Rafael Nadal sent a brief, heartfelt reply to Novak Djokovic after his long-time rival missed his emotional farewell at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga on Friday

Rafael Nadal sent a brief, heartfelt reply to Novak Djokovic after his long-time rival missed his farewell at the Davis Cup Finals. When Nadal initially announced his retirement plans last month, the 24-time Grand Slam champion vowed to be in Malaga for his final match.

Roger Federer's former coach Paul Annacone claimed that sports has never had a greater competitor than the retired Rafael Nadal.

The 37-year-old from Belgrade will be one of the favorites at the next Australian Open, for which he will prepare with great dedication by also playing a tournament in the first week of January. Nole's focus will be totally directed towards the Grand Slam tournaments and the Davis Cup, to try to replicate the historic triumph obtained in 2011.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have been fierce rivals on the tennis court throughout their careers - but the Serbian has explained why the pair could never be friends.

Rafael Nadal officially played his last tennis match on Tuesday at the Davis Cup, and it was an emotional goodbye for the sports world. His legendary 23-year career included 22 Grand Slam wins, 92 ATP Tour titles,

Toni Nadal has hit out at Novak Djokovic yet again, claiming the Serbian has not earned the same level of respect in tennis as his nephew Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

However, Nadal's official tennis racket sponsor, Babolat, is doing an excellent job of creating equipment that ho

Rafael Nadal has issued an eight-word reply to the classy tribute he received from his great rival Novak Djokovic following his retirement. The legendary Spaniard was beaten by Botic van de Zandschulp in the final match of his remarkable career at the Davis Cup Final 8 stage this week.

The who's who of the tennis world was expected to attend Rafael Nadal's Davis Cup farewell in Malaga, but they were nowhere to be seen when the tennis great played his final match.