Rafael Nadal once turned down the invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II at Wimbledon due to a SUPERSTITIOUS reason
The 14-time French Open winner stated that he expected the Queen to watch his match, however, she left after watching Scottish star Andy Murray's second-round victory.
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Queen Elizabeth II, Rafael Nadal (Images via MyLondon, Twitter)
Back in 2010 during the Wimbledon Champions, Rafael Nadal had a chance to interact with the late Queen Elizabeth II as she visited the All-England Club. But the tennis great turned down the invitation. It was her first visit to the grass-court Grand Slam event since 1977.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion is famous for his superstitions. As his second-round match was a tough one (Dutch player Robin Haase was his opponent), he chose to stick to his routine by practicing ahead of the match, and not meet the Queen.
“I knew it was going to be a very difficult match. I had to practice around then, so it was impossible for me [to meet the Queen]. I have my routines. Before the match, it is very difficult when you don’t know when you’re going to play. For me it was disappointing. I was excited to meet her but it was a very important match for me too,” Nadal gave the reason back then.
The 14-time French Open winner stated that he expected the Queen to watch his match, however, she left after watching Scottish star Andy Murray‘s second-round victory. “I thought the Queen was going to be at my match and I would love to have the chance to meet her after the match. But it wasn’t possible because I think the Queen left before,” he said.
Rafael Nadal won the 2010 Wimbledon Championships
Rafael Nadal is a two-time Wimbledon winner. The first time he won was in 2008 and the next season, he withdrew his name due to injury. But his second and last Wimbledon trophy came in the same year when he turned down the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II.
In the final, the Spaniard defeated Tomas Berdych easily in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes to lift his eighth Grand Slam trophy. That title came after two demoralizing defeats against Roger Federer in the Wimbledon finals. It was also the first time Federer failed to advance to the final since 2002 as he fell to Berdych in the quarterfinals.
And now in 2023, Nadal will again miss Wimbledon due to a hip injury he sustained this year during the Australian Open. His injury saw him dropping to the 134th ranking from the top 10. Since that injury, he couldn’t participate in any of the tournaments, including his favorite Grand Slam event, the French Open. The Spanish legend may very well bid goodbye to the sport next year.
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Gouri Das
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