“We did the best…” Davis Cup tournament director hit back at critics of Rafael Nadal’s retirement ceremony

Davis Cup tournament director, Feliciano Lopez, slams critics of Rafael Nadal's farewell ceremony a few days after the Spaniard's retirement.

“We did the best…” Davis Cup tournament director hit back at critics of Rafael Nadal’s retirement ceremony

Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez (Al Jazeera/Tennis World Italia)

Rafael Nadal officially bid goodbye to professional tennis at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. However, everything related to his farewell ceremony has led to a serious debate in the media. Despite the growing criticism showered on the organization of the ceremony, the tournament director has revealed that they did their best.

Nadal played his final match on Tuesday (November 19) and lost to the Netherlands Botic van de Zandschulp. The loss eventually led to Spain crashing out of the competition after the Dutch team edged 2-1 in the quarterfinal tie. Following the disappointment, Nadal gave a speech, and various stars of the sport like Novak Djokovic sent video messages that were played on the screen.

YouTube video

However, two days after the farewell, Nadal’s uncle, Toni Nadal, revealed that he was a bit disappointed at how the retirement ceremony went. Spain’s captain David Ferrer suggested that the “King of Clay” deserved a bigger farewell and questioned why other Big 4 members weren’t at the venue. Nadal’s coach, Carlos Moya added that everything was ‘shabby’.

FS Video

These criticisms have led to a serious debate in the media about the way the Davis Cup planned Nadal’s farewell ceremony. The tournament’s director, Feliciano Lopez, however, claimed in a press conference that competition organizers did their best farewell ceremony.

I think we should focus on the fact that Rafa chose this competition to bid farewell, instead of talking so much about the ceremony. Honestly, we did the best we could. What we did was listen to Rafa, who told us what he wanted and how he wished to do it. That was exactly what we did. The important thing is that he had the ceremony he wanted.

Feliciano Lopez said via Puntodebreak

The Davis Cup Finals ended on Sunday (November 24) with Italy retaining the title, after Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini helped defeat the Netherlands. Meanwhile, it was the fifth consecutive year that Spain has failed to win the Davis Cup.

ITF claims it gave Rafael Nadal the best farewell he needed

Rafael Nadal has remained quiet since his retirement ceremony at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. The Spaniard announced he was going to retire at the event on October 10, a few days after Spain’s captain, David Ferrer, surprisingly added him to the team. It was Nadal’s first tournament since the Paris Olympics.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (via X)

However, with growing controversy surrounding the farewell of Nadal, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has slammed the tournament critics. President David Haggerty claimed during the aforementioned press conference that they gave Nadal the farewell he needed.

We felt it was very important to listen to what Rafa wanted and how he wanted to be celebrated, that’s what we did, we took his lead and delivered on that. People can have whatever opinions they want, whether it was right or not – we delivered the ceremony that Rafa wanted.

David Haggerty said via Super Sport

Nadal retired from tennis having won 92 tour-level titles, including 22 Grand Slams. He earned a 29-match unbeaten run at the Davis Cup and lost only twice in the 31 matches he played at the event.