'I'm Slow, I Know': Nadal Explains Time Violation For Long Toilet Break In Brisbane

Thursday, 04 January 2024 at 18:40

byZachary Wimer

Rafael Nadal endured a funny situation during his Brisbane International match when he got a time violation after not returning from a toilet break on time.

Nadal is back, and he's playing this week in Brisbane and playing really well. The first match back was a great win, and the second one against Jason Kubler was a pretty great win as well.

He's looking about as good as you can hope for a player who missed basically an entire year of action. Outside of the good tennis shown against Kubler, Nadal also showed his age, kind of.

He took a toilet break in between sets but took a bit longer than allowed which forced the umpire to give him a time violation. After the match, Nadal joked that he's simply too slow.

I think what something is strange because I know I have five minutes. Honestly, Brisbane is very humid and I had to change every single [piece of clothing]. And then, honestly, in the walkie-talkie I heard that they were calling me. Three minutes, two minutes, one minute, half minute.

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And I came out at the right time, but probably, I don't know if the guy who was with me there said a few seconds later to the umpire. I was told [I came] four seconds later. I thought it was on time, honestly. But I am slow. I know that. I'm going to keep trying to improve in 2024.

It was a pretty funny joke but he's right, in time he'll get his speed back, and then he probably won't have issues returning in time. Let's see how the season unfolds, but right now, Nadal is looking pretty strong, code violation or not.

Up next is Jordan Thompson and a possible spot in the semi-finals. It's a very winnable match for Nadal.