Rafael Nadal admitted he should be dropped from the Spain team if they reach the Davis Cup semi-finals after losing the first – and potentially last – match of his final tournament.
Dutchman Botic van de Vandschulp stunning the vocal home crowd by beating local hero 6-4 6-4.
It was only Nadal’s second ever defeat in Davis Cup singles – his first came on his debut in 2004 – and it ended a 29-match winning streak.
Spain needed to win the next two ties last night to avoid elimination and Nadal’s career being definitely over.
But asked if he still wanted to play again in the Davis Cup Final 8 if his nation did progress, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said: “I say the same than before: It is not my decision. That’s why we have a captain (David Ferrer) on the team/ I am not the captain.
He made the decision today. Hopefully we have the chance to go through. And probably watching that today what the decision that at the end to put me on the court like second player didn’t work, probably the easy move and maybe the right move is to change. No, that’s the truth.
“For me, that’s the way that I think. If I were the captain, probably I would change, I don’t put myself out the next day. If we go through, that’s my feeling. But at the end, it is not my decision, and I’m sure that he will make the best decision possible for the team.
“By the way, it’s in some ways good maybe if that was probably my last match, nothing happens. I lost my first match in the Davis Cup, and I lost my last one. So we close the circle.”
Nadal, then 17, lost his first ever Davis Cup match to Czech Jiri Novak in February 2004 but still went on to win the trophy. Today was also just the sixth defeat in 43 Davis Cup rubbers for his nation
And the former world No.1 has not played since the Olympics and has admitted in his pre-tournament press conference on Monday that he has been forced to quit because of a “cocktail” of injuries.
Nadal has played only 23 official singles matches over the last two seasons after hip surgery and then an abdominal injury this year. And Van de Vandschulp, who beat Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open, took ruthless advantage. He took his first match point with a forehand down the line deep into Nadal’s forehand corner and the left-hander could only slice his return into the net.
“I went on court and I came here with the goal to help the team the way that I could help,” said the world No.154. “Today I was selected to be on the court, so I tried to help the team to put a win out there, but was not possible.
“And that’s it. In this moment of my career, I can’t complain much. I go there, I tried my best,
I try to enjoy and play with the right energy, with the right attitude. Just didn’t work. And there was a possibility that that would happen.
“Of course it has been an emotional day, nerves before what can be my last singles match as a professional. That’s the way that I felt.
And then, yeah, of course the emotions, feeling the National Anthem for the last time as a professional have been very special. And then of course a little bit of mixed feelings makes things a little bit more difficult.
“I tried to do my best. I tried to, at the same time, to 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. And, yeah, nothing to say, no. It’s not
necessary to analyse the match anymore.”
