Rafael Nadal’s uncle has named a key problem with his nephew’s retirement ceremony at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga on Tuesday.
Nadal played the last professional match of his career in front of a packed audience this week, including most of his family, as he lost to Botic van de Zandschulp.
Spain were eventually eliminated by the Netherlands – but the result did not matter – with the clash instead giving Nadal the chance to wave goodbye.
Nadal, along with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, dominated tennis for two decades, winning 22 Grand Slam titles – including a record 14 at the French Open – and goes down as one of the greatest players of all time.
Emotions ran high the moment Nadal stepped onto the court, with the 38-year-old ‘King of Clay’ seen crying during the Spanish national anthem.
After Spain’s elimination, Nadal took the microphone and spoke to the crowd, while a number of famous faces across tennis and football sent him messages in a special video, including Andy Murray and Raul.
Toni Nadal, who introduced his nephew to tennis and was his long-term coach until 2017, feels the ceremony could’ve been better and believes the problem was that Davis Cup organisers didn’t make enough references to his heroics at Roland-Garros or Wimbledon among other tournaments.
‘It was certainly emotional with the public’s support,’ he told El Larguero on SER radio.
‘I like to see images of these events, I would have liked to see images of Rafael winning the Davis Cup in Seville, of Rafael at the Madrid [Open], at Roland Garros or Wimbledon [as] this creates more emotion.
‘I’m not trying to criticise anyone. I would have preferred something different, more in line with his career.
‘I appreciate the gesture they had as a family member and former coach of Rafael, and the good intentions, but afterwards, I would have liked something else.
‘Nowadays, much more emotional events can be organised by mixing music with images.
‘And Rafael is a person whose images convey passion and emotion. If they had done this, it would have been more fitting.’