‘The emotions will be for the end’ – Nadal

Retiring superstar Rafael Nadal says he will not be distracted by emotion as he aims to help Spain win the Davis Cup in the final tournament of his illustrious career.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, will retire from tennis after representing his nation at the men’s team event in Malaga.

Spain play the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, but it remains unclear if 38-year-old Nadal will be fit enough to play a significant part.

The former world number one has played only seven tournaments this year after battling various injuries over the past couple of seasons.

“I’m not here for retiring. I’m here to help the team win,” said Nadal, who announced last month he was planning to quit here.

“It’s a team competition and the most important thing is to all stay focused on what we have to do – that is play tennis and do it very well.

“The emotions are going to be for the end.”

Nadal has played a significant part in five Davis Cup victories for his nation and another would be the perfect way to bookend his career.

If Spain beat the Netherlands, they will move into a semi-final against Germany or Canada on Friday.

The final takes place on Sunday.

Spain have a strong squad headed by French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, with Roberto Bautista Agut, Pedro Martinez – both ranked inside the top 50 of the ATP singles – and doubles specialist Marcel Granollers completing the team.

Nadal, ranked 154th in the world, arrived in Malaga on Thursday and has been practising with the other members of the team over the past three days.

Spanish captain David Ferrer said he “doesn’t know yet” if Nadal, who has not played since a chastening defeat by long-time rival Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics in early August, will be ready.

“You will know tomorrow. For the moment, I have not decided the players that are going to play,” Ferrer said.

Hordes of foreign visitors climbing aboard a travel coach is a familiar sight in the Costa de Sol.

This was a unique early morning excursion to Fuengirola, however, for the start of Nadal’s farewell show.

With the media room at the Palacio de Deportes too small to accommodate the journalists wanting to speak to Nadal, hundreds of reporters and photographers were instead asked to go to the five-star Higueron Hotel in the hills overlooking the tourist resort.

Inside a vast conference hall, journalists were reminded it was the team news conference for Spain – not solely the Nadal show.

Inevitably almost all the questions – in both the English and Spanish parts – were for Nadal.

Nadal’s answers included the importance of saying farewell at home, the thought process leading up to his retirement announcement and that he assumed Roger Federer would be “too busy” to turn up in Malaga.

Federer and Nadal famously held hands and cried when the Swiss star retired at the Laver Cup in 2022.

You would expect a similar outpouring from Nadal – with or without Federer – whenever Spain says ‘Gracias Rafa’ this week.