Rafael Nadal was greeted by an unexpected visitor on the court shortly after defeating Botic van de Zandschulp to reach the fourth round of the 2022 Roland Garros.
Nadal did not waste too much energy to beat the Dutchman, who had been improving his ranking in the past year. Despite a competitive third set, the Spaniard managed to keep his streak of not losing a set in this year's tournament intact, with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win.
After Nadal soaked up the appreciation from the crowd and completed the on-court interview, he was getting ready to leave the courts. A young boy, presumably from the crowd, entered the court and walked towards the 13-time French Open's seat.
A security official briefly tried to intervene as this would easily be a mistaken case of an intruder, but the boy had no ill intention and was gladly in awe of being so close to his idol. Nadal gently touched his head in a show of good mannerisms to acknowledge one of his young fans.
"I don't know how he got there, but a nice gesture from Rafa, very cute to see. Look at the security, what will i do with the young boy?"
"I think Rafa was probably abit surprise. Security is think, 'I haven't done my job', I think the kid was looking for a sovenuri, a racket, a wrist or something."
Nadal will play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round, a player who is coached by his uncle, Toni Nadal. The 35-year-old believes he played his best match of the tournament against van de Zandschulp.
"Today has been a very good test and very positive test, because I was able to play my best match of the tournament so far, without any doubt. For two sets and a half I was playing at a very positive level."