“Just a funny situation,” Rafael Nadal explains the weird racket situation during his opener at the 2023 Australian Open
Rafael Nadal opens up about his missing racquet situation in the opening fixture of the 2023 Australian Open
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Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal, the 36-year-old Spanish professional is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. With 22 grand slam titles to his name, Nadal has etched his name in history amongst the all-time greats of the sport. With the 2023 Australian Open underway, Nadal has recorded his first victory of the tournament this season as he defeated British professional Jack Draper in the first round of the tournament.
The highlight of the match-up between Nadal and Draper was when Nadal noticed one of his racquets was missing when the Spaniard was leading 4-3 in the first set. This happened due to a ball boy taking Nadal’s racquet to play with it, the hilarious incident happened during one of the breaks between a set and everyone had a big laugh about it.
Rafael Nadal explained the situation to the umpire and was okay with the ball boy. After the match, Nadal elaborated more on the situation. He said, “Not distracting, just a funny situation! Normally, I have the numbers of the racquet under control, so I said ‘I need the stringer’ – but I needed the stringer to look at the other racquets. So he [the ball kid] picked up my racquet I was ready to play [with]. But okay, he took it, and no problem at all!“
Rafael Nadal looking to make his way into the third round of the 2023 Australian Open
After defeating Jack Draper in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal will be going up against Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the tournament. In a match that lasted for four sets, Nadal etched out a victory and progressed further into the tournament. The Spaniard did look shaky in his performance in the match but he managed to snag the victory.
McDonald defeated compatriot Brandon Nakashima in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open. In a marathon match that lasted over four hours, McDonald managed to win the match in five sets. He now faces one of the toughest opponents in Rafael Nadal and it will be no easy task to go past one of the greatest players of all time.
Nadal last faced McDonald during the 2020 French Open where he emerged victorious, this will be the second time both players go up against one another. Nadal won the tie last time around but only time will tell if the Spaniard can win the match-up a second time as well.
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