Rafael Nadal started his Italian Open 2024 campaign on a high, thumping his opponent Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. During a moment in the match, Nadal showed how quick he was on his feet after taking quite a fall while playing the point. He ended up winning that point and huge praise too from fellow player Andy Murray.
After Murray copped some criticism for praising Nadal, another Andy rushed to his defense. The 3-time Grand Slam champion from the United Kingdom explained on X why Rafael Nadal is one of the “best athletes“.
“I think the best athletes/players are the quickest thinkers and this is perfect illustration of this. Notice how Rafa gets up from the fall…Sees that the incoming ball is slow enough that he will reach it so takes a split second to wipe his right hand on his thigh in case he needs it to hit a backhand later in the point.”
Andy Murray is one of the classiest human beings one will come across in tennis. The 36-year-old Brit is extremely secure about himself and never shies away from praising his opponents. In this case, he cited Nadal as someone to be looked upto for the way he thinks during a match. It took great presence of mind and athleticism from the Spaniard to pull off a point like that.
However, despite such a positive message from Murray, a section of fans believe that Nadal was just using his natural instinct and that there was no lateral thinking involved because he was able to get back on his feet in a matter of seconds after falling. Whether true or not, Murray was criticised rather unfairly.
Therefore, to defend him, Andy Roddick, the former World No.1, came to his defense. Roddick simply shared Murray’s post on X with a single word.
Andy Roddick is a huge Andy Murray supporter and has defended him on social media and publicly on many occasions in the past as well. A few months ago, when Murray tried to stand up for himself after the BBC wrote something negative about him, Roddick famously said about the Brit –
“Preach! Imagine telling an accomplished iconic adult your opinion on what they should choose for work and when they should do it …. This is such a dumb, thirsty article. Can’t take a legacy away. Accomplishment lives forever.”
Around that time, Roddick also lauded Murray for donating one of his tournament prize money cheques to a charitable cause in Ukraine.
Rafael Nadal Had a Few Precious Words to Say on Andy Murray
Andy Murray is one of the most likeable personalities on the ATP Tour. Rafael Nadal too is one of his big admirers and in fact, they go back a long way.
During his press conference at the Italian Open 2024, Nadal was asked by the media about Murray, who will be retiring soon this year. The Spaniard was quoted as saying –
“We know each other since we were small kids because I think he is ne year younger. But when we were playing by teams, Spain, Great Britain, he was on the team being one year younger. So, we know each other very well. I think we grow together on the tour even if we arrived a little bit later than me. And yeah, and he had that amazing career.
“I think, in some way, I mean I don’t like to say he deserve more or less because, at the end, it’s like I say I deserve more if I don’t have injuries. No, I don’t because I had the injuries.
“He had a lot of finals. He was an amazing player that probably played in a difficult moment of the history of tennis. Because he share the tour at the primetime of Novak, Roger, and myself. And he was, my feeling, he was at the same level than us in general terms.
“In terms of victories, he achieved less. But in terms of level of tennis, in terms of hold mentally, the winning, you know the winning spirit, week after week, he was the only one that was very close to be at the same level than us,” Nadal added.
In a recent update, Andy Murray is set to make his return to the ATP Tour in the Geneva Open, which will take place after the ongoing Italian Open 2024. On the other hand, Rafael Nadal is playing in Rome and will then proceed to play in the French Open directly, subject to his fitness.
