He lost his first match in the Davis Cup, and he lost his last one. It was a cruel twist of fate for one of the best tennis players of this era. But, Rafael Nadal preferred to see the funny side of it on the night he drew the curtains on an illustrious professional career.
“.... So, we close the circle,” the Spaniard added jokingly, during an emotional speech post his last professional match, which ended in a 4-6, 4-6 loss to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in the Davis Cup. The Dutch eliminated the Spaniards in the quarterfinals.
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Interestingly, his Davis Cup record read 29-1 before Tuesday's match, with the only loss being in his debut match in 2004.
But, the defeat was quickly forgotten, as the court was filled with chants of 'Rafa, Rafa, Rafa...'. Tears flowed freely, as the world saluted one of the greats of the game. The 38-year-old himself was all teary-eyed during the national anthem, and then at post-match ceremony, which had a video showing highlights from his career and recorded tributes from his equally legendary contemporaries such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Conchita Martinez and Andy Murray, and other sports greats such as Sergio Garcia or David Beckham.
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The 22-time Grand Slam champion admitted in his speech that "the emotions were difficult to manage, and that he felt nerves out there” while playing his last professional match.
"The truth is that nobody ever wants to arrive at this moment,” Nadal said. “I'm not tired of playing tennis, but it's my body that doesn't want to play anymore, so I have to accept the situation.”
Nadal, who helped Spain win the Davis Cup in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019, had not played an official match in more than three months. His last official competition was the Paris Olympics in August this year, when he lost to Djokovic in the second round. The Spaniard reached the doubles quarterfinals with Alcaraz.
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“Honestly, I feel super privileged for having been able to make a career out of my hobby, and for having played for much longer than I could ever have imagined. I can only be grateful to life and to all the people that I have here behind me,” Nadal said.
“The titles, the numbers, are there, so people probably know that, but the way I would like to be remembered is as a good person from a small village in Mallorca. Just a kid that followed their dreams, worked as hard as possible.... I have been very lucky.”
After the ceremony, he hugged his teammates and left the court waving his arms and saluting the crowd one last time.
Watch Nadal's full farewell speech here: