ITF president David Haggerty reveals Rafael Nadal wanted a low-key retirement

International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty has revealed that Rafael Nadal wanted a low-key retirement. Nadal retired after Spain lost in the quarterfinals of the David Cup against the Netherlands.

The Spaniard lost the final match of his career against Botic van de Zandschulp. The veteran ended his career with a total of 22 Grand Slams and said he wants to be remembered as a good person after calling it a day on his glorious career.

Before the Davis Cup, Nadal said his focus was on helping Spain win rather than on his own retirement.

“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. That’s exactly what we did,” ITF president David Haggerty said at a closing news conference at the site of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup in southern Spain.

“We took his lead, and we delivered on that,” Haggerty added. “People can have whatever opinions they want of whether it was right or not, but to me, the most important thing was we delivered a ceremony that was what Rafa wanted — and being who he is, was a great evening, and it was much appreciated.”

Feliciano López, who is the Davis Cup Finals tournament director, praised Nadal for picking the competition as his swansong event.

“We should focus, all of us, on the fact that Rafa chose Davis Cup to be the final tournament of his career instead of keep talking about his farewell ceremony,” López said. “Honestly, we did our best.”

Nadal will go down as one of the best ever and he can be really proud of his glittering career as he achieved all there was in the book.