File photo of MS Dhoni (left) and Rafael Nadal.© BCCI and AFP
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has already announced the date of his retirement. The 22-time Grand Slam champion is set to call time on his illustrious tennis career in the Davis Cup final in November this year. As the sports fraternity has gotten emotional on the legend’s upcoming retirement, former India cricketer MS Dhoni’s old comment on Nadal’s praise has resurfaced. “Somehow, I have always been a No. 2 supporter. Not consciously, but it just happens. You know, I was an Andre Agassi supporter and he was No. 2 that time. Steffi Graf, she was No. 2. Then Nadal No. 2. Of course, he went on to become the World No. 1,” Dhoni told Tekplay’s YouTube channel back in 2017.
“I think his never [say] die attitude even when it’s the last point, he’s losing, he’ll still give it its best and that’s what is something that is very important – not to throw in the towel until the result is there. That’s why Nadal, for me, he never throws in the towel and gives his best whatever the situation may be,” Dhoni went on to add in praise of the tennis great,” he added.
Rafael Nadal’s announcement that he was retiring from tennis was greeted with sadness on Thursday on the Spanish island of Mallorca where he was born and lived throughout his career. Regional television station IB3 will dedicate three days of special programmes to the 38-year-old and local newspapers on the Mediterranean island splashed huge headlines on their online editions to the news that Nadal would retire after the Davis Cup finals in November. Domingo Bonnin, a 60-year-old fisherman, said AFP that while he was happy for Nadal because his retirement was “well deserved”, he also felt “sadness because we are losing a reference in sports and as a person.”
(With AFP Inputs)
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