Rafael Nadal left the tennis world stunned when he announced that he wouldn’t be making his highly anticipated appearance at the 2024 Laver Cup. However, fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as the Spaniard is set to return to action—albeit not immediately—at the Davis Cup Finals.

Nadal was recently announced as part of the Spain team for their final eight Davis Cup clash alongside Olympic doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz and fellow compatriots Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Marcel Granollers.

The tie is set to take place in November in Malaga, Spain. Nadal has not competed since the Paris Olympics where he crashed out against Novak Djokovic in singles and lost to the American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the men’s doubles alongside Wimbledon winner Alcaraz.

The host nation is set to take on Netherlands, with Jannik Sinner’s Italy being on the other end of the draw. This means that there is the potential of a Spain vs Italy final. Italy are the defending champions of the tournament. The ties at the Davis Cup consist of four singles and a doubles.

The final eight games are set to happen between November 19-24 in the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena. As a four-time Davis Cup winner, Nadal will undoubtedly be looking to make it to the fifth final in what may well be the 22-time Grand Slam winner’s final season on the tour.

Rafael Nadal’s performances so far at the Davis Cup

The 14-time Roland Garros winner has conquered the global team tournament four times so far in 2004, 2009, 2011, and 2019 respectively. Nadal lost his one and only singles game at the Davis Cup in his first singles match in the Davis Cup against Jiri Novak in February 2004, when he was 17.

Nearly 20 years later, the Spaniard boasts a record of 29-1, having not lost a singles tie since his first. In the process of attaining those numbers, he has beaten notable opponents such as Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Alexander Zverev, and Juan Martin del Potro.

In his first final, Nadal played against 2003 US Open winner Andy Roddick in the singles tie. Though he lost the first set in the tiebreaker, Nadal did well to win three straight sets to take the match 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-2.

The 2009 edition of the Davis Cup saw defending champion Spain play Czech Republic in the final. A red-hot Nadal, on the back of a 2008 season where he won two Majors, an Olympic gold, and ended the year as No. 1, took on Thomas Berdych. He comfortably beat the Czech 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 to make it successive tournament victories for Spain.

In 2011, Spain played Argentina in the final to make it three Davis Cup titles in four years. The 22-time Grand Slam winner began the proceedings as he took on Argentina’s Juan Monaco in the singles encounter, easing past him 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

Spain’s latest title came in 2019 when they beat Canada in the finals. With Batista Agut having already beaten Felix Auger Aliassime, a Nadal win would have clinched the crown for his nation without the doubles being played. The 2022 Australian Open and French Open winner did exactly that, beating Shapovalov in two sets 6-3, 7-6(7) to seal the victory.

Spain also won the Cup in 2008 and finished runners-up in 2012, though Nadal didn’t participate in those editions of the tournament.

Nadal’s 2024 season so far

Rafael Nadal began his season at the Brisbane Open as he beat 2020 US Open winner Dominic Thiem in the early rounds before losing in the quarterfinals against Australian Jordan Thompson, suffering an injury in the process.

“The King of Clay” next participated in the hallowed Roland Garros where he would lose in the first round, for the first time ever, at the Court Phillippe-Chartier to Alexander Zverev. This loss brought his French Open record to a staggering 112-4.

After that, he skipped the grass-court season to prepare for the Paris Olympics. Nadal entered the Swedish Open in Bastaad, where he reached his first final since 2022 before losing to Nuno Borges in straight sets.

The Spaniard then competed at the Paris Olympics. He was back at the Court Phillippe-Chatrier, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the second round and also bowed out of the doubles where he competed alongside Carlos Alcaraz.

Following his loss, Nadal announced that he would not be participating in the US Open. The Davis Cup will be the first time he will be in action since late July.