“I don’t know if I will play a match or not. I have played very little lately,” Rafael Nadal said on Monday, who is preparing to bow out after the final phase of the Davis Cup in Malaga.
“There is no ideal ending. Ideal endings usually occur in American films. (…) What I want is for the team to be competitive and to be able to win the Davis Cup. My best goodbye would be the joy of winning with everyone,” warned the 38-year-old Majorcan, on the eve of the opening match on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
When questioned, Spain captain David Ferrer said he did not know “yet” whether he would play Nadal.
“If I’m on court, I hope I can control my emotions. I’m not here to retire. I’m here to help the team win. It’s my last week of competition, as a team, and the most important thing is to help the team. The emotions will come at the end. Before and after, I will concentrate on what I have to do,” explained the former world No. 1, who announced last October that he wanted to retire at the end of the competition (November 19-24).
“I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can for the last month and a half. I try to prepare as best I can for this event. When you play little competitively, it is difficult to maintain a constant level. But the improvement is there every day, I believe in it,” he added.
In Malaga, “I will not enter the court if I do not feel able to win the match”, warned this weekend the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, whose last appearance on a court dates back to the month in October, when he took part in a lucrative exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
“Rafa” had also suggested that he could, as in the Olympic Games, concentrate on the doubles with Carlos Alcaraz and not line up in singles.
Whether he plays or not, the winner of fourteen titles at Roland-Garros, considered in Spain as the greatest sportsman in the country’s history, will receive a major tribute in Andalusia, where the elite of tennis (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray…) is expected.
“We plan to do something very special for him, we have to celebrate his career and his legacy,” warned Feliciano Lopez, director of the Davis Cup.
