Tennis-Nadal beaten in Davis Cup farewell by Netherlands' Van de Zandschulp

MALAGA, Spain —Rafael Nadal suffered defeat in what could be the final professional match of his glittering career as the 22-times Grand Slam champion lost 6-4 6-4 to the Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp in the Davis Cup on Tuesday.

Victory for world number 80 Van de Zandschulp gave the Netherlands a 1-0 lead in their quarter-final tie as he proved the party-pooper in the southern Spanish city of Malaga.

The 38-year-old Nadal, who last month announced he was ending his tennis career after the Davis Cup final, was a shadow of his old self against Van de Zandschulp, who held his nerve in a raucous Andalusian arena to beat the home hero in under two hours.

Nadal, who was playing only his 24th match since the start of 2023 after nearly a year out with a hip injury, struggled to match the explosive and aggressive Dutchman on Malaga’s indoor hardcourt.

Van de Zandschulp took advantage of a double fault and two unforced errors to break Nadal's serve in the ninth game and closed out the first set in the very next game with four bullet serves.

The Dutchman kept rolling and broke Nadal's serve twice at the start of the second set and, despite the Spaniard recovering one of those breaks, Van de Zandschulp held on to close out the match and give the Netherlands the lead in the tie.

Spain now needs world number three Carlos Alcaraz to beat Tallon Griekspoor in the second singles to keep them alive in the tournament.

Eight nations are contesting the Davis Cup in Malaga this week, with the finals set for Sunday.—Reuters