An emotional Rafael Nadal retires at the Davis Cup after he loses and Spain is eliminated

Rafael Nadal lost to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in the last match of the 22-time Grand Slam champion's career.

Rafael Nadal bit his lower lip and his reddened eyes welled with tears as he stood alongside his Davis Cup teammates for Spain's national anthem Tuesday before what he -- and everyone -- knew might be the last match of his career.

Hours after Nadal's 6-4, 6-4 loss to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, the evening did turn out to represent the 22-time Grand Slam champion's farewell to professional tennis, because the Dutch eliminated the Spaniards in the quarterfinals.

The 38-year-old Nadal said beforehand that his feelings would need to be put on hold, that this week was about attempting to claim one last title for his country, not about pondering his impending retirement, which he announced last month would come after this event.

But he acknowledged after playing that the moment got to him, that "the emotions were difficult to manage," and that he felt nerves out there amid the roars of an adoring, sign- and flag-toting crowd that mostly showed up for one player and one player only.

After Nadal was beaten on the indoor hard court at the sold-out Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in southern Spain, he became a cheerleader for his heir apparent, Carlos Alcaraz, who evened the matchup against the Netherlands at 1-all by getting past Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (0), 6-3 in the other singles match. But then van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof clinched the victory by defeating Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) in the deciding doubles match.

Even if Spain had managed to get past the Netherlands in the best-of-three-match quarterfinals, Nadal said that if he were his team's captain, he wouldn't pick himself to play again in the semifinals after that performance against the 80th-ranked van de Zandschulp.

"Probably the easy move," Nadal said with a smile, "and maybe the right move, is to change."