The Spanish Rafael Nadal fell to the Dutch Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-4 and 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cupand, after the victory of Carlos Alcaraz and the defeat of the double, Spain She was eliminated and thus her greatest idol completed his retirement from professional tennis.
Nadal could not find solutions at any time against an opponent who used the power of his goals on an extremely fast court (it is played in Malaga) to take the victory after almost two hours of play.
The match started very even, with both players maintaining their turns of serve until the ninth game. That’s when Van de Zandschulp got the long-awaited break to go up 5-4 and then hold his serve to take the first set.
In the second set, a much looser Van de Zandschulp quickly went up 4-1 with two breaks in his favor and began to put the match to bed.
Although Nadal was able to break his rival’s serve on one occasion, this was not enough and the Dutchman took the victory to put the Netherlands ahead in the series.
Alcaraz beat Griekspoor and delayed Nadal’s retirement
Alcaraz, the number 3 in the world, beat Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (0) and 6-3, so the series between Spain and the Netherlands was defined in the doubles match.
The young Spaniard, only 21 years old, had a very complicated first set, in which he demonstrated impressive authority in the tie-break to take it 7-0.
Already in the second set we saw a much looser Alcaraz, who practically gave Griekspoor no opportunities.
In this way, the winner of four Grand Slam titles reached him with an early break in the second set to take the victory after one hour and 25 minutes of play.
The double gave the big blow, eliminated Spain and retired Nadal
The mood at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace seemed to be heading for a comeback as much as tennis. But little by little the excitement turned into dismay. The thing is that Alcaraz and the experienced Marcel Granollers could not face Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof, who won 7-6 (4) and 7-6 (3).
Spain prepared for the party and the night ended in tears. Not only for being eliminated from “their” Davis Cup Finals, but for the final goodbye of Rafael Nadal. With the retirements of Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the golden era of tennis lost another major player. Only Novak Djokovic remains. And the legends, of course.
Source: Ambito
