Nadal’s classy response to Djokovic missing final | Sports News

As the Davis Cup makes its return this week, it is arduous not to recall final 12 months’s emotional Finals, the place Rafael Nadal performed his final match. The Spanish tennis legend’s farewell was notably absent of prime stars like Novak Djokovic, who acquired a heartfelt message from Nadal post-tournament.

Nadal had wished for Djokovic’s presence in Malaga during his final match. However, Djokovic was missing from Spain’s tie in opposition to the Netherlands and had solely deliberate to attend the next weekend, banking on Spain advancing far enough for him to witness Nadal’s final curtain call.

Last 12 months, Nadal represented Spain within the World Cup of males’s tennis, along with his nation pitted in opposition to the Dutch crew within the quarter-finals. Victory would have led them to the semi-final and championship match on Sunday.

According to event director Feliciano Lopez, many sports activities legends, together with Djokovic and Andy Murray, had proven curiosity in attending Nadal’s final act.

However, none of these sporting greats had been current for Spain’s first tie, assuming that the crew would nonetheless be within the event over the weekend. When Spain suffered a loss, instantly propelling Nadal into retirement, it meant no high-profile company had been there for his farewell ceremony.

Despite their absence, Nadal’s outdated Big Four rivals did ship video messages to be performed during the presentation. The Davis Cup later shared their full tributes on social media, together with Djokovic’s video after he ended up missing the occasion.

The retiring Spaniard was visibly touched by his rival’s phrases, reposting the video to his Instagram story with a heartfelt message: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Nadal wrote to his outdated adversary, including a coronary heart emoji.

In the video, Djokovic mentioned: “Rafa. First of all, congratulations on your amazing career. Your family, your team, yourself should be extremely proud of everything that you have achieved throughout your career that lasted more than 20 years.

“In the tennis locker room we’ll miss your warm-ups, your sprints, your jumps, your extremely aggressive parchis – the video games that you just had with tour crew earlier than your matches.

“We had a lot of fun times sharing the locker room. I just hope that today, even though it is a sad day for tennis, it is a sad day for Spain and sport in general that you are retiring. But at the same time, I hope that everyone will celebrate your career because there is so much to embrace, so much to celebrate.”

Djokovic additionally lauded the 22-time Grand Slam champion for his ardour. He continued: “I think more importantly, you would agree with this, is the mark that you left behind in terms of the connection with the people, in terms of how you inspired millions of children around the world to grab a tennis racket.

“How you conveyed your ardour and love for the sport, how you carried your self on the courtroom, how you have proven respect to your opponents, to all the tennis ecosystem all through the course of your whole profession.”

After discussing Nadal’s legacy, he shifted focus to their personal rivalry. “I’ve been very honored and thrilled to be known as your rival,” he said. “Over the final nearly 20 years we have performed more than 60 matches. I’ve discovered a lot in our encounters and thanks very a lot for additionally making me the participant that I’m and that I used to be during the last 20 years.”