Rafael Nadal retires from tennis; plays last professional match at Davis Cup
Known across the world as the ‘King of Clay’, 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal of Spain retired from professional tennis. Nadal played his last match on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal retirement
But, the career of this legend did not end the way tennis fans expected, as he lost Spain’s Davis Cup quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. The Spanish player lost 4-6, 4-6 in straight sets against Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 38-year-old 14-time French Open winner was defeated by the 80th ranked Dutch player in straight sets in the singles match. Surprisingly, before this match, Nadal had faced Botic van de Zandschulp only on two occasions in his career and he won both the matches without losing a single set.
Nadal tried his best to win farewell match
Playing in front of his home crowd in Malaga, Nadal tried his best to win and after losing the first set, he made a strong effort to make a comeback, but in the end, the Dutch player gave him a tough challenge.
In the first set, Nadal gave a tough fight to the Dutch opponent, but in the end the 29-year-old managed to come ahead and won the first set 6-4. However, the second set started differently as the Dutch player dominated from the start. Nadal who throughout his career was famous for giving it all on court showed a lot of courage to make a comeback and after trailing 1-4, he went ahead 3-4. But, Botic van de Zandschulp kept his composure and won the second set as well 6-4 to win the match in straight sets.
Nadal’s emotional farewell speech after the match
The 22-time Grand Slam winner told fans in Malaga at a post-match ceremony to honor his retirement, ‘I am leaving with the peace of mind that I have left a legacy, which I really think is not only related to the game but is personal. I understand that the love I have received, if it was only for the events that happened on the court, it would not have been the same.’
Only the second defeat in Davis Cup singles
This was Nadal’s second defeat in Davis Cup singles matches. Out of the 30 matches played so far in the tournament, he won 28 matches in singles. Before this defeat against his opponent from the Netherlands, he had to face defeat at the hands of Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic in 2004. After the defeat in 2004, Nadal won 29 consecutive matches and recorded the best winning percentage (minimum 15 matches) for any player.
