Rafael Nadal fell to a straight-sets defeat in Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final clash with the Netherlands in what could prove the final match of his illustrious career.
Nadal will officially retire after the tournament and was picked by captain David Ferrer to lead out his side in the opening match in Malaga.
But the 22-time Grand Slam champion was unable to summon his best tennis in his first competitive outing since the Paris Olympics in July, eventually failing to a 6-4 6-4 defeat against World No. 80 Botic van de Zandschulp.
The defeat could mark Nadal’s final match as a professional should Spain fail to win the final two matches against their Dutch opposition.
Visibly emotional as the national anthem rung out beforehand, Nadal gave little away in the opening stages but was not noticeably restricted in his ability to move quickly around the court.
And with Van de Zandschulp growing into the encounter, the 38-year-old was eventually broken to give the Dutchman a 5-4 lead in the first set.
Van de Zandschulp made no mistake, serving out the final game to wrap up the first set before breaking Nadal’s serve immediately again at the start of the second set.
The 29-year-old threatened to run away with the contest when he broke for a third time in the contest to take a 4-1 lead in the second set.
However, Nadal fought back valiantly, creating a host of opportunities before breaking straight back in the following game.
Ultimately, though, the Dutchman would hold his nerve, serving out his final two games to silence the partisan home crowd and claim a huge victory against the Spaniard.
Spain now trail 1-0 in the best three-match series against the Dutch, with Carlos Alcaraz looking to level up the encounter against Tallon Griekspoor in the second singles match.
Should the World No.3 force a decider, he will be back in action alongside Marcel Granollers to face Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof in the doubles.
If Spain come back and win the tie, they would be back in action on Friday for the semi-finals. However, captain Ferrer would face a headache as to whether to select Nadal again just three days later given his long-documented fitness issues which have essentially forced him into retirement.
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