Botic Van de Zandschulp will go down in history as the last player to beat Rafael Nadal, Tuesday a few hours before his retirement was made official. But the Dutchman, 29 years old and 80th in the world, does not take great pride in it.
He's not quite the one who sent Rafael Nadal into retirement. But Botic Van de Zandschulp will remain as the last player to have beaten the Spanish legend a few hours before the end of his career was made official on Tuesday in Malaga. The Dutchman, 80th player in the world, beat the former world number 1 (6-4, 6-4) in the first singles of the Davis Cup quarter-final. If Carlos Alcaraz then equalized for Spain, the Netherlands finally qualified for the next round by winning the doubles, thereby ending Nadal's career.
“Everyone was cheering for Rafa”
What Botic Van de Zandschulp experienced with a certain phlegm was his exploit against Nadal. “We learned a few weeks ago that he was going to play his last tournament here,” he soberly recalled at a press conference. “Of course you think maybe you're going to play. The first few days were quite busy and I looked at who I was going to play today because I wasn't sure. The last few days it had been trained a lot so I had the feeling that he was going to play the singles here It was an emotional match, the atmosphere was great, it was also tough, everyone was cheering for Rafa so that can be. hard but I think I handled it well in the end.”
Before this meeting, the Spaniard had beaten Botic Van de Zandschulp twice on the ATP circuit at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2022. Tuesday, the Dutchman had the last word in their third confrontation even if he did not draw no real merit. His status as the last player to have beaten Nadal does not move him more than that.
“I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest,” he said. “Of course it was different. I faced him twice at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, he was a different player there, maybe physically. Today I wouldn't say he was struggling but his injuries took away his momentum a bit, I think. I didn't really think about being the last man to beat Rafa. But maybe in the next few days.
Nicolas Couet with Anthony Rech
