By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Photograph credit score: Mike McNulty/Getty for ITF Davis Cup
Champions come and go.
Legends stay perpetually.
Extra: TC Suspends Jon Wertheim
Earlier than an adoring residence crowd serenading him with chants of “Rafa! Rafa!”, 38-year-old Spanish famous person Rafael Nadal obtained a heroic send-off in his ultimate skilled occasion at Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain right now.
Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp defeated Nadal 6-4, 6-4 within the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s ultimate singles match.
Wesley Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp stopped Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers 7-6(4), 7-6(3) clinching The Netherlands 2-1 Davis Cup quarterfinal conquest of Spain and ending Nadal’s storied profession.
Former world No. 1 Nadal spoke with gratitude about his profession and grew emotional when a tribute video was performed on the large display screen.
Grand Slam champions together with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Juan Martin del Potro paid tribute to Nadal, expressing precisely what he means to tennis and to them personally.
Afterward, Nadal was requested the legacy he hopes to depart.
The king of clay stated he hopes folks will sum up his legacy in three phrases: particular person.
Embed from Getty Photos
The proprietor of 92 profession championships stated being particular person is extra necessary to him than being an important champion.
“On the finish of the day, being sincere, lots of people work arduous, lots of people strive their finest each single day,” Nadal advised the group in Malaga. “However I’m certainly one of these that I’ve been very fortunate that the life gave me the chance to stay unforgettable experiences due to tennis.
“I simply wish to be remembered as particular person and as a child that adopted their desires and achieved greater than what I ever dreamed.”
In that quest, in addition to so many others in his superb profession, Nadal was an impressed success.
