Fernando Verdasco has resorted to social media to pay passionate tribute to Rafael Nadal, coinciding with the release of previously unseen photos of the former World No. 1 during the Davis Cup.
Nadal’s last match took place at the 2024 Davis Cup, where he suffered a surprise defeat to the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, only his second singles loss in the competition’s history.
The official Davis Cup Instagram account released a beautiful set of photographs of Nadal with his fellow Spanish colleagues, including Verdasco and David Ferrer, that appear to be reminiscent of the 2008 competition. That year was especially remarkable for Spain, which won their first Davis Cup by defeating Argentina in a thrilling final, 3-1, at the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas.
Check out the heartfelt post below:
Verdasco, who had previously achieved a career high of World No. 7, re-posted this cute photo from the Davis Cup reflections on his Instagram account, showing himself with the 22-time Grand Slam champion. He captioned the photo with a sweet message:
“What a legend. So many memories together.”
This year, Team Spain was chasing their seventh Davis Cup title, but their hopes were dashed following a quarterfinal exit against Netherlands.
Nadal’s match concluded with a 4-6, 4-6 defeat at the hands of Van de Zandschulp, but Carlos Alcaraz managed to pull one back for Spain by defeating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(0), 6-3 in the subsequent singles contest. Unfortunately, Spain’s hopes were extinguished in the decisive doubles match, where Alcaraz, alongside Marcel Granollers, succumbed to Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof by a tight score of 7-6(4), 7-6(3).
Following his loss to Van de Zandschulp, Nadal reflected on his last match, acknowledging the emotional significance of the moment, aware it could signal the end of his illustrious career.
“It’s been an emotional day. I knew it could be my last match as a professional tennis player. The moments leading up to it were emotional, kind of difficult to handle, in general. So many emotions. I tried to do it as well as possible,” he stated (via ATP Tour).
The Mallorcan revealed how he tried to retain a positive attitude during the match, but eventually realized it wasn’t enough as his opponent proved to be the stronger player of the day.
“I tried to have the best attitude possible, with the necessary energy, whatever the result. There was a glimmer of hope at the end, but it wasn’t to be. My opponent was better than me today and that’s that,” he added.
In his post-match comments, an emotional Nadal found himself reflecting on a video compilation celebrating his extraordinary career spanning over two decades, which featured heartfelt tributes from arch-rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
