Rafael Nadal could be headed to retirement after losing opening match at the Davis Cup

MALAGA, Spain (AP) - Rafael Nadal lost 6-4, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp in the Davis Cup on Tuesday in what may have been the last match of the Spaniard’s career.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion is retiring from professional tennis after the team event in Malaga, and Nadal will not get to play again if Spain loses the second singles match against the Netherlands later Tuesday.

Third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz will face No. 40 Tallon Griekspoor in the other singles, and if the best-of-three series remains tied, it is scheduled to be be Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers for Spain against van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof for the Netherlands in the deciding doubles.

Spain will play again in Friday’s semifinal if it rallies to defeat the Dutch.

The 38-year-old Nadal had won 29 Davis Cup singles matches in a row, but he hadn't played an official match anywhere in 3 1/2 months and had a 12-7 singles record in 2024.

His last official competition was the Paris Olympics in August, when he lost to longtime rival Novak Djokovic in the second round. Nadal reached the doubles quarterfinals with Alcaraz in Paris, and last month he played two exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia.

He put up a good fight against the big-serving van de Zandschulp in the first set but had his serve broken late. He was also broken to start the second set, and was never able to fully get back into the match on an indoor hard court at the sold-out Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in southern Spain.

Nadal had said ahead of Spain's debut he would not want to play any singles match if he didn't feel he was ready, and said he wanted captain David Ferrer to make what he thought was the best decision for the team without taking the hype about his retirement into consideration.

Nadal helped Spain win the Davis Cup in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019.