Rafael Nadal is a modern man. However, some rules are followed on the tennis court. At the start of the match, Tunnelle came onto the court touching his name. Don't step on the court. He sits down and keeps two bottles in front of him. Change the racket according to the match situation.
The rest of the racket changes between matches, but for Nadal it's perhaps a little more touchy. As the racket he was playing with was not available in time, he said, 'Ball boy, ball boy took my racket... I want the racket back.'
The incident took place today in the first round of the Australian Open. After listening to Nadal, you may think that the racket was stolen in the middle of the match! Not really. Australian media 'Seven' and 'Nine' reported that Nadal was playing with the racket that the ball boy had taken to the stringer (the guy who fixed it on the racket). But the racket that Nadal asked him to take, the ball boy did not take it and took it to another racket. And therein lies this misunderstanding.
However, Nadal did not have much problem to win. The current champion of the Australian Open reached the second round after defeating Britain's Jack Draper 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Nadal realized the incident in the break of the seventh game of the first set. Then return to your bench to pick up the racket you will be playing with. Go and see, everything is fine, only the racket is missing! The look on Nadal's face when the court chair reported the incident to the umpire seemed unprepared. It is understood by watching the video replay. Nadal told the chair umpire that the ball boy had mistaken the racket for the string.
What Nadal said then, as reported by the media, was, '(pointing to the umpire) it was supposed to be stringing, not that (the ball boy took it). I want the racket back.' After learning from the linesman that the ball boy had taken it, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said, 'The ball boy took my racket.'
Australian tennis doubles legend John Fitzgerald called the incident a 'big mistake', commenting, 'He (Nadal) knows the importance. He understands the importance of the racket that he wants to play with at that moment.'
Nine's other commentator, Mark Petsche, explained the incident, saying, 'The racket that he (Nadal) wants to use now, they took it away. Hopefully, they haven't cut the racket yet. This is probably the first time something like that has happened in a Rafa match.' Fitzgerald then joked, 'He (Nadal) may never see the racket again. It might be on the streets of Melbourne now.'
But Nadal got the racket back later. Strings are also not removed and reattached. Nadal took the racket and put it in the bag. After the match, Nadal called the incident a 'funny moment', 'I usually have a few rackets (in matches). The one that needed stringing was a different racket. He (the ball boy) has taken the one to play with. But there was no problem with it.'