As Rafael Nadal prepared to serve in what turned out to be the last tennis match of his career, a woman's voice broke the silence from the stands: “You make Spain proud!” Not long after that, Nadal was wiping away tears from his face and waving goodbye to his fans.

As tennis legend Rafael Nadal prepares to retire from the sport with his final tournament at the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain this week, he received a

The who's who of the tennis world was expected to attend Rafael Nadal's Davis Cup farewell in Malaga, but they were nowhere to be seen when the tennis great played his final match.

In a moment that marked the end of an era, Rafael Nadal officially played his last tennis match on Tuesday at the Davis Cup, bidding an emotional farewell to the sport he dominated for over two decades.

"The farewell to someone as important as Rafa was watered down; very important people in his career were missing."

Rafael Nadal was forced to retire from tennis after a 20-year career in which he won a staggering 22 Grand Slam titles and spent a record 209 weeks at world No.1