Rafael Nadal was left staggered after receiving x-rated abuse from fan: ‘OCD f***!’ | Tennis | Sport
Rafael Nadal continues his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title today in the second round of the Australian Open. The sixth seed saw off American Marcos Giron in straight sets on Monday, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. He is the only former Melbourne champion remaining in the men’s draw after Novak Djokovic was deported from the country. Other former winners Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka both withdrew from the competition in advance.
Nadal, therefore, remains in pole position to become the first of tennis’ ‘Big Three’ — himself, Djokovic and Federer — to win a historic 21st Grand Slam.
All three are currently tied on 20.
Tennis fans will be in the Melbourne stands, though capacity has been limited to 50 percent as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the world.
During last year’s tournament, fans were allowed in for the first week before Melbourne was plunged into a five-day snap lockdown.
Nadal felt the full force of one fan’s fury in his second round clash with Michael Mmoh last year.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic may be banned from French Open after major rule change
The Spaniard’s clash had been briefly held up on occasion by spectators speaking loudly.
One woman, however, took particular offence to the delays.
While Nadal was preparing to serve, she yelled: “Hurry up, you OCD f***!”
She proceeded to shout “shut up” before the Spaniard asked: “What’s going on?”
The lady was not finished there. She then gave Nadal the middle finger.
“Honestly it was a strange situation, but funny at the same time.
“Sometimes there is people for everything around the world.
“It’s funny somebody doing the finger to me. I was surprised, yes, but at the same time was thinking: ‘Poor girl.’ Because probably she was drunk or something like this.”
The woman gave an interview to Australian radio show 3AW News Talks the following day.
She said her family had been left “embarrassed” by her outburst, but defended her behaviour.
She only identified as ‘Lisa’, and said: “I wasn’t drinking gin or tequila.
“I did have one [drink] at the tennis, a glass of bubbly. I was there for a few hours.”
She continued: “I’m certainly not a fan of Nadal’s.
“I think he is incredibly boring and he goes through all those OCD rituals all the time. The only reason I was happy to be at the match was because I had a ticket to see the previous match.
“I stuck around to watch the boring Nadal.
“Apparently pictures of me have gone viral, which reflect how incredibly boring his matches are. Why would you want to focus on a spectator?”
Nadal dispatched his American opponent in straight sets, before beating Briton Cameron Norrie and Italian Fabio Fognini to reach the quarter-finals.
He was beaten in the last-eight by Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas. Novak Djokovic ultimately won the final.
Rafael Nadal faces Yannick Hanfmann in the second round of the Australian Open today.
Coverage will be live on Eurosport and Amazon Prime.
“Apparently pictures of me have gone viral, which reflect how incredibly boring his matches are. Why would you want to focus on a spectator?”
Nadal dispatched his American opponent in straight sets, before beating Briton Cameron Norrie and Italian Fabio Fognini to reach the quarter-finals.
He was beaten in the last-eight by Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas. Novak Djokovic ultimately won the final.
Rafael Nadal faces Yannick Hanfmann in the second round of the Australian Open today.
Coverage will be live on Eurosport and Amazon Prime.
