Van de Zandschulp after beating Nadal: "It's very difficult to prepare for this".

© AFP

Adrien Guyot

le 20/11/2024 à 14h22

2 min to read

Nadal Van de Zandschulp

Botic van de Zandschulp is a name that will live long in the memory of Spanish tennis. After his prestigious victory over Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open, the Dutchman dominated Rafael Nadal.

At the same time, he ended his career on Tuesday evening at the Davis Cup quarter-final in Malaga.

The 29-year-old played a solid match, winning in two sets (6-4, 6-4) and showing his country the way to the semi-finals.

Interviewed by the media after his convincing victory over the Majorcan, the main man involved did not yet seem to appreciate the significance of his feat.

Van de Zandschulp is not aware of being the last player to beat Nadal

"In the last two days, Rafa has been training a lot, so I had the impression he was going to play singles here. And yes, it's very difficult to prepare for that.

It was an emotional match. The atmosphere was great, incredible. But it was also a complicated match, with everyone cheering for Rafa," he explained, according to L'Équipe.

"How does it feel to be the last player to beat Nadal? I haven't really thought about it yet, actually. I played him twice at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

But I think he was a different player here, maybe physically. I wouldn't say he was in trouble, but you can see he's getting older and injuries are taking their toll.

I haven't really thought about being the last man to beat Rafa, but maybe I will in a few days", concluded the 80th player in the world.