Rafa Nadal will play the first match of the quarterfinals against Van de Zandschulp

Thus the mystery of when will be his first performance in this Davis Cup that he wants to help win, without yet thinking about what it means to him, is revealed. He will try, as he has done his entire career, to contribute everything of himself for the national shirt, and he hopes that this meeting will serve to create more.

Barring setbacks in the last training session, scheduled for 2 p.m., Nadal will therefore face Botic van de Zandschulp at 5:00 p.m. An uncomfortable rival, whom he has beaten in the two previous meetings: Roland Garros 2022 (6-3, 6-2 and 6-4) and Wimbledon 2022 (6-4, 6-2 and 7-6 (6)), although the Dutchman has made a growth spurt in recent times and beat Carlos Alcaraz in the last US Open.

Nadal will try to score the first point for Spain, although for the stands, 10,000 seats in this Martín Carpena, almost the result is the least important, pending the world of sport to say goodbye as it deserves and to live with him what may be the last hits. from the Balearic Islands.

You won’t even know when your match ends, whether you win or lose, because then Alcaraz will have to go out and continue adding no matter what happens. He will face the number 1 of the Netherlands, Tallon Grieskpoor, who already commented in an interview at Olympics, that he will also have the nerves to face the Spanish team when he knows that these are Nadal’s last hours as a professional athlete.

Depending on what happens with that second match, there will be a third match, in doubles, whose pairing the captain can modify depending on how the Spanish players are doing.

Whether or not it is Nadal’s last match, the farewell party is expected to be on Friday, although the organization has not yet officially announced it.