Rafael Nadal lost what was potentially the final match of his professional tennis career 6-4, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp to ensure Spain trailed Netherlands 1-0 in their Davis Cup match-up on Tuesday.
World No. 3-ranked Carlos Alcaraz will play Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the second match of the quarterfinal contest before Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers face-off against Wesley Koolhof and van de Zandschulp in a deciding doubles clash, if required.
If Spain were to lose the best-of-three contest then Nadal will not take to the court again at the tournament in Malaga and will have played the final tennis match of his 23-year professional career.
Nadal had appeared emotional as he walked onto the court and stood for the national anthems at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena.
The 38-year-old, who had not played competitively since he was comprehensively beaten by Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics, held his own in the opening set, even taking a 4-3 lead at one point, before Van de Zandschulp broke the Spaniard to take a 5-4 lead that he duly converted.
To the disappointment of the partisan home crowd, the Dutchman continued where he left off at the start of the second set, gaining an early break that gave him an advantage that he rarely looked like rescinding.
Despite a few brief flashes of the Nadal's past brilliance that suggested the possibility of a dramatic turnaround -- including a break of serve in the sixth game that briefly excited his supporters -- the former world No. 1 was unable to match his younger opponent and fell to a straight-sets defeat in just under two hours.
Whatever the results in Tuesday's remaining matches, the Davis Cup will be Nadal's farewell tournament. He announced he will retire from the sport after the competition. The decision brings down the curtain on a remarkable career which saw Nadal win 22 Grand Slams.
He has also been part of four Davis Cup-winning Spain teams, having triumphed in 2004, 2009, 2011 and 2019.
