On day one of the Australian Open 2023, Rafael Nadal won his opening match against Britain’s Jack Draper at Rod Laver Arena. The Spaniard has now advanced to the second round. Rafael Nadal, a tennis great, dropped his racquet during his match against Jack Draper on Monday in Melbourne’s opening round of the Australian Open 2023. He subsequently described as a “strange circumstance.” Despite Nadal’s victory in the opening set (7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1). The 22-time grand slam champion looked confused as he told the umpire that he was looking for his racquet.
What Rafael Nadal says
Nadal can be heard telling the umpire that the racquet left on the bench was “not that one”. And was instead for the stringer during the match. He continues, “I need the racquet back… ” I require the dampener and all of it. Tennis players place a little rubber dampener between the strings of their racquet to lessen the force of their strikes.
However, it appears that the stringer, who is tasked with stringing a racquet every 15 to 20 minutes during a tennis match. Received Nadal’s racquet with the dampener from the ball boy. Because Nadal didn’t appear to have a spare, the announcer can be heard stating that there will be a “delay.”
Even after changing his racquet, Nadal addressed Drape and remarked, “The ball boy snatched my racquet.” Nadal won the match once it restarted and later described the entire episode as “a humorous moment.”
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Nadal later explained that generally he is in control of the number of racquets and only needs the stringer for one specific racquet. As the ball guy selected the racquet that he was “ready to play with,” he continued, “It’s absolutely no problem at all.”
Even still, Nadal’s performance on Monday against Jack Draper, 21, who is a left-handed player, was not very strong. He entered the match with a 0-2 record in 2023 and six losses in his last seven matches overall. Nadal found himself even at one set apiece after nearly two hours of mediocre tennis.
