Paul McNamee blames the ‘surface’ becoming a ‘party pooper’ at Rafael Nadal’s farewell game as Davis Cup was ‘hosted and funded’ by Spain
Paul McNamee believes that Rafael Nadal should have retired on a clay court instead of the indoor hard courts used for the Davis Cup Finals.
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Rafael Nadal and Paul McNamee (via Eurosport/Sofia Open)
Rafael Nadal bid tennis farewell after playing his final career match at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. However, despite the emotional ceremony, the event has turned out a bit different for some legends of the sport.
One of them is Paul McNamee, who recently expressed his frustration over Nadal’s last match being played on a hard court rather than clay surface. Tuesday (November 19) was a difficult night for Nadal after he lost to Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp in the opening match.
Nadal’s teammate Carlos Alcaraz brought Spain back into the tie with a win over Tallon Griekspoor, but that was not enough as the Netherlands completed the victory in the doubles to edge 2-1 in the end.
The Spaniard’s last career match was played on indoor hard courts, a surface he struggled with for the entirety of his career. He won 92 tour-level titles in his career but interestingly none of them were won on indoor courts.
Nadal’s best performance on that surface was at the Paris Masters in 2009 where he reached the final but lost to David Nalbandian. Although he has a 14-0 record playing on indoor hard courts at the Davis Cup, his loss against Van de Zandschulp was proof of his struggle on the surface.
The former World No. 1 has been dubbed the ‘King of Clay’ by the tennis world and McNamee believes that Nadal playing on clay would have been the perfect career ending. He took to social media to share his views on the same.
Can anyone explain to me why the finals @DavisCup, hosted & funded by Spain, were played on hardcourt? Goodness me, Nadal would not have lost that match on clay… the surface became the ultimate party pooper.
Paul McNamee wrote via X
Can anyone explain to me why the finals @DavisCup , hosted & funded by Spain, were played on hardcourt? Goodness me, Nadal would not have lost that match on clay… the surface became the ultimate party pooper
— ?️ Paul McNamee (@PaulFMcNamee) November 21, 2024
Nadal remains the greatest clay court player in his history, having won 47 Big titles, including 14 Roland Garros. Spain is home to the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open, two of the biggest clay tournaments on the ATP Tour.
Toni Nadal reveals he suffered while watching his nephew play his final career match
Since Spain exited the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, there have been widespread questions surrounding why Rafael Nadal played in the opening match rather than Roberto Bautista Agut. The latter was in better form, having just won the Antwerp Open last month, but Spain’s captain David Ferrer chose Nadal to play, which caused the team to in the end.
Nadal’s uncle, Toni Nadal, revealed in a recent interview that he suffered while watching the match. Nadal struggled, especially in the second second, losing 4-6, 4-6 to Botic van de Zandschulp.
You suffer because, if it were an individual tournament, I wouldn’t have suffered much, but being for the Spanish team, I suffered watching his match and the doubles match because it meant defeat, it meant that Rafael’s point would have been important. It feels worse because you are defending your country and this time it didn’t work out.
Toni Nadal said via Puntodebreak
However, Nadal’s legacy at the Davis Cup will be remembered for generations. The 38-year-old lost only two of his 31 singles matches at the event and registered a 29-match winning streak record.
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Victor Okechukwu
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