Since Rafael Nadal ended his career at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, several celebrities from around the world have poured in their tributes. Recently, his agent Carlos Costa also gave his heartfelt tribute to the former World No.1 after working with him for over two decades.

Nadal was part of Spain’s team that faced the Netherlands on Tuesday (November 19) in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup at the Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga. The 38-year-old opened the tie with a straight-set loss against Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp. His teammate Carlos Alcaraz fought hard to level the tie 1-1.

But the decisive doubles match went in favor of the Netherlands, who edged 2-1 to clinch the semifinal spot. After that, Nadal was given a befitting farewell ceremony by the Davis Cup organizers.

Later, Costa took to social media to share a photograph of his ID cards from all the tournaments he attended with Nadal over the past two decades. He captioned the post with a heartwarming tribute.

Costa became Nadal’s agent when he was the IMG Spain Vice President Tennis Division. After working ten years with IMG, he founded his own company, HIS7ORY Sports Management, and has worked for Nadal independently since then.

Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic were not present in person to watch Rafael Nadal’s farewell match at the Davis Cup. Murray and Djokovic were expected to be at the venue on Friday, which was going to be the semifinals of the event. However, Spain failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals as they were edged out by the Netherlands.

Nonetheless, they all sent in video messages that were played on the big screen during Nadal’s farewell ceremony. Spain’s captain David Ferrer, however, opined that their absence was thoroughly felt.

Nadal won 92 tour-level career titles, including 22 Grand Slams and 36 Masters 1000 crowns. His last title came in 2022 and he has since struggled with injuries and fitness issues.