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DPA
Melbourne
World number one Rafael Nadal had a scary moment during his second round win over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis on Thursday, as hit hit a ballgirl in the head with one of his high-speed forehands.
In the late stages of the match, Nadal’s forehand return of a Delbonis serve hit the young ballgirl, who was standing next to the chair umpire, straight in the head bouncing off her and back on the court.
The Spanish champion immediately went to check up on her and gave her a kiss when he saw she had “had a little tear coming down from her eye.”
After the contest was over, Nadal checked on her again and gave her his headband as she appeared to beam with joy.
“For her probably it was not a good moment. I was so scared for her honestly,” he said during his on-court interview.
Later the star told journalists that he was very worried for the girl, because the ball was hit hard and had extra pace as it was a return of serve.
“I hit her square (in the head) ... you don’t know what can happen.
But the girl is fantastic ... I went to check if she was alright and I saw that she had a little tear coming down from her eye, which is natural,” he said in Spanish.
“I was surprised because the hit was hard and she took it fantastically,” the champion added.
For the record, Nadal was presented with the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the third time (also 2010 and 2018) during the ATP Cup in Perth two weeks ago.
Melbourne
World number one Rafael Nadal had a scary moment during his second round win over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis on Thursday, as hit hit a ballgirl in the head with one of his high-speed forehands.
In the late stages of the match, Nadal’s forehand return of a Delbonis serve hit the young ballgirl, who was standing next to the chair umpire, straight in the head bouncing off her and back on the court.
The Spanish champion immediately went to check up on her and gave her a kiss when he saw she had “had a little tear coming down from her eye.”
After the contest was over, Nadal checked on her again and gave her his headband as she appeared to beam with joy.
“For her probably it was not a good moment. I was so scared for her honestly,” he said during his on-court interview.
Later the star told journalists that he was very worried for the girl, because the ball was hit hard and had extra pace as it was a return of serve.
“I hit her square (in the head) ... you don’t know what can happen.
But the girl is fantastic ... I went to check if she was alright and I saw that she had a little tear coming down from her eye, which is natural,” he said in Spanish.
“I was surprised because the hit was hard and she took it fantastically,” the champion added.
For the record, Nadal was presented with the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the third time (also 2010 and 2018) during the ATP Cup in Perth two weeks ago.
