Rafael Nadal soaked in the emotion of a memorable but bittersweet evening in Malaga as his professional career came to an end.
The 38-year-old opted to make the Davis Cup Finals his last event having accepted last month that his body would no longer allow him to compete at the highest level.
He was hoping for one final victory on home soil but Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp spoiled the party with a 6-4 6-4 victory, and Spain’s quarter-final elimination was confirmed after Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof defeated Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers in the deciding doubles.
The Spanish fans, some of whom had paid seven-figure sums for tickets, flocked to the Martin Carpena Arena in their thousands, draped in red and yellow flags and scarves and ready to cheer on their national hero one more time.
Nadal said at a press conference on Monday that he wanted to leave the emotion for when the end came, with his focus on trying to win Spain a sixth Davis Cup title during his long and historic career, but there were tears in his eyes during a stirring rendition of the national anthem.
“Of course it has been an emotional day, nerves before what can be my last singles match,” he said.
“Feeling the national anthem for the last time like a professional has been very special. And then of course a little bit of mixed feelings makes things a little bit more difficult.
“But that’s it. We went on court. We live that moment. I tried to do my best. I tried to, at the same time, stay as positive as possible in every single moment, to play with the right energy. It was not enough. Congrats to Botic. That’s all. He was better than me.”
It was only Nadal’s second ever Davis Cup loss in singles, with the other coming on his debut against Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak way back in 2004.
It was later the same year that Nadal sent waves through the sport by beating Andy Roddick in the final as an 18-year-old, one of 29 straight singles victories until now.
Nadal backed captain David Ferrer’s decision to pick him ahead of higher-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut but insisted there was no pressure to do so.
“Of course it hasn’t been an easy decision for the captain,” said Nadal. “But at the end I really believe that David put on the field the player who he feels that had the better chance to win.
“Because I give him, since the beginning, the input that he doesn’t need to feel any pressure to put me, honestly, and I was not sure to play. I even give him more chances to put Roberto on the field than me during the whole week.
“Probably watching that today, the decision to put me on the court as second player didn’t work.”
He admitted he was expecting to be dropped if Spain progressed, and added with a smile: “It’s in some ways good maybe if that was my last match. I lost my first match in the Davis Cup, and I lost my last one. So we close the circle.”
This was just Nadal’s eighth official tournament this season, while his only singles matches since the Olympics in July came in an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia last month.
There were glimpses of the old Nadal in some full-blooded forehands, with fist pumps and roars greeting every point won.
But Van de Zandschulp is a quality player and, although Nadal made it tight after trailing 4-1 in the second set, he could not quite conjure the old magic.
After shaking hands with his opponent, Nadal waved and blew kisses to his adoring crowd, not knowing it would be for the last time.
Alcaraz gave Spain hope with a 7-6 (0) 6-3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor, saying afterwards the win was for Nadal, who was cheering him on from the sidelines.
But Alcaraz was unable to complete the job as he and Granollers were edged out 7-6 (4) 7-5 by Van de Zandschulp and Koolhof – who does prolong his career – in a tense final doubles.