Davis Cup tournament director defends Rafael Nadal farewell: We did our best
Davis Cup tournament director Feliciano Lopez has responded to backlash after Rafael Nadal’s farewell ceremony in Malaga was labelled ‘shabby’.
Nadal played the Davis Cup Finals as the final tournament of his decorated career last week, with the Spaniard playing his last match in a straight sets singles defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp.
After Spain lost the quarter-final tie against the Netherlands in a deciding doubles rubber defeat, Nadal received a ceremony in-front of the Malaga crowd.
This included a video with former rivals Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray all leaving messages for the retiring 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Nadal was clearly emotional during this ceremony, but it has not been as appreciated by some including his coach Carlos Moya.
“The feeling we are all left with is a bit scruffy and shabby,” Moya told Radioestadio Noche. “It’s true that it’s a Tuesday night, but this is sport and we knew months in advance that if Spain lost, Rafa would retire. Nadal is far above all this.”
Moya is not the only person close to Nadal to criticise the ceremony, with Spanish Davis Cup captain David Ferrer suggesting that it was ‘watered down’, while the 38-year-old’s uncle Toni Nadal revealed that he ‘would have liked something else’.
However, Lopez, who was part of a winning Spanish Davis Cup team alongside Nadal on four occasions and has been tournament director of the Finals since last year, has rallied back against these criticisms.
“Well, I’ll try to be very honest with you. I think we should focus, all of us, in the fact that Rafa chose Davis Cup, you know, to be the final tournament of his career instead of keep talking about his farewell ceremony,” argued Lopez.
“Honestly, we did our best. So I think we should put the focus more on the fact that he chose, you know, Davis Cup as his final tournament.”
Regardless of the ceremony, Nadal ends his career as one of the all-time greats with 92 career titles and as a former World No.1.
Inside the baseline…
It feels a shame that the ceremony has become such a talking point over this past week, rather than all the focus being on what an incredible career Rafael Nadal has had. Nadal seemed to be touched by the ceremony at the time, so it is interesting to see multiple people close to the Spaniard criticising the event and it would be intriguing to know if the man himself ever has anything to publicly say about his final farewell.
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