Van de Zandschulp beats retiring Nadal in the first Davis Cup quarter-final match

Botic van de Zandschulp has given the Netherlands the lead in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. He won in straight sets against Rafael Nadal: 6-4, 6-4.

The Spanish tennis great may have played his last match as a professional tennis player. After this tournament he will retire. If Tallon Greek Spoor beats world number three Carlos Alcaraz later today, Spain will be eliminated from the Davis Cup and Nadal’s career will come to an end.

If Greek Spoor loses to Alcaraz, the doubles will decide the match. Wesley Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp then play against Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers.

Almost all the attention surrounding the tournament in Málaga went to the farewell of 38-year-old Nadal, who won the Davis Cup five times with Spain. During the anthem, 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal, now number 154 in the world rankings, was visibly emotional.

It did not prevent the Spaniard from winning the opening game, amid loud cheers from the crowd. Van de Zandschulp (ATP-80) also kept his first serve despite three double faults.

We had to wait until the ninth game for the first breaking opportunities. Van de Zandschulp reached 40-15 and took his second chance to break, after which he served out the set on his own serve.

After the first set it was clear that Nadal was far from fit. He looked vulnerable, his return was poor and his running ability was no longer as usual.

He has hardly played in the past two years due to injuries. The last time Nadal played an official match was exactly a month ago. Then he lost to Novak Djokovic in the consolation final of a demonstration tournament in Saudi Arabia.

In the second set, the 29-year-old Dutchman immediately broke Nadal’s serve, who started making more and more mistakes and could not match the level of his opponent. Van de Zandschulp broke a second time (4-1) and seemed to be heading for victory.

Yet the Spaniard, who has 92 singles titles to his name, did not give up so easily. He suddenly had a breaking opportunity on Van de Zandschulp’s serve, revived completely and struck. Meanwhile, the 11,000 spectators once again chanted “Rafa, Rafa!”.

For a moment Van de Zandschulp, who had lost the two previous meetings, seemed out of sorts. That didn’t last long. He dominated in the long rallies, kept his cool and served out the game.

The winner of this quarter-final will play against Germany or Canada.