Even though he holds the Spanish tennis legend in the highest regard, Alexander Zverev has stated that he doesn’t want to get overly emotional about Rafael Nadal’s upcoming retirement.
At this week’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, l Nadal is competing in his final tournament; later on Tuesday, Spain will play the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Whether the 22-time grand slam champion and former long-time world number one will play in the match at all, and if he does, whether it will be in singles or doubles, won’t be known until an hour before the 1600 GMT start time.
In his eleven meetings with Nadal, Zverev has lost seven of them. Two of those matches were at the French Open, where Nadal won 14 times: the close 2022 semifinal in which Zverev had to retire late in the second set due to a serious ankle injury, and this year’s Roland Garros, where Nadal lost to the German in straight sets in the first round.
Zverev claimed that the word grief is inappropriate when discussing the end of Nadal’s illustrious career, which has brought joy to the sports world.
He talked about it and said: “He really gave his all to the sport and probably gave more than he ever could. I wish him all the best for the week and I hope that he can also enjoy his life after tennis. And I know he will.”
Zverev claimed that Nadal invented the saying ‘play every point as if your life depended on it’, but that it only applied on the court because life was more than just tennis.
He added: “You have to realise that your life doesn’t depend on tennis and tennis isn’t the most important thing. And I think he will live by that motto even after his career and we will see him. I think he is not going to disappear.”
