"We took his lead and we delivered": Rafael Nadal ceremony was based on his wishes says ITF chief as criticism batted away

ITF President David Haggerty has batted away criticism surrounding Rafael Nadal's farewell ceremony which took place earlier in the week with remarks that it was 'scruffy' and 'shabby' saying that it was done with his approval and wishes.

Carlos Moya his coach was among the critics as was uncle Toni Nadal. Albeit some of it was due to Spain losing out early in the competition with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray who now form the dream coaching partnership set to be there at the weekend if he continued on.

An early loss meant that the ceremony had to take place after the defeat and was an emotional affair but as ever left some thinking what if.

“Rafa is an amazing player and has a legacy of tennis that he will leave behind, inspiring millions of players around the world to play tennis, to continue to play. We felt it was very important to listen to what Rafa wanted and how he wanted to be celebrated. That’s exactly what we did,” ITF President David Haggerty said at a closing news conference as reported by AP.

“We took his lead, and we delivered on that," Haggerty added. "People can have whatever opinions they want of whether it was right or not, but to me, the most important thing was we delivered a ceremony that was what Rafa wanted — and, being who he is, was a great evening, and it was much appreciated.”

In terms of the future, he also updated the bidding process on the future of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup with bids up for tender.

“What drives it, the decision-making, will be a number of factors, but the most important factor is making sure that there is great visibility for the competition — that we continue to grow, strength to strength. So it’s not about money. I mean, that’s an important element, but it’s not the driving element,” Haggerty said. “The driving element is how do we continue to build the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup. That’s what drives our decision.”