Emotional night in Málaga as Rafael Nadal official bow out of tennis

Rafael Nadal ended his remarkable career after Spain’s defeat against the Netherlands in the quarter finals of the Davis Cup in Málaga on Tuesday, a night full of emotions in the tennis world.

The Spanish legend’s best effort was unable to see off the Netherlands’ Van de Zandschulp, who earned his country a 1-0 lead in the quarter-final tie with a 6-4, 6-4 win after one hour and 51 minutes. Carlos Alcaraz then downed Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets to force a deciding doubles rubber in Malaga, but Wesley Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp later clinched a 2-1 win that ended Nadal’s career with a straight-sets doubles triumph against Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers.

“It’s been an emotional day,” said Nadal later after falling to a straight-sets defeat in his Davis Cup Final 8 clash with Botic van de Zandschulp professional tennis player. The moments leading up to it were emotional, kind of difficult to handle, in general. So many emotions. I tried to do it as well as possible.”

“I tried to have the best attitude possible, with the necessary energy, whatever the result,” continued Nadal after his singles defeat. “There was a glimmer of hope at the end, but it wasn’t to be. My opponent was better than me today and that’s that.”

Nadal had not competed since bowing out to Novak Djokovic in the second round at the Olympic Games in Paris in July. Since then, he has only been able to train on the practice court. However, he felt ready enough to be available to his captain, David Ferrer, for the tie.

“The decision was made that I would play. We knew it was a slightly risky decision. David had seen us all practising and we all thought I was the right player for the match,” explained the 92-time tour-level champion. “I tried, it wasn’t to be, in the end you can’t control your level, just your attitude, your energy, and your determination. That didn’t let me down. I simply wasn’t able to do what was required to get Spain a point.”

Nadal’s form was always an unknown factor: “I said that if I didn’t feel it, I wouldn’t play,” he reminded journalists. “I think my practice was good enough, but in competition I wasn’t able to perform as I would have liked. But the preparation was good.”

“Even when I’ve won, I’ve always been tough and self-critical of myself,” said the 22-time major champion. “To try and improve, I’ve always looked for the negatives. But today, which may be my last match, I’m not going to be hard on myself. I had nothing more. That’s the reality.”