Rafael Nadal’s career is officially over.
An icon. A legend. A 22-time grand slam champion. The “King of Clay”. Maybe the greatest of all time.
The tennis world was robbed of one final chance to see the tennis goliath on the court as Spain was defeated 2-1 by the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarter-final in Malaga on Wednesday morning.
The 38-year-old was in tears before his final ever match when he went down 6-4 6-4 to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Teammate Carlos Alcaraz kept Spain in the tie with a 7-6 6-3 win over Tallon Griekspor. But the 21-year-old couldn’t get Spain over the line when he and doubles partner Marcel Granollers were beaten 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3).
There were no signs of life in the crowd as the Dutch pair ended Nadal’s career in such an unspectacular way.
Further diminishing the occasion was the uncertainty that surrounded Nadal’s farewell with the 14-time Roland Garros champ stuck on the sideline when it was supposed to be his final moment in the spotlight.
Spanish Davis Cup captain David Ferrer earlier 스포츠토토사이트 made the controversial decision to leave Nadal out of the doubles team in the decisive third rubber.
Regardless of what the results were going to be in the final two matches, Nadal walked off the court knowing his career was over.
A fighter right to the bitter end, he was ready to play in the doubles if Ferrer needed him
His final on-court interview had teammates in tears.
“The important legacy is that all the people I have met during these 20 years have a good human memory of me,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the personal issue, education, respect and the affection you can treat people with comes before the professional issue, because that is what remains.”
He went on to say: “The titles, numbers, they’re there. People probably know that.
“The way I’d like to be remembered more is like a good person from a small village in Mallorca.”
The sad farewell was not fitting of such a goliath of the sport.
He had won 29 consecutive singles matches in the Davis Cup — his only losses being his first and last appearances to finish with a 29-2 record in the international team format.
“If I was the captain I would change me probably (if Spain reach the semi-finals), but at the end of the day it’s not my decision,” Nadal told reporters.
“And I’m sure (the captain) will make the best decision possible for the team… probably that was my last match.
“I lost my first match at the Davis Cup, and I lost my last one, so we close the circle.”
The tears started to pour before his match even started. The former world No. 1 was overcome with emotion as he stood in line with teammates as the Spanish national anthem was played.