The tennis world is still reeling after Rafael Nadal announced that his illustrious career would be coming to an end next month.
The 22-time grand slam champion said on social media on Thursday that his final tournament will be with Spain at the Davis Cup finals in November.
For Feliciano López, a former player and the event’s tournament director, Nadal’s retirement announcement marked a “very sad day,” even though he is looking forward to honoring his compatriot at the competition.
Playing on home soil in Málaga, the 38-year-old Nadal will be part of a Spain team competing for a seventh Davis Cup title.
“Although this is something that we could expect because there were many signs over the last seven or eight months that Rafa was going to retire, of course it’s still very sad when the moment arrives and you realize that you’re not going to see Rafa play anymore,” López told CNN’s Amanda Davies.
“We have to do something very special to honor Rafa. I know it’s very difficult because he’s such a legend of the sport, so we are trying to plan something very special, of course.”
Though Nadal is typically associated with dominating the ATP Tour and grand slam competitions – particularly the French Open, which he won a record 14 times – he has had success on the international stage as well.
He is a four-time Davis Cup champion and has two Olympic gold medals to his name, winning singles gold in Beijing in 2008 and claiming the doubles title alongside Marc López in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
“The most exciting thing for me is that his last professional tennis tournament will be in Spain and that he will be representing his country, this is something that he loves to do,” said López. “Every time he was involved in the Davis Cup he was giving his absolute best, trying to represent his country in the best possible way.”
Nadal and López clashed 14 times throughout their careers, with Nadal winning the head-to-head 10-4. They also regularly spent time as teammates at international competitions.
“It is impossible to find a better teammate than Rafa,” added López. “He is so passionate, he loves representing his country. Everything he does in his life, he does with a lot of intensity and passion. So to have Rafa as a teammate is a huge privilege.”
The 43-year-old recounted a story from Nadal’s Davis Cup debut in 2004. Nadal, then a teenager, lost his first match in singles and then again in doubles during his first appearance at the tournament, but López recalls how the defeats did not shake his confidence.
“He said, ‘Feli, please win this match for me and I will take care of the rest,’” López laughed. “That tells you the mentality and how strong he is mentally. He has lost his first two Davis Cup matches and he still thinks that he is going to win the deciding match, no matter what.”
Widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Nadal has done essentially everything there is to do in the sport. His 22 major titles are the second-most in the history of men’s tennis behind only longtime rival Novak Djokovic, as are his 36 Masters 1000 titles.
He last took to the court at the Paris Olympics in doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz. He was scheduled to play for Team Europe at the Laver Cup but was forced to withdraw as a result of fitness concerns.
Nadal has received an outpouring of support from his peers in the wake of his retirement announcement.
“It is really difficult,” Alcaraz told reporters at the Shanghai Masters. “Really difficult news for everybody. Even tougher for me, he has been my idol since I started playing tennis, I look up to him. Probably thanks to him, I wanted to become a professional tennis player.”
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner was also among those to pay tribute to Nadal’s career, saying: “He gave to all of us a lot of emotions … To stay humble at the same time, not changing with success, choosing the right people around him and having a great family – there are so many great things he gave to all of us.”
CNN’s Matias Grez contributed to this report.
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