The Spanish Davis Cup team has been eliminated in the Finals of the competition, which are being played at the Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena in Málaga, after Carlos Alcaraz, who had tied the tie, and Marcel Granollers lost the final doubles (7-6(4), 7-6(3)) against the Netherlands (1-2), a result that means the end of the sporting career of Rafa Nadal. Rafa Nadal. The Spaniard opened Tuesday against Botic van de Zandschulp, but despite the effort after three months of inactivity could not avoid defeat (6-4, 6-4). The Spaniard managed to make it 1-1 against Tallon Griekspoor (7-6(0), 6-3), and the doubles match dictated the verdict. The pair formed by Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof took the Dutch to the semifinals and became the ‘executioner’ of Spain and Nadal, who, at 38, puts an end to an incredible career of 92 ATP titles, including 22 Grand Slams, two Olympic gold medals and five Davis Cups, among other titles. Earlier, the first point of the tie was emotionally charged. After 4 p.m., David Ferrer confirmed Rafa Nadal as number two of the team: the best Spanish tennis player in history was going to step onto the Martín Carpena court to play a singles match. In addition, at the start of the Spanish team, which carried a flag of the Valencian Community, the emotion was evident in the face of the Spaniard, who was visibly moved during the national anthem. And it only took six points for Nadal to get his fist out for the first time and managed to close the always complicated first serve. On the other side of the court, Van de Zandschulp was about to get involved in his first turn of serve with up to three double faults, but finally managed to close the game and even the score. The match was gaining in intensity, and the Spaniard was finding more and more depth and certainty in his shots, although he continued to be uncomfortable with the rest. However, at the decisive moment of the first set, with 4-4 on the scoreboard, the Dutchman got his first opportunity to break the rest, and with a spectacularpassing shot he would get his first break of the match. 5-4 in his favor and serve to close a disputed first set, and Van de Zandschulp’s pulse did not tremble, and he closed the set with an empty serve.
It was up to Nadal and Spain to come back in the first point of the tie.
Worse would be the match for the Spaniard after losing his first serve in the first game of the second set. He was lacking consistency in the game to a Nadal that only in isolated points showed his best version. And the company would become even more difficult with a second break and the inability of the Spaniard to the rest, where his only joy came in the form of double fault Van de Zandschulp. And when the match looked worse, Nadal found the depth in his strokes gave him the first break options of the match and, in the third, he managed to break, finally, the serve of his rival and placed, after holding his serve, 4-3. And with the match again in a fist, Van de Zandschulp was responsible for dispelling doubts with a turn of serve in which he got up to three‘aces‘, in what would be the prelude to what could be the last points of Nadal in a tennis court. The Dutchman would close the match on his next serve (6-4) in an hour and 51 minutes of play. Subsequently, the Spaniard, world number three, jumped onto the court of the José María Martín Carpena with the pressure of not being able to fail. A fact that was noticeable in the game of the Spaniard in the first games of the match, in which he struggled to find the winning shots. In addition, the Dutchman, very solid in his defenses, saw the fruits of his efforts in the sixth game of the first set, in which he managed to break the Spaniard’s serve, taking a dangerous lead in the set (4-2). But the reaction of an increasingly loose Alcaraz was not long in coming, in his next game he returned the balance to the set getting his firstbreak of the match. An equality that both maintained before the decisivetie-break. There, the player from El Palmar displayed his best tennis and with his strokes ended up crushing Griekspoor, who failed to add a single point to his scoreboard. Alcaraz had finished the set in a state of grace and transferred it to the start of the second. He immediately took the lead on the scoreboard with a 3-0 partial. A single ‘break’ that would be enough to, with a great level with the serve -only conceded a point to the rest in the whole set- seal the victory and the point for Spain in an hour and 25 minutes of match.
