Davis Cup aiming for 'special' Nadal retirement celebration
BARCELONA — The Davis Cup will provide a special farewell to retiring tennis great Rafael Nadal at the November final eight, said tournament director Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner is part of David Ferrer's Spain squad for the finals in Malaga which begin on November 19.
Lopez said the Davis Cup was "lucky" to host Nadal's final tournament and wants to offer the departing superstar a farewell that lives up to his glittering career.
"It's confidential of course, but we're planning to do something very special for him, we have to celebrate his career and his legacy," Lopez told reporters.
"There's a lot of things that we're planning but for now I cannot share any more details with you, but we're planning something very special.
"We are going to try and live up to his legacy and his enormous career and I hope we're going to do something very special for him."
Lopez said many stars of tennis and other sports wanted to come to Malaga to witness the denouement of Nadal's career.
"I know that almost everyone in the world wants to be present for his farewell... Novak Djokovic posted on Instagram that he wants to be there, also Andy Murray wants to be there," continued Lopez.
"I don't know if we're gonna have seats for everyone, but as you can imagine all the tennis players that played in his time, they want to be there.
"Other athletes from different sports, of course from Spain and everywhere in the world, they want to be there as well, so it's going to be very special for Rafa."
Lopez did not think the "World Cup of Tennis" will be overshadowed by Nadal's retirement.
The tournament director said Nadal himself was keen to make sure that was not the case in Malaga.
"The Davis Cup itself is so important and I don't think this celebration is going to overshadow the competition, especially as Rafa doesn't want any of that," he explained.
Lopez said there was "no doubt" Nadal is the best Spanish athlete of all-time and considered it a "nice coincidence" he will finish his career at the Davis Cup, after a vital win in the competition back in 2004 helped launch his career.
Nadal, 18 at the time, defeated Andy Roddick in a thrilling singles battle to help Spain claim the competition at the final against the United States in Seville.
'True blessing for tennis'
Tickets for Spain's last eight match against Netherlands were snapped up quickly and Lopez joked they could do with "two stadiums, not one", with some being resold for thousands of Euros online as the tennis world tries to catch a last glimpse of Nadal.
Nadal could be paired with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is also part of the Spain team called up.
World No.1 Jannik Sinner is part of defending champions Italy's team and Lopez hailed his budding rivalry with Alcaraz.
"They are a true blessing for tennis," he added.
"Roger [Federer] and Rafa are gone, and Novak we don't know how much he has left in the tank... we're very lucky in the tennis industry and world that we have Sinner and Alcaraz leading this new generation of players."
Lopez said preparations for the Davis Cup had not been affected by the recent devastating flooding in the east of the country, and along with the Billie Jean King Cup and the International Tennis Federation, they have made a donation to the Spanish Red Cross.
"It's terrible and horrible to see this happening," said Lopez.
"Luckily this is not affecting the preparations in Malaga.
"Of course we will try to use our platform to raise awareness and we will try to raise money for everyone affected in Valencia."