Rafael Nadal put in a great performance against Botic Van De Zandschulp in the opening Davis Cup quarter-final between Spain and the Netherlands.
With the support of a large home crowd, Nadal entered the match confidently and played a tug-of-war with Van De Zandschulp in the first 8 games. The turning point happened in the pivotal game 9, Nadal faced 2 break points but the “King of Clay” could only save 1 of them. In the decisive game 10, Van De Zandschulp made no mistake to close the set.
Nadal lost what could have been the last match of his career.
In the second set, Nadal was quickly broken by Van De Zandschulp in his first serve. Not stopping there, the Dutch player also won another break in game 5. Nadal’s efforts could only help him regain 1 break, before losing 4-6, similar to the first set. The match ended in less than 2 hours.
In the second singles match, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (0), 6-3. But then, Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers lost to Wesley Koolhof and Van De Zandschulp 4-6, (3) 6-7 in the deciding doubles match.
Key events of the match Alcaraz defeated Griekspoor
In the end, Spain lost 1-2 to the Netherlands and was officially eliminated from the Davis Cup. Meanwhile, the Netherlands won the right to enter the semi-finals to meet the winner of the match between Germany and Canada.
Match statistics
