Not long after that, Nadal was wiping away tears from his face and waving goodbye to his fans. Nadal deliberately set up his swansong on a home court but Spain was eliminated in the Davis Cup quarterfinals and he and they couldn’t complete his exalted career with a win. It was also heart-wrenching for his fans across Spain as they saw one of the country’s very best — arguably its greatest sportsperson ever — finally call it quits.