Davis Cup aiming for 'special' Nadal retirement celebration

The Davis Cup will provide a special farewell to retiring tennis great Rafael Nadal at the November final eight said tournament director Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday The 22time Grand Slam winner is part of David Ferrers Spain squad for the finals in Malaga which begin on November 19 Lopez said the Davis Cup was lucky to host Nadals final tournament and wants to offer the departing superstar a farewell that lives up to his glittering career Its confidential of course but were planning to do something very special for him we have to celebrate his career and his legacy Lopez told reporters Theres a lot of things that were planning but for now I cannot share any more details with you but were planning something very special We are going to try and live up to his legacy and his enormous career and I hope were going to do something very special for him Lopez said many stars of tennis and other sports wanted to come to Malaga to witness the denouement of Nadals career I know that almost everyone in the world wants to be present for his farewell Novak Djokovic posted on Instagram that he wants to be there also Andy Murray wants to be there continued Lopez I dont know if were gonna have seats for everyone but as you can imagine all the tennis players that played in his time they want to be there Other athletes from different sports of course from Spain and everywhere in the world they want to be there as well so its going to be very special for Rafa Lopez did not think the World Cup of Tennis will be overshadowed by Nadals retirement The tournament director said Nadal himself was keen to make sure that was not the case in Malaga The Davis Cup itself is so important and I dont think this celebration is going to overshadow the competition especially as Rafa doesnt want any of that he explained Lopez said there was no doubt Nadal is the best Spanish athlete of alltime and considered it a nice coincidence he will finish his career at the Davis Cup after a vital win in the competition back in 2004 helped launch his career Nadal 18 at the time defeated Andy Roddick in a thrilling singles battle to help Spain claim the competition at the final against the United States in SevilleAlso Read Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz bring parchis to Paris Olympics What is itTrue blessing for tennisTickets for Spains last eight match against Netherlands were snapped up quickly and Lopez joked they could do with two stadiums not one with some being resold for thousands of Euros online as the tennis world tries to catch a last glimpse of Nadal Nadal could be paired with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz who is also part of the Spain team called up World number one Jannik Sinner is part of defending champions Italys team and Lopez hailed his budding rivalry with Alcaraz They are a true blessing for tennis he added Roger Federer and Rafa are gone and Novak we dont know how much he has left in the tank were very lucky in the tennis industry and world that we have Sinner and Alcaraz leading this new generation of players Lopez said preparations for the Davis Cup had not been affected by the recent devastating flooding in the east of the country and along with the Billie Jean King Cup and the International Tennis Federation they have made a donation to the Spanish Red Cross Its terrible and horrible to see this happening said Lopez Luckily this is not affecting the preparations in Malaga Of course we will try to use our platform to raise awareness and we will try to raise money for everyone affected in ValenciaWith agency inputs