By Hamzah Amir Ahmed

The Davis Cup final eight kicks off today with the hosts, Spain, taking on the Netherlands at 4pm. The favourites to take the trophy are the defending champions Italy with Jannik Sinner spearheading the Italian side. But all eyes are on 22-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal as he is set to play in his final tournament and bring an end to an illustrious career.

Aside from Nadal, representing Spain are David Ferrer (Captain), Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pedro Martinez and Marcel Granollers.

Spain, six-time champions, will be looking to add another title to the trophy cabinet but with this being Nadal’s final outing, they will be even more desperate to win and give one of tennis’ all-time greatest players the perfect send off.

Nadal is set to take on Botic van de Zandschulp. The Spaniard leads their head-to-head 2-0, but his ongoing fitness struggles could make this matchup closer than expected.

It’s been an emotional time for the Spaniard but at the team’s press conference he emphasised that it’s about the team. He said: “I am not here for retiring. I’m here to try to help the team. Then it’s of course going to be my last week on the professional tour, but at the end [of the day], we are here in a teams competition.

“The most important thing here is try to help the team and to stay all focused on what we have to do, that is play tennis and do it very well.”

While Nadal’s focus is on contributing to the team, his greatest rival, Roger Federer, couldn’t help but share his feelings as he took to social medial to express the impact that Nadal has had on him and his career.

The pair started their journey all the way back in 2004 in the third round of the Miami Open. Federer, the world number one at the time, had just won his first Australian Open and two months later in Miami, Nadal, 17-years-old, shocked the tennis world by beating Federer 6-3, 6-3.

After nearly two decades and 40 matches, including three consecutive Wimbledon finals (2006-08), the pair’s rivalry transformed into one of sport’s greatest friendships – so much so that fans now dub the duo as FEDAL.

After 22 slams; two Olympic Gold Medals; five Davis Cups; 36 Masters 1000 titles; five year-end number ones; a career golden slam and numerous other accolades, Nadal leaves behind a legacy that only few in the history of the sport can compete with. Even though his departure will be sad, one thing is for certain, the crowd will be chanting “VAMOS RAFA!” until the very end.