“It was a joke, guys! I’m coming back next year!”
Rafael Nadal’s quip to the crowd at Manolo Santana Stadium cut the tension in half during an emotional Tuesday evening, which saw the former world No. 1 fall in straight sets to Jiri Leheckha in what is likely his final professional match at the Mutua Madrid Open.
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With his extended family and team watching on including his parents, wife Maria Francisca and sister Maribel and his son Rafa Jr., Nadal played a close match against the No. 30 seeded Czech but came up short 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round. It was a bittersweet moment for the 37-year-old, who had been hitting his stride with wins against No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur and Pedro Cachin in his farewell season.
The Mutua Madrid Open didn’t let its five-time champion go without a proper tribute ceremony, including a series of banners that depicted Nadal’s signature trophy bites from his 2005, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017 titles. A hilarious mishap saw almost every banner get stuck as it unfurled, but Nadal didn’t let it derail the moment:
“That was a difficult one, it doesn’t want to come down!” Nadal joked as the banner highlighting his first Madrid title against Ivan Ljubicic in 2005 descended glacially.