympic gold medals, five Davis Cups and two Laver Cups. It was always worth trying one last time for someone who won the affection of millions of fans thanks to his prestige as an exemplary tennis player and impeccable conduct. .
A guy who closed the circle with the entire golden generation of Spanish tennis, who accompanied him in one way or another in his goodbye. Feliciano López is today tournament director of the Final 8; David Ferrer is captain at the head of the team of players, Carlos Moyá, personal coach of the Balearic Islands, and Juan Carlos Ferrero does the same with Carlos Alcaraz, successor of the manacorí and who managed to take a series to the doubles tiebreaker, where the defeat together with Marcel Granollers completed the retirement of the best Spanish athlete in history. Nobody wanted to miss the final climax. «All changes in this life involve a process of adaptation but I am calm because I have received an education that allows me to face it with peace of mind. I am calm because I have a great family that helps me with everything I need daily. Thank you very much,” he concluded.
