Rafael Nadal suffered defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp (Image: Getty)
Botic van de Zandschulp has addressed his role in ’s retirement. The Dutchman when the Netherlands faced Spain at the Davis Cup.
He dealt Nadal another blow when he teamed up with Wesley Koolhof to win the decisive doubles rubber, which
While Van de Zandschulp produced a statement performance against the Spaniard, he admitted it was “very, very tough” to be the man to retire Nadal.
Van de Zandschulp has been the MVP of the Dutch squad this week. He won three of his four matches to help his nation reach the final of the team tournament for the first time.
But his first match of the week was arguably the hardest of them all given the noise and attention, as the world No. 80 was Nadal’s last opponent. There was speculation over whether the Spaniard would even play but he was called up to face Van de Zandschulp.
The Dutchman won 6-4 6-4 to put his country ahead. Spain still had a chance to progress and keep Nadal’s career alive. won the second singles rubber but it went down to the doubles.
After beating Nadal in singles, Van de Zandschulp teamed up with Wesley Koolhof to beat Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers. With Spain out of the tournament, Nadal was immediately sent into retirement.
Botic van de Zandschulp beat Rafael Nadal before sending Spain packing in the doubles (Image: Getty)
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After having a few days to process his victories, the 29-year-old has now shared his experience of beating Nadal in his last outing. “He announced his retirement, that this was going to be his last tournament, a few weeks before the event,” Van de Zandschulp told .
“So I had a lot of time to think about it before I played him. There was also the question of whether I was going to play or not. But then, during the week, he trained a lot. And I actually saw that he was going to play.”
While the world No. 80 was prepared to face Nadal, he still found it difficult to rise to the occasion, branding the Spaniard one of his idols.
Van de Zandschulp added: “And yes, it was a tough match. He was one of my idols when I grew up. So yes, it was tough to play against him, maybe in his last match, maybe not… It was a very, very tough match.”
The Netherlands , with Matteo Berrettini beating Van de Zandschulp before downed Tallon Griekspoor. But it’s still been a week to remember for the Dutch men.
“An amazing week. We reached the quarter-finals three years in a row and we wanted to go further this time. Now we are here in the final,” Van de Zandschulp said.
“And to be honest, no, we didn’t expect it before this week. We had a tough draw, playing Spain. I think they were one of the favourites to win. And yes, it’s been crazy, with Rafa retiring, everything related to that. But it’s also been really nice. The atmosphere, great.”