MALAGA, Spain — Rafael Nadal could not conjure the old magic as the 22-times Grand Slam champion lost a Davis Cup singles for the first time in 20 years as he went down to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the last match of his career on Tuesday.
On an emotionally-charged evening, the 38-year-old played the opening rubber of the quarter-final tie but lost 6-4 6-4 despite raucous support from his adoring fans.
Spain’s new tennis king Carlos Alcaraz levelled the tie by beating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (0) 6-3 and had Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers beaten Wesley Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp, the hosts would have kept alive the hope of a fairytale ending to Nadal’s career by reaching Friday’s semi-final.
But it was not to be as Koolhof, also playing the last event of his career, played out of his skin to inspire the Dutch to a 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) win and silence the raucous Spanish fans.
Nadal willed the Spanish duo on from the sidelines, barely sitting down, but looked crestfallen as the reality that he would not get another chance began to sink in.
The Mallorcan, who has featured in four Davis Cup winning teams for Spain, had won 29 of his previous 30 singles in the team event, his only previous loss in his first tie in 2004.
Claycourt king Nadal, who last month announced he was ending his glittering career after the Davis Cup Final Eight in Malaga, showed flashes of his former brilliance but while the mind and body were willing, it was not the Nadal who dominated the men’s game at times during the past two decades.
Injuries, including hip surgery, meant he was playing only his 24th match since the start of 2023 and the rust was clear as he struggled to hold off the powerful Dutchman who admitted afterwards that he would have been clapping for Nadal had he not been required to face him on the court.
Nadal had shed tears as the anthems were played before the tie and was given a standing ovation after defeat.
Alcaraz duly levelled the tie by defeating Griekspoor, saying he had ‘done it for Rafa’ but he could not inspire a Spanish win in the doubles as the Dutch went through.
Nadal was philosophical after his singles defeat.
‘In some ways it is good, maybe, if that was my last match because I lost my first match in the Davis Cup and I lost my last one. We close the circle,’ he said.
His fans in Malaga, many of whom wore scarves with ‘Gracias Rafa’ on them, stood to salute him at midnight in a special presentation to Spain’s greatest sportsman.
Earlier in the day Roger Federer, Nadal’s great rival and close friend, had published a letter he sent to the Spaniard.
‘Let’s start with the obvious: you beat me – a lot. More than I managed to beat you, the Swiss 20-times Grand Slam champion said. ‘You challenged me in ways no one else could.’