As the tennis world bids adieu to Rafael Nadal in Rome, one familiar figure from Hollywood also joins the chorus. Actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller has been an ardent admirer of Nadal for over a decade. And once again, with an X post, he has made sure to say farewell to Nadal like all his fans.

Yesterday, Rafael Nadal played his possibly last match in Rome before retiring. And to pay tribute to him, thousands of fans gathered outside the ground, appreciating the King of Clay for his incredible achievements and contribution to tennis. This emotional farewell from fans made all our eyes brim with joy and sorrow at the same time. And we are not alone! Even Ben Stiller posted that video on his X, captioning it with the emoji “🙌”

The friendship between Nadal and Stiller is not new but spans more than a decade. It all started when the Spaniard invited Stiller to an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden. Since then, the two have frequently expressed their deep admiration for each other. 

Not only that, Stiller is also a massive fan of the Spaniard and has watched several of his matches, too. Among them, one of the most memorable was during the 2018 US Open match. While Nadal was focusing on his game battling against Dominic Thiem, the camera spanned to Stiller. And he was visibly tensed watching Rafa play an intense battle on-court!

Even when Rafael Nadal called off his participation in the Brisbane International match owing to a knee injury, Stiller showed his support for him. He wrote on X, “Wishing Rafa all the best and a good and speedy recovery”. Not only during his struggles, but their friendship was visible during their shared moments of joy both on and off the court.

“I knew there was no way to get out,” Stiller recalls the first time he met Rafael Nadal

Back in 2013, when Rafael Nadal first met Stiller during his match against Juan Martin Del Potro, he requested that he join him in a doubles match! However, their opponent was Potro and an eight-year-old kid! But to everyone’s surprise, Stiller embarrassingly lost to the kid. 

Later in an interview, he admitted, that the moment Nadal asked him to play (which was a dream come true for him), he “died inside”. Why? “I knew there was no way to get out of this thing alive because if I hit a winner on the eight-year-old girl, everybody hates me.”

From that embarrassing moment on, their friendship began to take root and flourish. And it continues even today. Even a couple of years ago, Nadal invited Stiller, among many of his other friends, to a dinner party in New York and spent a lot of time together. He even posted a picture of them together later on his Instagram. As he continues to show his love and support for Rafael Nadal, we all hope to see them together again soon!