Spain’s tennis player Rafael Nadal plays a return during a training session ahead of the Davis Cup tennis tournament at the Martin Carpena sports hall, in Malaga, on November 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Rafael Nadal is getting set to say farewell to professional tennis after one last event. He will be part of Spain’s team at the Davis Cup finals that start Tuesday (November 18, 2024) in front of a home crowd in Malaga.
The 38-year-old Nadal has been on tour for more than 20 years and is the second member of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis to stop playing. Roger Federer announced his departure in 2022, while Novak Djokovic is still near the top of the game.
“It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end,” said Nadal, who has been practicing daily in Malaga since last week. “And I think it is the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”
Here is a guide to Nadal’s goodbye to tennis:
When will Nadal play his final match?
It’s not entirely clear when Nadal’s last match will come, in large part because the Davis Cup is a team event and what’s now known as the “Final 8” begins at the quarterfinal stage.
Spain will get things started against the Netherlands on Tuesday (November 18, 2024). Win that, and the Spaniards would advance to the semifinals Friday (November 22, 2024) against Canada or Germany (who meet each other Wednesday (November 20, 2024)).
The other quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday (November 21, 2024): the United States vs. Australia and defending champion Italy vs. Argentina. The championship round will be Sunday (November 24, 2024).
There are two matches in singles and one in doubles in each matchup; the first country to win twice progresses. The other wild card in all of this: No one knows for sure whether Nadal will be chosen by Spain’s captain, David Ferrer, to play singles, doubles, both or – theoretically possible, if unlikely – neither.
“If I really don’t see myself ready to have a chance of winning in singles,” Nadal said, “I’ll be the first who won’t want to play.”
Who are Nadal’s teammates on Spain’s Davis Cup team?
Nadal is joined on Spain’s roster by four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos…