Carlos Moya, a former Spanish tennis player and Rafael Nadal‘s longtime coach, recently shared his thoughts on Nadal’s retirement ceremony. The ceremony was held in Malaga, Spain on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. It occurred after Team Spain’s loss to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup 8 competition.
Moya told El Espanol: “It’s not the time to blame anyone, but the feeling we’re all left with is a bit sloppy and shabby. It’s true that it’s a Tuesday night, but this is sport, and it was known months in advance that if Spain lost, Rafa would retire. Nadal is far above all this.”
American viewers did not see the Spanish-speaking ceremonylive. The Tennis Channel did not have a translator available for the live event so they had analysts critiquing the tennis matches while the ceremony was occurring.
Rafa is speaking at his RETIREMENT CEREMONY and nobody thought to have a translator or Spanish speaker involved? 🇺🇸 TC crowd… I feel you.
— Chris McKendry (@ChrisMcKendry) November 19, 2024
Nadal chose to retire in his native Spain while competing in a Davis Cup event for Team Spain. That could have been a purposeful move to take some of the limelight and pressure off of himself. Moya’s point was that it seemed sloppy and somewhat unprepared. Maybe everyone thought Spain would get past the Netherlands in their match, and Nadal’s career would be exended another day or more.
In comparison, Wimbledon did an outstanding job with Andy Murray’s sendoff earlier in the year. An impressive lineup of former champions and his peers were on the court to recognize Murray’s retirement. At Nadal’s ceremony, it was his Team Spain mates, Moya, and Nadal’s family on site for the event.
“It’s been really emotional for me”
Take a look back at an evening where we celebrated the extraordinary career of @andy_murray 🇬🇧#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/XWYj5JDQeM
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2024
