The whole world is mourning the demise of one of the greatest soccer players, Diego Maradona. Maradona was an avid tennis fan as well and often used to visit a lot of big tournaments. Former World No.1 Andy Murray also wrote about his first experience of meeting the great man.

Murray was thrilled with the energy and passion Maradona had in their short conversation. “I was lucky enough to meet Maradona once at the 02 Arena. He had come to watch the tennis there. He spoke to me for a couple of minutes in Spanish with unbelievable energy, passion, and expression.”

Although Murray didn’t understand Spanish, the Brit was mesmerized by the ‘larger than life’ character of Maradona. “Unfortunately, I barely understood a word but that didn’t seem to matter he was diminutive in size but clearly a larger than life character/personality with a tonne of charisma.”

Diego Maradona’s early prediction of Andy Murray becoming World No.1

Andy doesn’t mention the year he met Maradona, but it was before he became the World No.1. After their meeting, Maradona had sent him a signed Argentina Jersey with the message that Murray will soon become a World No.1, which the three-time Grand Slam champ did become in 2016.

“The following day I was given a signed Argentina which he left for me that you can see in the 2nd picture which reads. ‘To my friend Andy with all my love and hope that you soon become #1’. Número Uno were the only words I understood from our conversation”

Many other tennis players paid tribute to Maradona. Rafael Nadal also paid his tributes by tweeting a heartfelt message in Spanish.

Top Stories

Match-Fixing Scandal Erupts in Tennis After Arrests Uncover $821K Scheme

Carlos Alcaraz’s Split With Coach Resulted From ‘Major Disagreements’ With His Father

Carlos Alcaraz Split With Juan Carlos Ferrero After “Unacceptable” Contract Talks Turn Sour

Naomi Osaka Ends Chapter With Longtime Business Partner in Major Off-Court Move

Top 3 Biggest Match Fixing Scandals in Tennis History

Further, ATP and Davis Cup also expressed their condolences. There were a lot of videos of Maradona trending on twitter, like the one in which he was playing tennis with Juan Martin Del Potro and supporting Argentina during one of its Davis Cup ties.

Read More: Andy Murray Takes a Sly Dig at Mats Wilander, Desires to Take a Wildcard at Olympics 2021