Novak Djokovic blasts Rafael Nadal ceremony and expresses guilt of final actions

Novak Djokovic is the latest big name from the world of tennis to blast Rafael Nadal’s retirement ceremony. Nadal hung up his racket late last year, with his final-ever match as a professional tennis player coming at the 2024 Davis Cup finals. Unfortunately for Nadal and his compatriots, there was no fairytale ending to his career, given Spain were dumped out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage.

It meant a rather abrupt ending to the career of one of tennis’ greatest-ever players, which also appeared to impact the planned farewell celebrations. The Davis Cup organizers came under heavy criticism for the way it was put together, with some suggesting it was rushed and didn’t reflect Nadal’s true contribution to the sport. It also had plenty of absentees, Djokovic chief amongst them, with the Serb recently explaining why he wasn’t present for the ceremony.

Speaking at the Australian Open, Djokovic revealed: “I don’t know the exact details as to how they envisioned the ceremony, but I know that the plan was to do it after the semis, if Spain were to go through. Murray and I planned to be there, we couldn’t fit the quarter-finals in our schedule, but we were a sure thing for the semis.
“Unfortunately, it turned out the way it did, what are you gonna do? More than that, I don’t really know.”

On the ceremony as a whole, Djokovic added: “I saw the video [of the ceremony]. I don’t know, I don’t know if Rafa maybe didn’t want to make too much of a fuss about it in order not to bother other teams, matches… I don’t know, to be honest, but I feel bad that I wasn’t there.” Nadal did at least get to wave goodbye to tennis on home soil, given the Davis Cup was taking place in his native Spain. But even the Spaniards themselves were expecting more from the farewell ceremony.

Commenting shortly after the November event, Carlos Moya, who coached Nadal for seven years, told Ondacero: “The feeling we are all left with is that the farewell was a bit scruffy and shabby. “It’s true that it’s a Tuesday night, but this is sport and we knew months in advance that if Spain lost, Rafa would retire. Nadal is far above all this.” Nadal finished his career with 22 Grand Slam titles and two Olympic Gold medals.