Fans will get an unprecedented insight into Rafael Nadal's life and career when Netflix and Skydance Sports collaborate to release a documentary.
Nadal retired from professional tennis at this year's Davis Cup Finals. He lost the final professional match of his career against the Netherlands's Botic van de Zandschulp before Team Spain lost the deciding doubles match.
It was a disappointing end to Nadal's legendary career. He won four Davis Cup titles and would have loved to end by securing a fifth in front of his home fans in Malaga, who gave him raucous support during his last match.
Some criticized Nadal's retirement ceremony afterward. The 14-time French Open champion's coach, Carlos Moya, called it shabby, while his uncle and former long-term coach, Toni Nadal, found it underwhelming.
Spanish Davis Cup captain David Ferrer also addressed that issue, arguing that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal's absence from the last day of his professional career made the event feel watered down.
Nadal deserved the best send-off possible not just because of all the titles he won but also because of the adversity the 22-time Grand Slam champion overcame to make all of those achievements possible.
The former ATP world No. 1 recently revealed he was told that becoming a professional tennis player would be impossible after sustaining an injury at the age of 17, but the Spaniard overcame those odds.
Nadal also wrote about how close he came to taking a break from tennis a few years ago because of mental issues he was suffering from, including struggling to control his breathing, but he also fought back from that.
The 38-year-old eventually retired from tennis after trying for two years to recover from numerous injuries. In its announcement about the documentary series, Netflix revealed that fans would get unprecedented access to the last year of Nadal's career.
Nadal released a statement saying he never expected to do anything like the documentary but is excited to work with Netflix and Skydance Sports and give fans an insight into his life, especially the last few difficult years.
"I never thought I’d do something like this, but I got a call from David Ellison and with his words together with an amazing project they put in front of my eyes it really convinced me this was the right thing to do. Everyone will be able to see how my life has been during my tennis career and particularly in this very last year I had."
"It will also show how my life and my tennis career developed through the years. I am sure the final product, the docuseries, will be amazing and that it will be seen around the world. My thanks to David Ellison and his team at Skydance for creating and believing on this project."
"To my family and my team for allowing being filmed this past year, I know it was not easy for all of us. To my colleagues and peers who have given time to put themselves in front of a camera for some time. And thanks to the tournaments around the world that facilitated the work, it wasn’t easy."