Spain Davis Cup captain David Ferrer took a pop at Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and former NBA player Pau Gasol for not attending Rafael Nadal’s final tennis match. The Spaniard, 38, was defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Dutch star Botic van de Zandschulp in what turned out to be the final match of his career.
Nadal announced that he would retire after his country’s Davis Cup campaign, but with the length of time hinging on his country’s performance, it was largely unclear when that would have been. World no.3 Carlos Alcaraz overcame Tallon Griekspoor in his singles match to force a decider, but the young Wimbledon champion and Marcel Granollers would lose to Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof to crash out in the semi-finals.
Nadal’s final match could have taken place on November 24, but the latter’s defeat meant his career ended after his loss to the World no.80. While he accepted that some people may have gambled on Spain reaching the final to wave Nadal off, Ferrer was unhappy that many of Nadal’s tennis colleagues and friends were not there to say farewell.
After their exit, Ferrer told Partidazo de Cope: “The farewell was done with the best intentions, but it was after losing and in a hurry… it was a bit sad. When you don’t win, it’s already a sad moment. I missed Federer, Djokovic, Gasol, who is a close friend of his.
“He was going to be there on Friday. I shouldn’t have been the one to speak. Others should have. But Rafa’s greatness is not going to change with a better or worse tribute. I’m sad about everything, about how it went, about losing…it wasn’t the scenario we wanted. We were favourites, but we didn’t show it. And the farewell of someone as important as Rafa was lackluster.
“Very important people in his career and rivals were missing. I missed those people. Things are what they are and we have to accept them. Rafa will have plenty of time to receive tributes at major tournaments such as Roland Garros and he will have the farewell he deserves.
“It was his last match, it was the end of his tennis career. We won’t see him on a court anymore and it’s true that I missed that a little bit. Rafa’s greatness deserved something more.”
Ferrer was not the only person who was underwhelmed by the farewell Nadal received. His uncle and former coach Toni Nadal highlighted how disappointed he felt by the occasion. He told El Larguero: “It was emotional, obviously, with the support of the audience…. But I particularly like images.
“I would have liked to see images of Rafael’s matches at the Davis Cup in Seville, in Madrid, at Roland Garros, Wimbledon… I think it creates more emotion. I don’t mean to criticise anyone, I would have liked a slightly different act, that’s all.
“I appreciate the good intentions, but I would have liked something else. Nowadays you can do much more emotional acts by mixing music with images. Rafael is a guy whose images convey passion. If they had put some images of him, it would have been more in line, but I appreciate the intent.”
Nadal retired having won 22 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal and 92 ATP-single level titles.
