Rafael Nadal played his possibly last professional tennis match, and it was a losing effort against Botic van de Zandschulp at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
This year's Davis Cup Finals are special. It is a tournament that will mark the end of one of the greatest tennis careers of all time, and that end might have happened already in the first match at the tournament.
Rafael Nadal will retire from professional tennis at the tournament, and everything said about the tournament has been linked to the legendary Spaniard, who will end his career as a 22-time Grand Slam champion.
The 38-year-old received a custom bag from his racket sponsor Babolat, and fans were buying tickets for this tie for tens of thousands of Euros, just to get a glimpse of Nadal in his possibly last match.
Given the format of the tournament, no one knows which might be Nadal's last match. Since he is the lowest-ranked player in his team, every singles match that he plays at the event will be the first match, meaning that a lot can happen after that.
There are plenty of scenarios. Nadal could win his first match, and Spain could still lose the tie, meaning that he would end his career with a personal victory, even though it would be a team loss. Another scenario could see him lose the match but still win the ti,e thanks to his teammates.
That's why no one knew if this match would be his last, regardless of the result. Of course, Nadal wanted to do everything possible to make sure this wouldn't be his last match, but he didn't face an easy opponent.
Botic van de Zandschulp stunned Carlos Alcaraz at this year's US Open, and with the match played indoors on hard courts, he had a certain advantage over his opponent. On top of that, despite the tie being played in Spain, the Dutch fans came in large numbers, supporting their player heavily throughout the match.
Already the start of the tie was emotional. With the national anthem playing ahead of the tie, Nadal struggled to hold back tears, knowing it might be his last ever professional tennis match.
Some sort of nervousness was palpable from both players early on, even though none of the players worked their way to break points. They both held their serves, and it looked like the first set of this match would have to be decided in a tie-break.
But that didn't materialize. When it mattered the most, van de Zandschulp found his best tennis, and he was able to break Nadal's serve in the ninth game of the set to lead 5-4.
After that, the Dutch player, who hit five aces in the opening set, had no issues holding his serve, winning the needed game to win the first set of the match 6-4.
That was hugely disappointing for the Spanish crowd and also Nadal himself, but there was at least one more set of play left. The 38-year-old was determined to give it his best, but he was overwhelmed early on.
The games were close, and every single game in the second set could have been won by either player. In the first game, Nadal had a game point, but he lost it and was broken. The Spaniard then led 30-15 in the second game, but again lost it.
He then won the third game of the second set, but only through three deuces, and in the fourth game, he had a 30-0 lead on his opponent's serve just to lose the game.
In the following games both players had multiple chances on each other's serve as well, and after five games played, the scoreboard showed 4-1 for the Dutch player.
At 4-1 and 30-0, even the most loyal Nadal fans probably couldn't see him mount a comeback, but he did what he does best, he thought for every single ball, with event Serena Williams getting emotional when watching the Spanish legend.
Sensationally, Nadal was able to recover one of the two breaks and, despite facing a break point on his serve, held his serve to make it 3-4. His opponent was still next to serve, but Nadal worked his way to a 30-0 lead, coming close to leveling the score.
Out of nowhere, van de Zandschulp started serving aces left and right, winning four points in a row to hold his serve and lead 5-3 in the second set, coming one game away from winning the match.
Although Nadal did all in his power to turn the match around, he couldn't do it, losing 4-6, 4-6. This could have been the last-ever professional tennis match, but everything will depend on the outcome of the following two matches.
Up next, Carlos Alcaraz will take on Tallon Griekspoor in the second singles match of the tie, and if the Spaniard wins, he will team up with Marcel Granollers to play against van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof. If the Spanish team wins both of these matches, this might not have been Nadal's last match.