The tennis world will have to come to terms with the fact that one of its legends is no longer with us. The immense career of Rafael Nadal came to an end on Wednesday in Malaga, after Spain lost 2-1 to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup. Davis Cup.
The Dutch pair of Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp – who defeated “Rafa” in singles earlier in the day – defeated the world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3). This defeat in the Spanish camp brought an end to the professional career of the 38-year-old double Olympic champion, winner of 22 Grand Slam titles and four Davis Cups with Spain.
A retirement after Federer’s
After Roger Federer in 2022, the left-hander from Manacor is the second member of tennis’ “Big 3” to put away his rackets for good, the Serbian Novak Djokovic being the only one still playing.
In the first singles of the day, Nadal lost 6-4, 6-4 to van de Zandschulp, ranked 80th in the world, who had never managed to beat the Spaniard in their only two meetings in 2022.
Alcaraz then put his team and the Netherlands back on level terms (1-1) by winning 7-6 (7/0), 6-3 his duel against Dutch N.1 Tallon Griekspoor (40th).
The hard-fought doubles decider proved fatal to Spain’s quest for a seventh Davis Cup title. Thanks to their victory, the Netherlands reached their second semi-final in the competition’s history, following on from 2001.