Djokovic 'feels bad' he missed Nadal's farewell to tennis

Novak Djokovic has confessed that he regrets missing Rafael Nadal's final match as a professional tennis player.

Nadal bowed out at the Davis Cup Finals in November but Spain's defeat to the Netherlands in the quarter-final meant the planned farewell ceremony was unable to properly take place.

The Spaniard's most fierce rivals – Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – were due to attend the semi-final in Malaga but were forced to scrap the trip.

The Serbian said: "I don’t know the exact details as to how they envisioned the ceremony, but I know that the plan was to do it after the semis, if Spain were to go through.

"Murray and I planned to be there, we couldn’t fit the quarter-finals in our schedule, but we were a sure thing for the semis.

"Unfortunately, it turned out the way it did. I don’t know if Rafa maybe didn’t want to make too much of a fuss about it in order not to bother other teams' matches.

"I don’t know, to be honest, but I feel bad that I wasn’t there."

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Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam titles, an all-time record in the men's game that he took from Nadal by winning the 2023 French Open.

Nadal beat his rival 5-4 in Grand Slam finals across their 16 years as competitors, claiming an 11-7 victory in major matches in total.

Djokovic said he will treasure his last memories playing against Nadal, saying: "We were together on the court in Riyadh [at the Six Kings Slam]. That was the moment, a nice moment.

"I saw him play at Roland-Garros, we played each other at the [Paris] Olympics.

"The ceremony, if you want my opinion, wasn’t done properly.

"Maybe Rafa himself wasn’t sure whether he'd play or not, if he could play some more, and then maybe it was too late to do something bigger."

Djokovic is currently in Melbourne for the Australian Open and is due to play his second-round match against Jaime Faria on Thursday.