Andy Murray texted Rafael Nadal last month to ask him how he and his family were doing. Well, that’s what Nadal thought at first when he received the text from Murray out of nowhere a second after Arsenal knocked out Real Madrid 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Nadal made the revelation about Murray’s text after his retirement ceremony at the Roland Garros on May 25th. The King of Clay had refused to have a ceremony at the Roland Garros last year as he was unsure about his retirement at that time.
He hung up his racket last November after Spain’s 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie. About four months ago, Murray became the second member of the legendary Big 4 to call time on his career.
These two, and the other two members of the Big 4, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic reunited during Nadal’s farewell at the French Open, the tournament where he ruled for nearly two decades. The atmosphere on Court Philippe-Chatrier was charged with emotions but it was not the case when Nadal read the text he had received from Murray. Nadal said at the press conference:
My good friend Andy…who I wasn’t in touch with for a while. The day that Arsenal beat Real Madrid…when the match just finished, after one second, he texted me a message telling me…No, I’m gonna read it because it’s quite good. It’s quite interesting. ‘Hey, Rafa. Haven’t spoken to you in a while. Just checking in to make sure you’re okay.’
Nadal is a proud Real Madrid supporter. Last month, he was present at the Santiago Bernabeu to watch Real Madrid’s win over Real Sociedad at the Copa del Rey. One of his ambitions is to be the Real Madrid president one day.
It honestly took me like 5 seconds to realize what I was reading. At the beginning, I was saying, ok, he’s such a nice guy. He’s asking me about how I’m doing, family. Then after 5 seconds, I said, ‘This always British sense of humor.’ By the way, I didn’t text him back when Inter beat Arsenal.
Rafael Nadal added
Lorenzo Musetti shares what he thinks is the most ridiculous thing about Rafael Nadal
Two Women’s singles and one Men’s singles match later, Rafael Nadal‘s tribute ceremony was held on Court Philippe-Chatrier. In Men’s singles, Lorenzo Musetti knocked out Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-2, 6-0. After the match, when Musetti was asked about the 38-year-old, the Italian youngster was all praise for the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Probably the word that defines Rafa most is warrior. Fighter. He showed especially here winning 14 times…that’s sometimes that even saying it is ridiculous.
Lorenzo Musetti said during his on-court interview
The 14th French Open title he lifted in 2022 by breezing past Casper Ruud also ended up being Nadal’s last Grand Slam title. Since that victory, Nadal participated in three more Major events (the 2022 US Open, the 2023 Australian Open, and the 2024 French Open). In his last French Open, Nadal was defeated by eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev in the first round.
Now that he has retired, the French Open seems to have become more open and Musetti too has a shot at the clay-court Major. The 2024 Paris Olympic bronze medalist, who also was a runner-up in this year’s Monte Carlo Masters, will be meeting qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan in the second round. If the 23-year-old reaches the semifinal, he could set up a clash with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and with World No.1 Jannik Sinner in the final.
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