He beat Rafael Nadal in the last match of his career a year ago but only won one Grand Slam match in 2025

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Rafael Nadal played the final match of his professional career one year ago today.

Choosing to retire at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, Nadal joined Team Spain for their quarterfinal tie vs the Netherlands in Malaga.

Nadal played the first match, taking on Botic van de Zandschulp in front of a sell-out crowd at the Martin Carpena Arena.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Nadal lost to Van de Zandschulp in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6, leaving his teammates with work to do to prolong his career.

Eventually losing the deciding doubles, Spain exited at the quarterfinal stage, and Nadal retired from tennis.

Many wondered if such a big win could propel Van de Zandschulp to greatness on the ATP Tour, so how has the Dutch star fared since retiring Nadal 365 days ago?

Botic van de Zandschulp only won one Grand Slam match in 2025

The 30-year-old endured a tricky Grand Slam campaign in 2025, winning just one of his five matches played at major tournaments.

• 2025 Australian Open 1R [LOSS] vs Alex de Minaur
• 2025 French Open 1R [LOSS] vs Emilio Nava
• 2025 Wimbledon 1R [WIN] vs Matteo Arnaldi
• 2025 Wimbledon 2R [LOSS] vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• 2025 US Open 1R [LOSS] vs Holger Rune

Van de Zandschulp beat Matteo Arnaldi in the first round of Wimbledon, but failed to win another match at the Grand Slam level this year.

He didn’t fare much better at the Masters 1000 tournaments, competing in three main draws: Indian Wells, Madrid, and Shanghai.

After shocking Novak Djokovic in the second round of Indian Wells, Van de Zandschulp lost his next three Masters 1000 matches.

• 2025 Indian Wells 1R [WIN] vs Nick Kyrgios
• 2025 Indian Wells 2R [WIN] vs Novak Djokovic
• 2025 Indian Wells 3R [LOSS] vs Francisco Cerundolo
• 2025 Madrid Open 1R [LOSS] vs Jan-Lennard Struff
• 2025 Shanghai Masters 1R [LOSS] vs Nuno Borges

It’s clear to see that Van de Zandschulp didn’t have the best of years at the ‘big’ tournaments on tour, but that’s not to say he didn’t enjoy success at the smaller events.

The Dutchman qualified for just his third career ATP final at the Winston-Salem Open, where he met Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.

In straight sets, Van de Zandschulp lost to Fucsovics 4-6, 4-6, as he came up short in a final for the third time in his career.

He may not have been able to use his win over Nadal a year ago as a springboard to success, but he still managed to improve his year-end ranking from 2024 to 2025.

After finishing 2024 as the world number 80, Van De Zandschulp finished this year as the 77th-best player on tour.

2025 year-end rankings

Only time will tell how Van de Zandschulp will perform in 2026…

Who did Rafael Nadal play tennis against one year after retiring?

Returning to the court a year after his retirement in Malaga, Nadal practised with breakout WTA star Alexandra Eala.

Eala, a graduate of the ‘Rafael Nadal Academy’, enjoyed a stellar season in 2025, including a standout week in Miami, where she beat several Grand Slam champions en route to the semifinals.

Taking to social media, Nadal shared the news of his practice session with the Filipino.

“One year later, it felt great to be back on a tennis court,” he said.

“It was great to practice with you, Alex Eala!

“Next time I will be stronger.”

20-year-old Eala is currently ranked inside the top 50, and will no doubt hope to push on to bigger and better things in 2026.

Eala is set to make her Australian Open debut in 2026, when the tournament begins on Monday, January 12.