Rafa Nadal could not conjure the ‘fairytale ending’ his career deserved, as the Spanish 22-times Grand Slam champion bowed out of the Davis Cup in Malaga yesterday.

Soon-to-retire Rafael Nadal will open Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against the Netherlands in a singles match against Botic van de Zandschulp, tournament officials said.

Outsiders Slovakia reached the Billie Jean King Cup final as doubles pairing Tereza Mihalikova and Viktoria Hruncakova completed a comeback victory in Malaga.

Jasmine Paolini’s Italy reached their second successive Billie Jean King Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Poland, who had been given a glimmer of hope by five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

Rafa Nadal will not dwell on his impending retirement at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga and only focus on helping Spain claim the trophy this week should he be called into action, the 38-year-old said.

Slovakia knocked out Australia to move into the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2002 after singles victories by Viktoria Hruncakova and Rebecca Sramkova gave the them an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Former Uruguay striker Diego Forlan swung and missed on court with Argentina’s Federico Cori as his tennis doubles debut ended in defeat.

World number three Carlos Alcaraz is unlikely to be at his best for ATP Finals match against Andrey Rublev as the four-times Grand Slam champion continues to struggle with illness, the Spaniard’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero said.

Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock 6-1 7-5 defeat against Norway’s Casper Ruud in his opening match at the ATP Finals as the Spaniard’s hopes of winning the year-end title for the first time suffered a big blow.

Coco Gauff showed supreme determination to come back from a set and a break down against Zheng Qinwen to win the season-ending WTA Finals.

Coco Gauff has reached her first final at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, causing a shock by defeating an out-of-sorts Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.

One wild card from Serbia is guaranteed to advance to the finals of the Belgrade Open, as Laslo Djere and Hamad Medjedovic won and advanced to face each other in the semifinals.