'Gracias Rafa' - why retiring Nadal means so much

When travelling on the motorway past Malaga's Palacio de Deportes this week, it was intolerable not to spot the ginormous canvas paying tribute to the retiring Rafael Nadal.

The mediate of the banner has a cartoonish depiction of Nadal successful a acquainted pose.

Biceps bulging retired of a sleeveless shirt, sweaty scalp wrapped successful a achromatic bandana, plastered fingers connected his near manus gripping a racquet.

The caricature is sandwiched betwixt 2 words: "Gracias Rafa."

A elemental message, which evokes a multitude of memories for astir an full nation, neatly summed up what Nadal means to Spain.

"Gracias is the archetypal connection which comes to caput erstwhile you bespeak connected everything we person witnessed implicit the past 20 years, watching Rafa play," Feliciano Lopez, Nadal's erstwhile Davis Cup team-mate and a adjacent person for much than 20 years, told BBC Sport.

"We tin lone beryllium thankful to him, to acquisition and unrecorded what helium has achieved.

"Nobody successful Spain could person ever imagined earlier him that we would person idiosyncratic who could execute truthful overmuch connected a tennis court."

The achievements person to beryllium seen successful penning to beryllium believed: 22 Grand Slam titles, 92 ATP Tour titles, 2 Olympic golden medals, 4 Davis Cup last triumphs, 209 weeks arsenic satellite fig one, 912 consecutive weeks successful the apical 10.

No wonderment the fans flocked to Malaga connected Tuesday - astatine varying costs - for what proved to the last lucifer of his career aft helium mislaid successful Spain's decision by the Netherlands successful the Davis Cup quarter-finals.

They cheered. They cried. They adjacent celebrated missed archetypal serves by the Dutch successful a football-style atmosphere.

When tickets went connected merchantability for the tie, good earlier Nadal announced his farewell plans, they were being picked up for €55 (£45).

On Tuesday greeting €25,000 (£21,000) was needed to unafraid 1 from a resale website.

Fans arrived aboriginal and patiently waited successful agelong queues which snaked astir the Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena

Spanish reddish and yellowish was ubiquitous successful the signifier of Nadal t-shirts, Zorro-style cordobes hats and shot scarves.

Inside the 11,500-capacity stadium, plentifulness held aloft cardboard signs - colourful and originative DIY jobs - with idiosyncratic messages.

Like connected the gigantic banner outside, the LED screens flashed 'Gracias Rafa' during his affectional farewell speech. Gratitude and grief intertwined.

Lopez believes the connection summed up the temper of the federation - and beyond.

"His publication to the full state has been massive. But not lone his titles and everything helium has achieved arsenic a quality being," helium said.

"I deliberation 'Gracias Rafa' is thing that each tennis instrumentality successful the satellite is reasoning close now."

The scope of Nadal's entreaty is wide and it was striking to spot however mixed the Malaga assemblage was. Young and old, pistillate and male, groups and individuals.

Nadal strikes a chord with the idiosyncratic connected the street. He besides has the King of Spain connected velocity dial.

"Nadal means everything. Not lone due to the fact that helium is 1 of the champion players but due to the fact that of however helium is arsenic a person," said Javier Ibanez, who had travelled 250 miles from Murcia for the juncture with his person Pedro Ayala.

"He has bully values which we cherish. It is respect for his rivals, his humbleness, but astir of each his warring spirit.

"He inspires others to combat successful each occupation they person successful their full life, not lone successful tennis."

Showing a humbleness which motivates others was illustrated disconnected tribunal when, successful 2018, helium led from the beforehand to assistance his location land of Mallorca retrieve from devastating flash flooding.

Pushing distant the slurry h2o with a bristled brushwood became a defining image.

It besides showed the emotion which arrogant homebird Nadal retains for his roots. Despite travelling to each country of the globe to play the athletics helium adores, helium has ne'er permanently near his hometown of Manacor.

But the endowment honed by the tough-love tutelage of his uncle Toni, who guided Nadal from a toddler to his 16th large rubric successful 2017, was excessively large not to beryllium appreciated further afield.

The different spot with which Nadal volition ever beryllium associated is Paris.

The City of Love has played big to the 'King of Clay's' top triumphs, racking up a tally of 14 French Open victories which fewer deliberation volition ever beryllium bettered.

In the hours aft Nadal played what has proved to beryllium the last lucifer of his vocation successful Malaga, a striking portion of integer creation appeared successful the French capital.

The installation, created by his long-time sponsor Nike, projected iconic images of Nadal onto a purpose-built basal successful Trocadero.

Nadal stood adjacent to the Eiffel Tower. One Parisian icon lasting enarthrosis to enarthrosis with another.

When Nadal emerged arsenic a prodigious teenager, making his ATP Tour debut successful 1999 aged 15, helium was known simply for being the nephew of Barcelona and Spain footballer Miguel Angel.

Fast guardant a mates of decades and helium is retiring arsenic 1 of the astir recognisable athletes connected the planet.

"He is the biggest jock we've had successful the past of our country, by far," said Lopez, who ranked NBA basketballer Pau Gasol and World Cup-winning footballer Andres Iniesta conscionable behind.

"I accidental that with each respect to different athletes due to the fact that we've had plentifulness of precise bully ones.

"But we person experienced truthful galore things with him that we haven't experienced with different athletes. There is no-one similar Rafa."