Rafael Nadal conquered the world of tennis during his 23-year career on the court, winning 22 Grand Slams, and he has now turned his hand to other sports. The Spaniard is an avid golfer, and he has already achieved a rare feat that many dream of.
Nadal revealed on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had hit a hole-in-one on Thursday. Donning pink shorts and a grey shirt and cap, the 39-year-old was snapped smiling next to the hole before posing with the ball in which he hit the remarkable shot.
Brimming with pride, Nadal posted about the achievement on his Instagram account too. He wrote: “A hole-in-one, doesn’t happy every day!” along with a smiley face and golf flag emoji. The post has received 50,000 likes, with many commenting on how he is missed at Wimbledon.
The former tennis superstar was a two-time winner at SW19, landing the spoils in 2008 and 2010, and he only retired last year. Nevertheless, a fellow member of the ‘Big Three’ is bidding for glory this week: Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian is set to face Jannik Sinner on Centre Court on Friday afternoon, and he could face off against Carlos Alcaraz in the final for the third successive year at Wimbledon if the Spaniard is able to get the better of Taylor Fritz.
Nadal will certainly be keeping an eye on how the remainder of the action pans out at SW19 and has done since he hung up his racket for the final time in November.
Speaking earlier this year, he spoke of how he hopes to play a tournament against some of his former tennis rivals in the future. Asked about the possibility of playing against the ‘big four’ on the golf course, Nadal told the Telegraph: “Yes, it could happen, but they have to get training – I have a bit of an advantage in that.
“On the tennis court, there wasn’t that much difference between us, but in this I’m much better than them.” It remains to be seen whether Andy Murray, Djokovic or Roger Federer accept the challenge from Nadal in the future and battle it out in a new sphere, or whether the four-way clash is saved for a rainy day further down the line.