Taylor Fritz paid tribute to retiring Rafael Nadal following his runner-up finish at the ATP Finals as he acknowledged that there is a lot left-handed players from his generation who tried to copy the Spaniard's style.
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On Sunday, the American tennis star played one of the biggest matches of his career in Turin. Unfortunately for the 27-year-old, he failed to land his first ATP Finals title after home favorite Jannik Sinner handed him a 6-4 6-4 defeat.
Now, Fritz is set to head to Spain for this week's Davis Cup Finals in Malaga - where Nadal is also set to put a curtain on his astonishing tennis career. On Tuesday, Spain will take on Netherlands in the quarterfinal stage and there is a possibility that it will be the 22-time Grand Slam champion's last appearance if the host nation loses.
And at the end of his post-ATP Finals press conference, Fritz was asked about the impact the 38-year-old had on his generation.
"I mean, 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. 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," the 27-year-old American explained.
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Nadal made one thing clear in his pre-tournament presser at the DC Finals
For this week's Davis Cup Finals, Spanish captain David Ferrer also nominated Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pedro Martinez and Marcel Granollers. Since the former world No. 1 announced last month that the event in Malaga would be the last of his career, all the attention regarding the event has been on his retirement and pretty much nothing else.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Nadal admitted that he is aware that the majority of attention and interest is on his farewell. However, he also underlined that his first and main focus is on helping his nation triumph.
"If I'm on the court I hope to control my emotions. I'm not here to retire, I'm here to help the team win. It's my last week in a team competition and the most important thing is to help the team. Emotions will come at the end. Before and after I'll be focused on what I have to do," Nadal said.
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For weeks, there has been a lot of talk about whether or not the 38-year-old would get to play singles at the Davis Cup Finals. Last month, captain Ferrer indicated that was the plan but also highlighted that he needed the former world No. 1 to give him the green light and say that he was ready for singles action.
On Monday, Nadal didn't confirm nor deny that he would play singles. Instead, he claimed that he was unsure of his role. Also, the record 14-time French Open champion insisted he was at peace with his retirement because he knew it was time.
"Everybody when arrive the end of a long career, of course, at the end I will change things that I did, I will do things that I will change to try to be better and to try to avoid things, but at the end, I achieved the most important thing for me. I arrived this day, and I am in peace that I give all what I had, and I played and I practiced since I was seven years old but in that age, I started to work more and more with passion, with love, and with the determination to be as good as possible," the Spanish tennis icon said.
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"I am not the kind of guy that I will say, no, I will not change things, because for me it looks arrogant. Of course I will change things, but one thing have been so important for me, because I am going to leave this professional tour with the calm and with the personal satisfaction that I give my best almost in every single moment."
If Spain wins on Tuesday, they will be back for semifinal action on Friday - with the final taking place on Sunday - if they make it that far.
As it stands now, Nadal playing or not will only be revealed on Tuesday.
