Toni Nadal didn’t like Nadal’s farewell ceremony, which came after the 20-time Grand Slam champion suffered an early exit with Spain.

And Carlos Moya felt ‘scruffy’ after Nadal’s goodbye event, where he received a special plaque and watched a tribute from the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

It came after Spain were knocked out of the Davis Cup Finals at the quarter-final stage, losing 2-1 to the Netherlands on home soil.

Feliciano Lopez speaks out after Rafael Nadal’s farewell ceremony is criticised

Nadal lost the opener to Botic van de Zandschulp, with the latter winning 6-4, 6-4 in the former’s last-ever match.

His retirement is now already a thing of the past, but Davis Cup Finals tournament director Feliciano Lopez has now responded to the criticism surrounding his goodbye.

“Well, I’ll try to be very honest with you,” said Lopez. “I think we should focus, all of us, on the fact that Rafa chose Davis Cup, you know, to be the final tournament of his career instead of keep talking about his farewell ceremony.

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“Honestly, we did our best. So I think we should put the focus more on the fact that he chose, you know, Davis Cup as his final tournament.”

International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty continued: “Maybe just to add to that, Rafa is an amazing player and has a legacy of tennis that he will leave behind, inspiring millions of players around the world to play tennis, to continue to play. We felt it was very important to listen to what Rafa wanted and how he wanted to be celebrated.”

Rafael Nadal retires after early Davis Cup Finals exit

Perhaps more time and effort spent on Nadal’s farewell ceremony would have been more appropriate, particularly given that it took place in his home country.

He will, however, be remembered for his feats on the court as opposed to his tennis goodbye, which he won’t be especially fond of anyway since he lost his one and only 2024 Davis Cup Finals match.

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His glittering career includes 92 ATP Tour-level titles, with Nadal winning 22 Grand Slams, just two behind all-time men’s leader Novak Djokovic.

And there was certainly no shame in the 38-year-old falling to Van de Zandschulp and the Netherlands, with the nation going all the way to the final.

Their dream run to a first Davis Cup final was, however, finally brought to an end by world number one Jannik Sinner and Italy.

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