Rafael Nadal sent a strong warning to Spain’s Davis Cup captain David Ferrer.
The 38-year-old played what could be the final singles match of his legendary career against Botic van de Zandschulp on Tuesday.
There was plenty of speculation around whether the 22-time Grand Slam champion would be ready to play singles at the Davis Cup finals.
He arrived in Malaga and trained hard and well enough to take to the court, but Nadal was defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Van de Zandschulp, who put the Netherlands 1-0 up in the Davis Cup quarter-final tie.
What was the advice Rafael Nadal gave David Ferrer at the Davis Cup finals?
David Ferrer, Spain’s Davis Cup captain, selected Nadal to play the first singles match of their quarter-final tie against the Netherlands.
Nadal battled hard as he always does, but ultimately he was unable to consistently produce the level of play needed to defeat the dangerous Van de Zandschulp.
In his post-match press conference, the former World number one was very honest about his performance and suggested what he thinks captain Ferrer should do moving forward for Spain to have the best chance of winning the Davis Cup.
“I said that if I wasn’t ready, I would rule myself out. I think I trained well enough. But then in competition I couldn’t perform as I would have liked. He played better than me,“ Nadal admitted.
“I hope the situation works out so that Spain can move forward. And I will continue working so that I can be eligible again. But given how I saw myself today, if I were the captain, I wouldn’t choose myself again.”
Is Rafael Nadal going to play a singles match again?
On Tuesday Nadal contested his first competitive singles match since losing to Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympic Games in July.
Nadal’s lack of match play showed as the former World number one struggled with his movement at times, especially laterally.
Van de Zandschulp broke in the ninth game of the first set before taking the lead, and he opened up a 4-1 lead in the second set. But Nadal showed his trademark qualities and claimed one of the breaks back and reduced the deficit to 4-3.
But he was also unable to break serve again for the rest of the match and Van de Zandschulp claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win. This is Nadal’s first singles loss in the Davis Cup since he made his debut in 2004.
Following the defeat, Nadal admitted he may have played a professional singles match for the final time. “I lost my first Davis Cup match, and I lost what may be my last Davis Cup match,” he said.
“In the end I knew it could be my last match as a professional tennis player, so that moment was very emotional. There are so many emotions that are difficult to bear.”
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
