{"id":50876,"date":"2025-05-25T01:01:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T01:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876"},"modified":"2025-05-25T01:01:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T01:01:36","slug":"rafael-nadals-sad-davis-cup-ceremony-criticised-ahead-of-french-open-farewell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal’s ‘sad’ Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/header>\n
\n
\"Rafael<\/figure>\n

Rafael Nadal and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal\u2019s \u201creally sad\u201d retirement ceremony at the Davis Cup has been criticised by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ahead of his Roland Garros farewell.<\/p>\n

Tennis icon Nadal called time on his career after representing Spain one final time in the men\u2019s team competition last November.<\/p>\n

Spain were beaten 2-1 by the Netherlands in their Davis Cup quarter-final clash in Malaga, with Nadal losing the final match of his career to Botic van de Zandschulp.<\/p>\n

The 22-time Grand Slam champion had announced ahead of the event it would be the final competition of his career, with a grand farewell ceremony expected in his home nation.<\/p>\n

However, Spain\u2019s earlier-than-expected exit from the event appeared to catch event organisers off guard.<\/p>\n

The likes of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who had been expected to attend the ceremony, were not present, with a range of other stars also absent from the occassion.<\/p>\n

The retirement ceremony was widely criticised across the tennis world, though the sport will once again bid farewell to Nadal at the French Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal News<\/h2>\n

Alex Eala makes\u00a0\u2018fangirling\u2019 confession about\u00a0Rafael Nadal as she recalls first meeting the Spaniard<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz gets clear verdict from Rafael Nadal over partying confession<\/p>\n

Nadal won a historic 14 Roland Garros titles, and his legacy at the event will be celebrated in a special presentation on Sunday evening, ahead of the opening night session match of 2025.<\/p>\n

Compatriot Davidovich Fokina is among those hoping to embrace what he expects will be a \u201cbeautiful moment\u201d for Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday.<\/p>\n

However, the current world No 26 added to the ongoing criticism of the Davis Cup ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was really sad,\u201d said Davidovich Fokina to CLAY and RG Media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they had a proper farewell planned for later, but since Spain lost in the first round, it turned out like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw it, I said: \u2018A tennis legend doesn\u2019t deserve to say goodbye like that.\u2019 And not just in tennis, but off the court too.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, every tournament in the world should honour him. Roland Garros is one of them. Nadal is the one who\u2019s won that Slam the most, so it\u2019ll surely be a beautiful moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

All eyes will be on which big names attend Nadal\u2019s retirement ceremony in Paris, with the Spaniard having turned down the chance for a farewell in 2024.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard was beaten in straight sets by Alexander Zverev in the opening round twelve months ago, though at the time claimed to be unsure as to whether it would be his final appearance at the tournament.<\/p>\n

It proved to be the final Grand Slam match of his career, with Nadal deciding to skip Wimbledon and the US Open before his retirement.<\/p>\n

However, it was not his final appearance on-site, representing Spain in the Olympic Games at Roland Garros later in the summer.<\/p>\n

Nadal reached the second round of the men\u2019s singles event, falling to legendary rival Djokovic, and played doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n

Read Next<\/strong>:\u00a0Alcaraz beats Sinner to defend French Open title as Djokovic outperforms Zverev \u2013 our predictions<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spanish star Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has claimed it was “really sad” to see Rafael Nadal’s underwhelming Davis Cup retirement ceremony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nRafael Nadal's 'sad' Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rafael Nadal's 'sad' Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spanish star Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has claimed it was "really sad" to see Rafael Nadal's underwhelming Davis Cup retirement ceremony.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-25T01:01:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876\",\"name\":\"Rafael Nadal's 'sad' Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T01:01:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-25T01:01:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rafael Nadal’s ‘sad’ Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rafael Nadal's 'sad' Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rafael Nadal's 'sad' Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Spanish star Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has claimed it was \"really sad\" to see Rafael Nadal's underwhelming Davis Cup retirement ceremony.","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-05-25T01:01:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1350,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876","name":"Rafael Nadal's 'sad' Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-25T01:01:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-25T01:01:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1-78.jpg","width":1080,"height":1350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50876#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rafael Nadal’s ‘sad’ Davis Cup ceremony criticised ahead of French Open farewell"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50878,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50876\/revisions\/50878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}