“Everybody knows how much I love my country,” said Rafael Nadal before stepping on the tennis court for one last time to represent Spain in the Davis Cup on Tuesday. Although he couldn’t end his illustrious career on a winning note, the King of Clay was content with the feeling of playing for his country, at home, before hanging up his racket. This feeling became even more evident from his emotional reaction after the match.
During an episode of the Tennis Channel Live podcast, dated November 19th, hosts Steve Weissman, former American player Paul Annacone, and Jason Goodall discussed Nadal’s last appearance and how it went. They talked about how despite his best efforts, Nadal couldn’t snatch a victory from the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp. The latter kept his nerves and eventually reigned supreme over the 22-time Grand Slam champion, as he took the match 6-4, 6-4…
