While he had announced his presence for Rafael Nadal’s last tournament, the early elimination of Spain during the final stages of the Davis Cup last November (defeat in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands) left him prevented from keeping his “promise”.
In comments reported by Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo for Tennis Majorsthe man with 24 Grand Slam titles spoke frankly about his absence and about the farewell ceremony for his rival which he judges, like many other observers, to be a failure.
“I don’t know the exact details of the ceremony, but I know the plan was to do it after the semi-finals, if Spain reached the last four. Murray and I planned to be there. We couldn’t be there for the quarter-finals but we were sure to be there for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, things turned out this way. I don’t really know what else to do. I saw the video (of the ceremony). I don’t know if Rafa didn’t want to make too much of a fuss so as not to disturb the other teams… I don’t know, to be honest, but I feel bad not to have been there. The ceremony, if you ask me, was not well done. Maybe Rafa himself wasn’t sure if he would play, if he could play again, and maybe it was too late to do something bigger. »
Published on Tuesday January 14, 2025 at 2:11 p.m.
