Rafa Nadal looses what could be his final professional tennis match

Rafa Nadal has been defeated in his first fixture at the Davis Cup quarter-finals in Málaga, in what could be his final professional match as a tennis player.

The first game in the Netherlands-Spain quarterfinal, between Nadal and Botic van de Zandschulp, went the Dutch way (6-4, 6-4). Davis Cup quarter-finals fixtures are played in a best of three games, so now it is turn for Carlos Alcaraz against Tallon Griekspoor.

If Alcaraz wins, a third doubles game will follow. If Spain finally prevails, Nadal could still play again in the semifinals, although the level he displayed today is far from what we were used to see in the 38-year-old Majorcan tennis player.

His rival was faster and Nadal made too many mistakes in long points, mistakes he didn't use to make os often. In a way, this defeats closes the circle for Nadal: he has played 31 singles in Davis Cup, and only lost two of them: the other one was the very first game he played at Davis Cup in 2004.