In the year 2020, Spain’s Rafael Nadal has rewritten history on a few occasions. Having won the French Open for the 13th time, he surely stands out amongst the others.

The Spaniard even won his 1000th ATP Tour match during the Rolex Paris Masters. He also holds the record of having the highest percentage of wins (83.1%).

However, there’s another record to add to the list of 2020. The world No. 1 was cruising to a straight-sets win against Argentina’s Federico Delbonis at the Australian Open.

Rafa was leading 4-1 in the third set when a spine-chilling incident took place which is still fresh in the minds of people. Rafa mistakenly smacked the ball on the ball girl’s head.

The speed at which the ball came back was tremendously fast. The moment that incident took place, there was utter silence in and around the court. 

Rafael Nadal is a true gentleman

The girl did give a ‘thumbs up’ but a worried Nadal and Delbonis went up to her to make sure she was fine. Nadal then raised the cap of the girl and planted a kiss on her cheek.

That move from Nadal drew whistles and cheers from the crowd. During the match interview, Rafa claimed that ‘she’s a brave girl’ and that ‘it wasn’t a good moment’ for her personally. The Spaniard even gave her his headband as the match came to an end. 

Also Read: ‘Bust Ourselves Off’: Rafael Nadal Offers Detailed Advice on How One Should Bounce Back From Hardships

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Rafa ended up winning the match comfortably. Nadal then went on and registered wins over compatriot Carreno Busta and homeboy Nick Kyrgios.

However, he fell short and lost in the quarterfinals to Dominic Thiem. He has managed to win the Australian Open just once in 2009. It’ll be interesting to see how the man from Mallorca features next year in Melbourne.