Rafael Nadal is giving his best in the last official event of his career. The Spanish legend does not want the 2024 Davis Cup Finals to be remembered only for his retirement, but he hopes to also be a protagonist in Malaga.
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Spain will make its debut against the Netherlands tomorrow and everyone is wondering what Rafa's role will be. The former world No. 1 has been practicing very hard both at his academy and in Malaga these days and wants to be ready to play singles or doubles.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has played very little in recent months and his last official tournament was the Paris Olympics about three months ago. These days, the 14-time French Open champion has also tried doubles together with Marcel Granollers. The choice will be up to captain David Ferrer, who will certainly talk with Nadal before the tie against the Netherlands.
Rafa practiced well
The former world No. 1 received a really amazing welcome in Malaga and will try to help Spain lift the trophy on Sunday. The Spanish team is the second favorite according to bookmakers after Italy, which will have to defend the title won in the last edition.
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Despite his retirement being a truly iconic moment, Rafa does not want to monopolize all the attention on himself during this week. For this reason, the 22-time Grand Slam champion has decided to keep a low profile and leave Ferrer all the choices regarding the players to be deployed.
I have already told David on many occasions not to make any decision based on the fact that this is my last week as a professional tennis player, the 22-time Grand Slam winner stated before the start of the event.
The team comes first, and he should not be affected in the slightest by the noise that may be around. He has to do what is best for the team and that is what I want he added.
The Spanish legend has practiced in the best possible way in recent weeks and wants to give himself the chance to compete at the highest level for the last time.
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I have more or less been able to have some good preparation and thats why Im here. The reality is that I want to live this week, however it is he explained.
With the illusion of closing a very beautiful and long stage of my life. Living these moments with illusion and with normality too, from the acceptance that everything has a beginning and an end.
I am going to try to prepare myself in the best way possible to be available to David and then see what the captain decides. I want to help in any way, whether it is playing or not, just being here and contributing what I can Rafa concluded.
A global icon
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will be supported by many VIPs and players during the last tournament of his career. Nole Djokovic and Andy Murray will be present in Malaga, while Roger Federer's presence is still uncertain due to some commitments with his sponsors.
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Rafa's influence on modern tennis has been truly impressive, and his legacy is perhaps even greater than his wins on court. At the beginning of his career, almost no one thought that his journey in professional tennis would last so long. The legend from Manacor had many serious injuries during his career and was often given up for finished. His exploits at the Australian Open and the French Open in 2022 remain among the most surprising in the recent history of this sport. A champion like Rafa will be missed by everybody, but his legacy will last forever.
During his press conference after the Nitto ATP Finals final against Jannik Sinner, American ace Taylor Fritz paid tribute to Nadal: "I feel like I see a lot of lefties that try to play exactly like Rafa. I mean, if I was lefty, I'd try to play exactly like Rafa, too. It's probably good I'm not lefty because it wouldn't be very good trying to do that (smiling). Yeah, I think in terms of people trying to emulate his game, I feel like there's so many lefties that just look to Rafa as like the gold standard of what you want to do.
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The 2024 US Open finalist continued: "I mean, even me when I was a kid, I'd be on the court pretending I'm playing the French Open, doing like this and stuff. He's had a massive impact on my whole generation because we all grew up on watching him and Roger.
