MÁLAGA:
Davis Cup organisers said tennis superstar Rafael Nadal had the retirement ceremony that he wanted this week in Malaga, despite some criticism of the event from people close to the player.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner played his final match on Tuesday as Spain were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Netherlands.
Following that disappointing end to his stellar career Nadal gave a speech which ran over 10 minutes long.
Various sports stars including Novak Djokovic left messages in a video which was played on screens at the venue.
Spain captain David Ferrer also gave a speech about Nadal but some have suggested the ‘King of Clay’ deserved a bigger farewell.
“It’s not the time to blame anyone, but the feeling is that we witnessed something shabby,” Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya told Onda Cero radio station.
“It’s true that we’re talking about a Tuesday night, but we knew for months that if Spain had lost, Nadal would have retired that day…
“It was a farewell that did not live up to what Rafa Nadal means to this sport.”
Spain’s surprise early elimination may have caught out some hoping to attend record 14-time French Open winner Nadal’s goodbye, including Djokovic.
“I would have preferred something different, more in line with his incredible career,” said the 38-year-old’s uncle and key influence, Toni Nadal.
“It could have been a more dynamic ceremony.”
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said they had given Nadal the departure he wanted.
“We felt it was very important to listen to what Rafa wanted and how he wanted to be celebrated, that’s what we did, we took his lead and delivered on that,” ITF president David Haggerty told reporters Sunday.
“People can have whatever opinions they want, whether it was right or not — we delivered the ceremony that Rafa wanted.”
Davis Cup finals tournament director Feliciano Lopez had promised a “very special” farewell that lived up to his career.
“I think we should focus, all of us, on the fact that Rafa chose the Davis Cup to be the final tournament of his career, instead of keeping on talking about his farewell ceremony,” said Lopez on Sunday.
“Honestly, we did our best. We should focus more on that he chose Davis Cup as his final tournament.”
