As the Spanish national anthem rang out for the final time in his career, Rafael Nadal couldn't stop his emotions from flowing. His eyes were filled with tears and his hands were visibly shaking. Finally, the final stage of this epic 30-year journey has begun. A moment he never wanted to arrive at but was forced to face. Nadal's outpouring of emotion had the audience chanting “Rafa! Rafa!”
Even the deafening and constant screams from the audience didn't help push Nadal beyond the edge of bruises and broken bones. Despite fighting to grab every last point with the diligence and desperation that characterized his entire career, Nadal defeated Botic van de Zanzschulp 6-4, 6 in the opening Davis Cup match between Spain and the Netherlands. We lost by -4.
Carlos Alcaraz kept Spain's hopes alive with a gutsy victory over Talon Griekspur in the second singles, but lost 2-1 in the doubles, with Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers facing Van de Zandsschulp. He lost 2-0 to Wesley Kuhlhoff after two tie-breaks, which meant Nadal's victory. His illustrious career came to an end on Tuesday night in Malaga.
The singles loss carried important symbolism in Nadal's final career journey. Although he has won 29 consecutive singles matches, it was the first time in 20 years that he lost in a Davis Cup singles match. His last loss in this tournament was on his debut in 2004.
A surreal and frenetic few days followed in the lead-up to parting ways with perhaps Spain's greatest athlete of all time. The streets surrounding the arena are filled with billboards celebrating Nadal's career as much as advertisements for the Davis Cup, one of the most important events on the tennis calendar.
In recent days, as the tie approaches, there has been speculation about exactly how Nadal will play in Malaga. It was agreed that he would only be on court in doubles, as he had not played in an official match since the Olympics about four months ago. After arriving earlier than most players and training intensely, including a set with Carlos Alcaraz on Monday night, Nadal was given the green light to compete in singles.
What followed was a unique opportunity. Nadal calmed down by warming up with Van der Zantsschulp. The MC decided to read out all the important achievements of each player individually, slowly and to the point.
It was a short and modest lead-in for world No. 80 van de Zantsschulp. But Nadal's introduction was essentially a PowerPoint presentation. As each of his major titles was read out, including 22 Grand Slam championships, two Olympic gold medals, and four Davis Cup championships, the audience chanted,Eye” It took a few minutes for the announcer to look over the greatest resume ever compiled by a tennis player.
However, the scene that followed bore little resemblance to the legendary days of old. It quickly became clear that Nadal had major limitations. His movement was very poor, especially towards the backhand wing. He struggled badly with returns, which is usually one of his greatest strengths. Not only was he unable to read van de Zantschulp's serves, he was no longer able to move his body with the agility necessary to track those serves.
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For Van de Zanzschulp, overwhelmed by nerves at the best of times, this challenge was as much an opportunity and a spectator as it was an opponent. Early in the match, the Dutchman committed three double faults in a row, with the crowd, who became increasingly frantic with each fault, cheering with frequent chants of “Si, se puede.” Despite a series of double faults and wild mistakes, including a foot fault on his second serve, the Dutchman remained calm and finished the job calmly.
For the audience of 11,000, there were still moments that will never be forgotten. At one point, Nadal followed a lob and hit an overhead skyhook with his back to the net, winning the point and bringing the fans to their feet. Down 4-1 and suffering a double break, Nadal was able to break back through sheer force of will. In the past, that would have been the beginning of a spectacular turnaround. This time he didn't come close.
In his pre-event press conference, Nadal himself emphasized that he was here not just to finish his career, but to play and help the team. In fact, if this was just to help the team, Spain's best team composition would have put Nadal in the doubles-only slot. But he's one of the best players of all time. It's no surprise that he got the chance to take to the court himself for one last fight.
