Davis Cup aiming for ‘special’ Rafael Nadal retirement celebration
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Spain's Rafael Nadal is set to call time on his storied career following the Davis Cup in November 2024.
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BARCELONA – The Davis Cup will provide a special farewell to retiring tennis great Rafael Nadal at the Final 8 in a fortnight, tournament director Feliciano Lopez said on Nov 5.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, is part of the Spain squad for the Finals in Malaga which begin on Nov 19.
Lopez said that the Davis Cup was “lucky” to host Nadal’s swansong tournament and wants to offer the departing superstar a farewell that lives up to his glittering career.
“It’s confidential of course, but we’re planning to do something very special for him. We have to celebrate his career and his legacy,” he added.
“There’s a lot of things that we’re planning. For now I cannot share any more details with you, but we’re planning something very special. We are going to try and live up to his legacy and his enormous career.”
Lopez also said that many stars of tennis and other sports wanted to come to Malaga to witness the denouement of Nadal’s career.
“I know that almost everyone in the world wants to be present for his farewell... Novak Djokovic posted on Instagram that he wants to be there, also Andy Murray wants to be there,” added Lopez.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have seats for everyone, but as you can imagine all the tennis players that played in his time, they want to be there, (and) other athletes from different sports.”
It would be a fitting farewell, as a vital win in the Davis Cup in 2004 helped launch Nadal’s career.
Nadal, 18 at the time, defeated Andy Roddick in a thrilling singles battle to help Spain claim the competition against the United States in Seville.
Not surprisingly, tickets for Spain’s last-eight match against the Netherlands were snapped up quickly and Lopez joked they could do with “two stadiums, not one”, with some being resold for thousands of euros online.
Nadal could be paired with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is also part of the Spain team.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is part of defending champions Italy’s team and Lopez hailed his budding rivalry with Alcaraz, as the new era of men’s tennis gradually unfolds.
“They are a true blessing for tennis,” he added.
“Roger (Federer) and Rafa are gone, and Novak we don’t know how much he has left in the tank... we’re very lucky in the tennis industry and world that we have Sinner and Alcaraz leading this new generation of players.”
In a separate issue, Lopez said preparations for the Davis Cup had not been affected by the recent devastating floods
He added that along with the Billie Jean King Cup and the International Tennis Federation, it has made a donation to the Spanish Red Cross.
“It’s terrible and horrible to see this happening,” said Lopez.
“Luckily this is not affecting the preparations in Malaga. Of course we will try to use our platform to raise awareness and we will try to raise money for everyone affected in Valencia.” AFP
