By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 19, 2024
Rafael Nadal's extraordinary career came to a close on Tuesday in Malaga, as fans bid him farewell in an emotional ceremony.
Photo Source: Davis Cup
Fans watched with bated breath on Tuesday in Malaga, hoping that the Spanish Davis Cup team might deliver a reprieve and prolong the illustrious career of Rafael Nadal.
In the end they didn’t get their wish but were sent home with memories that will last a lifetime as the 22-time Grand Slam champion and five-time Davis Cup champion was sent off in style after the Netherlands handed Spain a 2-1 defeat in quarterfinal action in Malaga.
There was barely a dry eye in the place as 38-year-old Nadal was honored on court in a ceremony that lasted close to an hour, with Nadal’s mother, father, sister and wife leading a chorus of tears that spread throughout the stadium as Nadal addressed the fans and his teammates in a heartfelt speech, before he was honored in a video that featured Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and several top-flight Spanish athletes.
The video brought Nadal to tears, but he composed himself to speak in English for a moment, and then Spanish again as he thanked those who had supported him and made it possible for him to live his boyhood dream.
“I have been very lucky that life gave me the opportunity to live unforgettable experiences because of tennis,” Nadal said. “I just want to be remembered as a good person and a kid that followed his dreams and achieved more than I ever dreamed of.”
Nadal’s emotional farewell came on the heels of an exciting day of tennis in Malaga. After his defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp in the first rubber (6-4, 6-4), Carlos Alcaraz edged Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(0), 6-3 to force a deciding double rubber, but Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers could not get past Wesley Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp.
They fell in two tense tiebreaks, 7-6(4), 7-6(3), sending the Netherlands into the semifinals to face the winner of Thursday’s tie between Canada and Germany.
Nadal’s Davis Cup career comes to a close as it began: with a loss. He even joked after his loss that he had completed the circle. His first Davis Cup match was a loss to Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. In between there were 29 consecutive wins for Nadal in singles, and five Davis Cup titles.
With Nadal as the poster boy, Spanish tennis, always a pre-eminent force in the sport, was never so dominant.
In total the Mallorcan finishes with 1080 career wins and 92 titles to go with his 22 majors, 14 of which came on the terre battue of Roland-Garros, where Nadal dominated like no other player had dominated a single event before.
But the gaudy numbers only tell part of Nadal's story. Most everyone agrees that Nadal’s humility, sportsmanship and character are what defines him more than anything else. The King of Clay is a throwback from another time. A selfless warrior who played with purity and passion for the sport in his heart and never let his success go to his head. Nadal was a man of the people who always seemed to know that the example he set for future generations was just as important as his own success.
He departs from the sport leaving a lasting legacy that can be measure in victories and also by a feeling. A feeling that Nadal did it the right way, honoring his family, his country, and the sport he loved, as he carried the weight of his nation on tour for two full decades. While it is difficult to comprehend the end of a glorious, swashbuckling era of Nadal's tennis, it is easy to smile knowing that we have witnessed two decades of a career that will go down in history as one of the best that the sport has ever seen.
Nadal gave everything to our sport and when it was time to leave he left it on his terms in an emotional ceremony fit for a departing king of clay.