Nadal resigns after Spain’s defeat to the Netherlands – DW – 11/20/2024

Rafael Nadal’s huge tennis career ended in Malaga on Tuesday (11/19/2024) with Spain’s 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarter-finals.

The Dutch pair of Wesley Koolhof and Boteach van de Zandschulp, who beat Nadal in the first match of the qualifying round, beat the duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers to give their team the final point.

In his last professional tournament, Nadal opened the Davis Cup quarter-finals with a 6–4, 6–4 defeat to Dutchman Boteach Van de Zandschulp in the Martin Karpen Pavilion in Malaga, filled with a local idol who was “probably” playing on his home turf. last game.

Nadal, who lost in singles only in his first Davis Cup match in 2004 when he was 17 against Jiri Novak, gave up more than two decades later with 29 wins and five salads on his record.

“It was probably my last game, I lost the first and the last. The decision is not mine, but if I were the captain, I would put another player. Perhaps the easiest solution would be to replace me with Roberto (Bautista).” “, he said rudely to the Mallorcan at a press conference.

Hours earlier, the tennis star received a giant tribute in Paris with a 10-meter-tall video projection on the famous Trocadéro Square, where the Eiffel Tower has the best view.

The one-minute video was shown from 19:30 to 22:00 local time at an event organized by sponsor Nike and as part of a series of events surrounding his announced retirement from the game after the Davis Cup finals. place this week in Malaga.

Paris was chosen as the location because Nadal, 38, holds the record for most titles at Roland Garros, the Grand Slam tournament on clay, with a total of 14 titles won between 2005 and 2022.

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