“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.
Read more: Jiri Lehecka takes racquet out of Rafael Nadal's hand with potent Madrid performance
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.
