Rafael Nadal playing singles in Davis Cup farewell defended by Spain’s captain amid criticism
Spain’s Davis Cup captain David Ferrer has explained his decision to select Rafael Nadal to play singles in his legendary countryman’s farewell event.
The former world No 3 declared he was “confident that Rafa is a competitive beast” and added he “had to give him that opportunity.”
Nadal lost 4-6, 4-6 to world No 80 and Dutch No 2 Botic van de Zandschulp in the first rubber of Spain’s quarter-final tie with the Netherlands on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old icon’s retirement from tennis was confirmed after hosts Spain fell to a stunning 2-1 defeat in Malaga.
Carlos Alcaraz downed Dutch No 1 Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets in the second singles match to force a deciding doubles rubber.
The 21-year-old partnered Marcel Granollers in the doubles — and the duo were beaten in two tight sets by van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof.
Ferrer’s choice to play Nadal in singles rather than doubles has come under fire in some quarters.
Nadal had not played a competitive singles match since his loss to Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics at the end of July, while his previous indoor hard-court match was in 2022.
Some have argued that world No 46 Roberto Bautista Agut, who won an indoor hard-court title in Antwerp last month, should have been selected.
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Ferrer outlined the reasons for his choices for the No 2 singles player and the doubles team.
“I knew that between Rafa and Roberto, seeing how they trained and Rafa improving day by day, I was confident that Rafa is a competitive beast,” he told El Partidazo de Cope.
“It was an unknown but if I had to bet on someone, I had to give him that opportunity.
“And in doubles, Granollers and Carlos had already played together, Carlos is powerful serving on an indoor court and so is Granollers. In doubles, Rafa had not played since the Games.”
The former Roland Garros finalist was asked when he felt it was going to be every difficult for Nadal to win the match.
“When he loses the first set. He’s worried because he can’t find his feeling. He tells me he’s going to play further back, although I didn’t think it was appropriate on such a fast court,” Ferrer said.
“In the second set, there are two breaks and I tell him that he has to enjoy himself, that he has to loosen his arm and play bravely.
“Winning or losing didn’t matter, he wasn’t going to change his career and he knew he was going to suffer. It was like focusing on it as when he was a child and had the illusion of playing. I told him I was very proud of him and thank you.”
Ferrer admitted he was unsure whether Nadal would have played again if Spain had progressed further.
“He ruled himself out. I don’t know what I would have done, we had two days of training and Roberto was fine,” he explained.
The 42-year-old, who was a long-time Davis Cup teammate of Nadal’s, expressed how much the Mallorcan enjoyed the event throughout his career.
“Rafa is very natural, he likes to remember moments from when he was younger,” the Spaniard said.
“He plays a lot of teamwork in the Davis Cup and he remembered things. We played on the playstation and made bets. The loser went down to the reception in his underwear and had to do push-ups. We had a good time.
“Yesterday it was [Juan Carlos] Ferrero, [Carlos] Moya and me and it is a time that you have a great memory of; we have known each other all our lives, with [Alex] Corretja, Feliciano [Lopez]… since the 10 years that we have been competing.”
