Rafael Nadal may have played the final singles match of his career after losing Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final opener against the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-4 in Malaga on Tuesday.
Following Nadal on court at Martin Carpena Arena was Carlos Alcaraz, who took on Dutch world No. 40 Tallon Griekspoor in a bid to take the tie to a deciding doubles.
Nadal did not rule out his involvement with the team should Spain salvage the tie against the Dutch, but admitted his loss on Tuesday should be enough of a reason for team captain David Ferrer to select a different player from the squad to play singles if the hosts advance to the semi-finals.
“I really believe that David put on the field the player who he feels had the better chance to win,” said Nadal of his selection.
“That's the truth. Because I gave him, since the beginning, the input that he doesn't need to feel any pressure to put me, honestly. Hopefully we have the chance to go through.
“If I would be the captain, probably I will change, I don't put myself the next day,” he added with a smile. “If we go through, that's my feeling. But at the end, it’s not my decision, and I'm sure that he will make the best decision possible for the team.”
Nadal announced last month he will be retiring from professional tennis at the Davis Cup Finals, 20 years after he made his debut for Spain in the competition.
Hampered by injuries over the past two years, the former world No. 1 hadn’t competed in an official, sanctioned event since the Paris Olympics in July, but spent the last six weeks training hard in Mallorca – and made an appearance against Novak Djokovic at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh – in preparation for his grand finale at the Davis Cup.
Dutch team captain Paul Haarhius said ahead of the quarter-final his side were keen to give Nadal “a nice adios” and Van de Zandschulp got them off to a strong start by claiming his first win from three meetings with the Spanish 22-time Grand Slam champion.
If this was indeed Nadal’s last hurrah, his fans can take solace they got to witness his gladiatorial spirit one last time.
Short on match play and managing injuries, Nadal showed flashes of his brilliance during the match. From signature fist pumps to his famous sky hook shot, the 38-year-old went down fighting, which is ultimately what his career was all about.
Malaga had transformed into a Nadal open-air museum in the build-up to the Davis Cup, with the City Council launching a campaign that put up ‘Gracias Rafa’ posters and LED screens all over town.
The Ciudad de Malaga Athletics Stadium, which is right across the street from the Martin Carpena Arena, featured a massive 2.6sqm ‘Gracias Rafa’ banner, making sure Nadal knew the entire region of Costa del Sol, and Spain as a whole, was behind him.
The prelude to the clash featured electronic house music blasting through the stadium speakers as the 11,000-capacity crowd slowly filled up the seats.
"Raaafa, Raaafa" chants rang through the arena as the teams lined up before the clash and Nadal looked visibly emotional when the Spanish national anthem began to play.
“Of course [it has] been an emotional day, nerves before what could be my last singles match as a professional. That's the way that I felt that,” Nadal later explained.
“Of course the emotions, feeling the national anthem for the last time as a professional was, you know, very special. And then of course a little bit of mixed feelings makes the things a little bit more difficult.
“But that's it. We went on court. We live that moment. I tried to do my best. I tried to, at the same time, to stay as positive as possible in every single moment, to play with the right energy.”
After a moment of silence dedicated to the victims of the devastating floods in Valencia, Nadal and Van de Zandschulp took to the court to kick off the quarterfinal tie.
The Dutchman meant business from the first point, charging the net and finishing off with a crisp volley winner to send a clear signal of intent.
But Nadal shook off early nerves and pumped his fist to hold in his opening service game.
Van de Zandschulp too needed a few minutes to adjust to the grand occasion, double-faulting three times in a row before he held for 1-all.
After holding in a tough deuce game for 4-all, Van de Zandschulp got his first break point opportunities of the match, in game nine. Some safe hitting from Nadal drew the error from his opponent to save the first but a backhand passing shot winner sealed the break for the Dutch world No 80.
He served out the set comfortably to take the lead on the 46-minute mark.
A flashy backhand smash winner briefly lifted the energy of Nadal and the crowd early in the second, but Van de Zandschulp once again created a break chance, thanks to a missed volley from the Spaniard.
Another error from Nadal handed Van de Zandschulp the break and the Dutchman was soon up 2-0.
Despite Nadal’s best battling efforts, Van de Zandschulp extended his advantage to surge ahead 4-1 with a double-break. The crowd chanted ‘si se puede’ (yes you can), urging Nadal to keep fighting, and he did, narrowing his deficit by getting back one of the breaks.
Van de Zandschulp hit some uncharacteristic errors but still found a way to keep his one-break lead and he served out the victory after one hour and 53 minutes of play.
The crowd gave Nadal a standing ovation, in honour what may very well have been the last match of his professional career.
“It's in some ways good maybe if that was my last match. I lost my first match in the Davis Cup, and I lost my last one. So we close the circle,” said Nadal with a hint of sarcasm.
“I really hope that Carlos gonna win his match, and then the doubles too. So hopefully we can keep going and I will keep working hard every day to be on the team in case that the team needs me one more time. If not, just support from the bench.”
