Rafael Nadal is counting the hours before he steps onto the court for his possibly last-ever professional tennis match, but he's not focusing on that.
The 38-year-old Spaniard announced that he would retire from tennis at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals. He has always prided himself in representing his country, highlighted by his commitment to compete in both singles and doubles at the Olympic Games.
On top of that, retiring at the Davis Cup Finals brings a completely new dimension to his retirement, as he will get to retire with his teammates and countrymen. The competition is also held in Malaga, Spain, so thousands of his compatriots will cheer the 22-time Grand Slam champion into retirement.
The Davis Cup format also gives him a chance to end his career victoriously. While Nadal certainly demonstrated that he could still beat players on the ATP Tour, winning a meaningful title would probably be a too difficult task for him at the moment, but that changes with Carlos Alcaraz next to him on the court.
Alcaraz said that Nadal's retirement is more important than the Davis Cup, but the more experienced of the two doesn't agree with that statement.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of his retirement, Nadal was asked whether he would struggle to contain emotions. He replied that the focus shouldn't be on his retirement but instead on the competition, as he came to Malaga to help Spain win.
"I mean, I don't know (smiling). I cannot predict what's going on. If I am on the court, hopefully not, no, because in the end, I am not here to retire. I'm here to try to help the team."
Of course, Nadal is aware that this will be the last time that he will appear on the tennis courts, at least in a professional setting, but he doesn't want his retirement to distract himself and his teammates from the task at hand.
That task is bringing the Davis Cup glory back to Spain, and that's the only thing that he plans to focus on during this week in Malaga.
"Then it's, of course, going to be my last week on the professional tour, but at the end, we are here in a teams competition. The most important thing here is to try to help the team and to stay all focused on what we have to do, that is play tennis and do it very well, no?"
Nadal also recognized the strength of Spain's rivals. In the quarter-final, Spain will compete against the Netherlands, who bring a very balanced line-up that could certainly trouble the Spaniards.
"Because the rival is going to be difficult, and the conditions are difficult, too. So then the emotions going to be for the end, and before and during, it's to be focused on what we need to do."
While Nadal wants to focus on his retirement or not, he might not be able to avoid that everyone else will. The Davis Cup in Malaga will be more than just a competition, as it will also be a celebration of his tennis career, which will now end.