The Martín Carpena Sports Palace in Malaga collapsed this Tuesday night when Rafa Nadal said goodbye to tennis forever after playing his last match in the Davis Cup. The man from Manacor announced that he was leaving professional sport on October 10 and, after this defeat with the Spanish team, he definitely hung up his racket.
Once the team’s three matches were over, Nadal took center stage to say goodbye to the fans who have followed and supported him during his career. with an emotional speech. The Balearic tennis player has dedicated some tender words to his family, his team, his friends, his sponsors, the world of tennis, his followers and even the media.
«Honestly, it has been 20 years of professional career in which you have always carried me along. In the good moments you helped me win the next point and in the bad moments you pushed me to continue fighting (…) I have felt a ‘super super lucky’ to receive so much love all over the world and especially here in Spain,” Nadal began, with difficulties in making himself heard over the shouts of the public.
Likewise, he thanked the Spanish Davis Cup team for the opportunity to play a new match and for having been able to experience the “excitement” of playing again: “I would have loved to be able to help more than I have done.. I have given what I had. “I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here, to spend these last few days as a professional in a team.”
In this sense, he addressed his teammates, current and past, with whom he said he had experienced “the most exciting moments” of his career. «It has been an incredible privilege and honor. We have enjoyed it, we have achieved many beautiful things together. Now it’s your turn, I’m sure it will be that way.».
«The truth is that you never want to reach this moment. I am not tired of playing tennis, but it has come to a point where the body doesn’t want to play tennis anymore. “You have to accept the situation,” he acknowledged, before admitting that he felt “super privileged,” with a career “much longer” than he would have imagined.
Along these lines, he thanked his family, his team and his friends, whom he described as “an unforgettable part all these years.” «I have tried to strive every day to be better, to achieve goals, with respect, humility, and value the good things that have happened to me. I have tried to be a good person and I hope that is how you perceived it.», he said.
«I leave with the peace of mind that, somehow, I have left a legacy not only sporting, but also personal. I want to think that the affection I receive, if it were only for what I do on the court, would not be the same,” he said shortly before finishing his speech.
His last words were for his family, on whom he relies to face this new stage. “They have been with me in the moments when things seemed impossible, they have kept my feet on the ground,” he stressed, before thanking the education received to face this new life with “the tranquility and satisfaction” of having done everything he could “until the end”.
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