Rafael Nadal says farewell to tennis as his fans salute their retiring hero in a bittersweet and emotional ceremony at a sold-out Malaga arena.
Full story: https://www.rappler.com/sports/tears-flow-fans-salute-retiring-rafael-nadal-after-davis-cup-defeat-2024/
Full story: https://www.rappler.com/sports/tears-flow-fans-salute-retiring-rafael-nadal-after-davis-cup-defeat-2024/
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Rafael Nadal says farewell to tennis as his fans salute the retiring hero in a bittersweet
00:06and emotional ceremony at a sold-out Malaga Arena.
00:09This follows Nadal's last professional match in Spain's Davis Cup, where he was defeated
00:14by the Netherlands.
00:15The 22-time Grand Slam champion had earlier lost to the Netherlands' Botteg Banda Sonsloop.
00:20Nadal had earlier said that if he were Spain's Davis Cup captain, he wouldn't pick himself
00:25to play singles if they advanced in the tournament.
00:28The Majorcan says he felt prepared and played the best he could, but was not going to apologize
00:32for the loss.
00:34Holding back tears, he tells the Malaga crowd,
00:36What I have tried to do is to be a good person, and I hope you have perceived that.
00:41I'll leave with a peace of mind of having left a sporting and personal legacy I can
00:45be proud about."