FUENGIROLA, Spain — Rafael Nadal felt a hand on his left shoulder as he walked out of a conference room at a resort on Spain’s southern coast Monday following his first question-and-answer session with reporters since announcing this week’s Davis Cup Final 8 will be his last event before retirement.
Nadal turned to see Carlos Alcaraz, his Spanish teammate and heir apparent, who wanted to whisper something. Nadal, 38, and Alcaraz, 21, might share a court one last time on Tuesday, when Spain is scheduled to face the Netherlands on Tuesday in the quarterfinals on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga.
Then again, maybe they won’t both play Tuesday: Neither Nadal nor Spain’s captain, David Ferrer, would say Monday whether the 22-time Grand Slam champion will participate. What is clear is that Nadal’s career soon will be over.
What will he miss the most?
“I mean, probably the feeling of competition, (to) go on court and see the fans out there, the atmosphere when you play big matches,” Nadal said. “And at the end of the day, (it) is about the adrenaline that you feel before, at the end, and during the match.”
The Spain-Netherlands winner will play in the semifinals on Friday against Canada or Germany. The championship will be decided on Sunday.
“I’m not here to retire. I’m here to help the team win. It’s my last week in a team competition, and the most important thing is to help the team. The emotions will come later,” said Nadal, wearing the squad’s red polo shirt with a tiny red-and-yellow Spanish flag on the left sleeve.
“I’m enjoying the week. I’m not putting too much attention to the retirement,” Nadal said. “It will be a big change in my life after this week.”
Nadal said it doesn’t “make sense to keep going, knowing that I don’t have the real chance to be competitive the way that I like to be competitive, because my body” won’t allow it.
At the team news conference held at a hotel in Fuengirola, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the competition venue, Nadal was asked how he has been feeling in practice in recent days and whether he is ready to play.
“That’s a question for the captain,” Nadal responded, drawing a laugh from Ferrer, sitting to the star player’s left.
Ferrer’s answer?
“I don’t know yet,” he said.
Perhaps this will factor in: Nadal is 29-1 in his Davis Cup singles career, a .967 winning percentage that is the highest for anyone who has played more than 15 matches. Way back in 2004, Nadal lost his Davis Cup debut to the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak — and he’s won all 29 matches in a row since.
There will be two matches in singles and one in doubles in each matchup. Nadal could appear just in singles, just in doubles – perhaps alongside Alcaraz, his partner at the Paris Olympics – in both, or not at all.
“Maybe we can be a part of that story of his finish here,” Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann said, looking ahead to a possible semifinal. “It would be nice to get a chance to play against him one more time.”
Ferrer’s lineup doesn’t need to be submitted until 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), an hour before play begins. The reason the 9,200-capacity arena is sold out for Tuesday: It could be the last chance to see Nadal play a match that matters.
“His last moments on court probably are going to be super special. Not (just) for me, but for everyone,” Alcaraz said. “It’s going to be an emotional day.”
Nadal has been dealing with a series of injuries the past two seasons and has been limited to only 23 official singles matches in that span, including a 12-7 record this year.
“OK, I can hold for one more year. But why? To say goodbye in every single tournament? I don’t have that ego to need that,” Nadal said, adding that he has “been thinking for a long time” about retiring.
He hasn’t played a real match since the Paris Games in early August, when he lost in the second round of singles to Novak Djokovic and in the quarterfinals of doubles.
“I’ve tried to prepare as hard as possible for the last month and a half. I’m trying to give my best for this event,” Nadal said. “When you don’t compete so often, it’s difficult to maintain the level consistently. But the improvement is there every day. I believe that.”