"We left it a little bit up in the air": Rafael Nadal settled debt to Marc Lopez by playing doubles one last time with coach

Despite retiring from the sport in 2022, doubles specialist Marc Lopez came back for one more match as he teamed up with Rafael Nadal, fulfilling the 22-time Grand Slam champion's earlier promise of playing one last match together.

Nadal and Lopez teamed up to compete in the doubles event at the ongoing Brisbane International. The duo have often played doubles together in the past, having won five doubles titles together, including the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Lopez announced his retirement at the 2022 Madrid Open, during which Nadal vowed to play one last match alongside his good friend.

During Lopez's retirement ceremony in Madrid, Nadal sent an emotional video message that was played on the big screens in Manolo Santana Stadium.

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“I will definitely say goodbye with you somewhere, we still have one last match to play," said the former World No.1. “You’ve said goodbye with Feli [López], and now with Carlos [Alcaraz], and I think ours is still to come, we’ll save it for the future.”

A year and a half after leaving the message, Nadal finally had the opportunity to fulfill his promise. After being derailed by injuries for all of 2023, Nadal reached out to Lopez and the duo agreed to play together one last time in Brisbane.

"As everyone knows, I’d already retired, but also, when I retired Rafa said to me: ‘You played in Barcelona with Feli, in Madrid with Alcaraz, and I’d like us to play together one last time’,” said Lopez. “We left it a little up in the air. Unfortunately, because of the injury Rafa had, we were unable to play in 2023 and in the end this opportunity came up,"

Although the Spanish team fell in the opening round at Brisbane, they did get to experience playing together one last time. With that 'debt" paid, Nadal will now turn his attention to the singles event in Brisbane, before making another run for Grand Slam glory at the 2024 Australian Open.