Rafael Nadal is considered to be one of the best tennis players to have ever played the sport. The major reason why people consider Rafael Nadal to be a great sport is not only because of the titles he has racked up, but also his sportsmanship.
He is known to win his games fair and square. Emma Raducanu shares the sentiment and holds an opinion about Rafael Nadal becoming a great chair umpire since he is really really fair on the tennis court.
During the Indian Wells Open promotional rapid round, Emma was asked to pick someone who would be a perfect fit for the role of a chair umpire and she said the Spaniard’s name since he has a pretty strong spirit of sportsmanship.
Emma Raducanu feels Rafael Nadal would be best suited for the chair umpire role
During the interview and the rapid question round session, Emma further stated,
“I’d say Rafael Nadal [would make the best chair umpire],”
“He is like really, really fair and has unbelievable sportsmanship.”
Paula Badosa also concurred with Emma and said that Rafa would be the best chair umpire. Nadal is considered to be one of the fairest players on a tour. He conducts himself with utmost integrity both on and off the court. He has also been awarded the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award five times in his career.
When Rafa was asked about his plans to retire from the sport of tennis after Federer’s retirement post-Laver Cup, he said that he currently has no plans to retire and would continue as long as his body allows him to carry on.
However, he mentioned that he had thought about retiring several times in the past due to his severe injury concerns. It seems that Rafa has a good three-four grand slams left in him before he eventually decides to drop his racket and hang his boots up like his friend, Roger Federer.