“Everywhere you look in Saudi Arabia, you can see growth and progress and I’m excited to be part of that,” Rafael Nadal said in January 2024 after partnering with Saudi Arabia as a brand ambassador of tennis. Ever since this news broke, the former ATP pro and 22-time Grand Slam winner has received heavy backlash from many prominent tennis figures. According to them, he should have avoided striking this deal. But now, the 14-time Roland Garros champion has shared a clear response, defending his decision.

“I continue to play tennis as I love the game. But beyond playing I want to help the sport grow far and wide across the world and in Saudi there is real potential,” said the tennis GOAT, in January, as reported by Barrons. His involvement came after the Gulf country started hosting major tennis events last year. For example, it hosted its first-ever ATP Finals tournament, the Next Gen ATP Finals, in Jeddah. Gradually, it also began to organize exhibition matches. Take for example, the Six Kings Slam event in Riyadh, back in October. Not to forget the organization of the WTA Finals at the same venue, last month.

While tennis is slowly expanding in this country, not many people have been happy over the sudden surge of tennis in Saudi Arabia. In an interaction with The National, dated December 26, Rafael Nadal finally broke his silence on the long running controversy. “We are in a free world and people can talk about anything. But in some way, it’s important that the people, when they talk about things, it’s important that the people have the chances to visit the places, to know the real thing of the places,” he explained.

Adding to his response, he said, “I am lucky, that because of my sport, I have been able to know all different cultures,” and that’s a key reason he’s got “a different vision about the world in general than the people who don’t have the luck to visit all these places around the world.”

“And because of that, because I saw all the realities in the world I think I was able to see things with a different perspective,” he said. He is in no mood to backtrack on his stance. “So I accept the critics, especially I respect the critics who criticise things while respecting other people. When they don’t respect, it’s a different story.” he concluded.

Having witnessed the transformative impact of sports development in countries like the UAE and Qatar, Nadal hopes to play a role in fostering a similar positive influence on tennis within Saudi Arabia. “From experience, I see all these places, like Dubai, that I was there a long time ago, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and I see here the opportunity to create something beautiful for the people, and I’m excited about it.”

His active involvement in promoting tennis in Saudi Arabia continues to grow. It becomes evident from his participation in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, last week. He was present during the live matches, uplifting young players’ morale. Among them, however, was one fresh face who couldn’t resist his emotions after meeting the Spaniard following a long wait of 14 years!

When Next Gen ATP Finals winner Joao Fonseca met Rafael Nadal after a decade

Last week, Brazil’s 18-year-old Joao Fonseca stunned everyone and went on to lift the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy in Jeddah. He beat America’s Learner Tien with a scoreline of 2-4, 4-3, 4-0, 4-2. In doing so, he also joined the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as he became the third player, aged 18, to accomplish this milestone. Not to mention he pocketed big prize money of $526,480 after winning the tournament staying undefeated in his campaign. But more than the fortunes, it was the moment with Nadal that he will cherish for a long time in his career going forward.

On the match day, he got to meet the legendary tennis icon. “I met Rafa today. So I’m inspired by him,” Fonseca said. Just like many other youngsters in the world, the Brazilian has also taken a lot of inspiration from Nadal when it comes to becoming a better player. Recently, he also shared Rafa’s story on his Instagram account, where he was seen posing with the winner’s trophy alongside the Spaniard. “Congratulations Joao,” wrote Nadal while congratulating Fonseca. The latter replied by saying “Thanks”.

His meeting with Nadal in Jeddah was also special as he got to recreate an iconic moment with him after 14 years. Fonseca shared a story on his Instagram where his fans noticed a photo of him as a child with his mother. In that frame, he was seen posing with his idol, Rafa. The young tennis sensation finally got to recreate this photo during the Next Gent ATP tournament. He showed everyone that dreams actually come true!