Australian Open – Rafael Nadal explains the disappearance of his racket in the match: “The ball boy took it”

Rafael Nadal looked around at a loss at 4-3 in the first set because the racquet he needed was suddenly gone.

A small problem for the 36-year-old, who had a whole range of other racquets with him, but: “I need the damper and all that,” explained the record Grand Slam Champion chair umpire John Blom.

He immediately picked up the phone before Nadal also told him the reason why his work equipment could have disappeared in the middle of the game.

“The ball boy took him,” said Nadal. There was a mix-up, the ball boy accidentally brought the wrong racket to the stringer.

“But I need the racket back,” Nadal told the referee. The Spaniard plays with a vibration dampener, which apparently wasn’t on all racquets.

Nadal explains his misfortune at Eurosport

“Usually I have control over the number of clubs I have and the order in which I take them. It’s just that the ball boy just took it with him. Of course it wasn’t a big deal,” explained Nadal in an interview with Eurosport reporter Barbara Schett.