Well, the Six Kings Slam is finally over, and with it has come the biggest tennis payday in the history of the sport.
Having defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the showpiece final, Jannik Sinner walked away with a mouth-watering $6m.
And yet, despite the huge financial incentive of this clash, and the historic element of it, it was the third-placed play-off that truly dominated the headlines.
After all, it officially marked the final time we would see Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal take to the court to face one another.
Novak Djokovic sends message to Rafael Nadal after Six Kings Slam
Taking to Instagram after their showdown, Djokovic was unsurprisingly emotive in his adulation for the Spaniard.
After all, he owes so much to Nadal, for maintaining such impossibly high levels that forced him to work even harder.
He would make that abundantly clear in his post, with a picture of the two adorned with the caption: ‘The last dance was an epic one, and of course emotional. I’ll cherish our rivalry forever. Tennis will miss you.’
Tennis fans got one final glimpse of Rafael Nadal’s legendary talent
Whilst it was expected that the Serbian would come out on top with some comfort, given how little his Spanish rival had played in recent months, there was still hope that there might be a bit of pushback from the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
However, when he fell into a 6-2 first-set deficit, fans feared the worst.
And, broken early again in the second seemed to have sealed his fate.
After years of watching Nadal though, his play style and undeniable defiance in the face of adversity should have taught fans to never give up on him. He proved that once again in the second set where, despite still losing on a tiebreak, he offered up some of the best tennis we have seen the 38-year-old produce in some time.
It was so rewarding to see this legendary veteran crushing his patented left-handed forehands past Djokovic, saving match points to at the very least take them to a tiebreak.
Even if he lost, it’s nice that those in attendance and watching from home got to see a final glimpse of the miraculous talent he had at his disposal.
Nadal’s final tennis match now nears, set to be at the Davis Cup Finals next month.
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