Spaniard Rafael Nadal went down 4-6, 4-6 in the singles quarterfinals of Davis Cup, his last tournament before he hangs up his racket. Earlier, Nadal had announced that the tourney would be his last, bringing the curtains down on an illustrious career. The 22-time Grand Slam champion lost to Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp.
Rafael Nadal loses quarterfinals singles match at Davis Cup
Nadal went down in two straight sets to the Dutchman. Despite playing in front of his home crowd in Malaga, the Spaniard failed to overcome the challenge posed by Zandschulp. While the first set saw a neck to neck battle for majority of the time before the Dutchman took the lead, the second set saw a strong fightback from Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam champion fought back from being 1-4 to 3-4 before losing the set 4-6.
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While Nadal was initially supposed to play the doubles quarterfinals in Davis Cup, he was asked by Spain captain David Ferrer to play the singles tie. The loss against the Dutchman is only Nadal’s second Davis Cup loss in singles. He won 29 matches in a row after his first loss in 2004, setting a record for best win percentage by any player.
Nadal announces retirement plans
Nadal skipped Australia, Wimbledon and the US Open this year to prioritize the clay court season, but the results weren’t great. He was knocked out in the first round at the French Open, where he is a 14-time champion. He also decided to skip Laver Cup, a tournament he’d committed to months ago.
