While traveling along the boulevard past the Palacio de Deportes in Malaga this week, it was impossible not to notice the giant canvas paying tribute to the retiring Rafael Nadal.
The center of the banner features a cartoon image of Nadal in a familiar pose.
His biceps bulged out of his sleeveless shirt, his sweaty scalp was wrapped in a white bandana, the fingers of his left hand were exposed holding a racket.
The caricature was sandwiched between two words: “Gracias Rafa”.
A simple message, which evoked many memories for almost the entire nation, neatly summed up what Nadal means to Spain.
“Gracias is the first word that comes to mind when you reflect on everything we have witnessed over the last 20 years, watching Rafa play,” said Feliciano Lopez, Nadal’s former Davis Cup teammate and close friend for more than 20 years. BBC Sports.
“We can only thank him, experiencing and living what he has achieved.
“No one in Spain could have ever imagined that we would have someone who could achieve so much on the tennis court.”
The accomplishments have to be seen in writing to be believed: 22 Grand Slam titles, 92 ATP Tour titles, two Olympic gold medals, four Davis Cup final wins, 209 weeks as world number one, 912 consecutive weeks in the top 10.
It’s no surprise that supporters flocked to Malaga on Tuesday – at varying costs – for what was proven in the final game of his career after he lost when Spain was defeated by the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarter-finals.
They cheered. They cry. They even celebrated the Dutch’s first serve failure in a football-style atmosphere.
