Andy Murray eloquently explained how Rafael Nadal was able to win a point at the Italian Open despite falling over.
The Spaniard began his 19th appearance at the Masters 1000 tournament against Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs.
While many would have expected the result to be straightforward on paper, it was the complete opposite on the court, as the 37-year-old rallied from a set down to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The tennis legend illustrated the fighting qualities that have epitomised his game over the years as he claimed the win in two hours and 53 minutes, just before a rain shower.
But perhaps the most astonishing moment in the match came early in the third set, which left his rival and three-time Grand Slam winner Murray in awe of his brilliance.
Andy Murray explains how Rafael Nadal won a point from an impossible position
With the score locked at 15-15 in the second game of the final set on Nadal’s serve, Bergs looked certain to edge ahead in the game when the 24-time Grand Slam champion lost his footing during a rally.
The 24-year-old, who had the opportunity of a lifetime to play against his idol, produced an excellent return of serve that landed at the feet of his opponent. Nadal back peddled and was able to send the ball back at a reasonably good length despite being off balance.
But this caused him to fall over and though he fell to the ground and rolled over, he was able to quickly get back to his feet and produced a quality slice forehand return to extend the rally.
Nadal then produced a series of quality backhands and forehands to wrestle control of the rally before winning the point with a delicate drop shot, which produced a fist pump and cheers from the crowd. This prompted Murray to shed some light on Nadal’s thought process behind winning an excellent point.
“I think the best athletes/players are the quickest thinkers and this is a perfect illustration of this,” the two-time Wimbledon winner tweeted. “Notice how Rafa gets up from the fall.
“Sees that the incoming ball is slow enough that he will reach it so takes a split second to wipe his right hand on his thigh in case he needs it to hit a backhand later in the point.”
Rafael Nadal says Andy Murray was the ‘Big 3‘‘s most consistent challenger
While Murray commented on Nadal’s game on Thursday, the 14-time Roland Garros winner also had some kind words for the two-time Olympic champion.
For approximately a decade, Murray occupied the top spots in the world rankings alongside Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The quartet won the majority of the game’s biggest titles and had a plethora of epic matches against one another as they pushed the sport to new heights.
Following his comeback victory at the Foro Italico, Nadal praised the British tennis star for what he achieved in tennis and his role in what many define as a ‘golden era’ for the sport.
“Andy had an amazing career,” Nadal said. “He had a lot of finals. He was an amazing player that probably played in a difficult moment of the history of tennis because he shared the tour at the prime time of Novak, Roger and myself.
“He was, in my feeling, the one that he was at the same level as us in general terms. In terms of victories, it’s true that he achieved less.
“In terms of level of tennis, in terms of holding mentally the winning spirit week after week, he was the only one that was very close to be at the same level as us.”
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