Rafael Nadal clarifies decision to play singles match at Davis Cup Finals despite fitness issue concerns

Rafael Nadal kicked off the final tournament of his professional career, the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, on a bad note after losing to Botic van de Zandschulp in the first singles tie. After the match, the Spaniard cast doubts on whether he would feature in another singles match at the event.

Nadal donned his national color to step out on the court for potentially his last tennis match against the Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp on November 19. The 38-year-old looked out of sorts for his first match professional match since the Paris Olympics in July and struggled with movement on the backhand wing and returns of serve.

In the first set, van de Zandschulp shunned the raucous crowd in Malaga and focused on his game to take advantage. Nadal's level dropped even more in the second set, as he lagged 1-4. To the delight of the spectators, the Spaniard got one of the breaks back. But he could not reverse the deficit and lost the match 4-6, 4-6.

That might be the final singles match of Rafael Nadal's career, as in his post-match press conference, he expressed unease about playing another singles match at the tournament. If Spain reverses the deficit and beats the Netherlands in the next two matches (one singles in which Carlos Alcaraz is playing and one doubles), Nadal could potentially play another singles contest in the semifinals.

However, if it were up to the 22-time Grand Slam champion, he would not do so. Nadal suggested it would be best for his team if he didn't play another singles match but would step up if team captain David Ferrer asked him to. He told reporters (translated from Spanish via Marca):

"If I were the captain, I wouldn't play the next match. Given my level, I wouldn't choose myself, but that doesn't mean I don't want to play. Today's match may have been my last individual match. He made the decision to play, that's what he's the captain for. I didn't put any pressure on him.

"The decision was made for me to play and we knew there was a risk. I couldn't win the point, I can't say I'm sorry because this is sport. I tried as I always have. You can't control your level. I already said that I would rule myself out if I didn't feel ready, but I trained well enough."

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"I think we were both nervous": Botic van de Zandschulp on his match against Rafael Nadal at Davis Cup Finals

Botic van de Zandschulp (Source: Getty)

Botic van de Zandschulp did exceptionally well to hold his nerve during his contest against Rafael Nadal and close out the win on the first time of asking. In his on-court interview after beating the Spanish giant in potentially his last match, van de Zandschulp grew emotional while talking about the circumstances and revealed that he was very nervous at the start of the contest.

“In the beginning, I think we were both nervous. The first serves didn’t go smoothly, the crowd was tough - understandable... He (Rafa) is the biggest sportsman in Spain that has ever lived. It is a really special event," Van de Zandschulp said.

The pressure was on van de Zandschulp from start to end, and as he got closer to securing the win, the more he got heckled by the crowd inside the Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga. However, the World No. 80 understood the fans' emotions and said he would join them in cheering on the home favorite if he were in the stands and not on the court.

“It is tough to close out a match against him, knowing it could be his last... At 4-3, 0-40, I just went for it, and it helped in the end... There were too many people from Spain here cheering for him! But if I would sit next to the court, I would cheer for him as well," the Dutchman said.

Botic van de Zandschulp's win ended the 29-match singles winning streak for Rafael Nadal at the Davis Cup. The last singles loss for the Spaniard at the tournament came in 2004.