Credit: Unsplash

The ball boy had accidentally taken his favorite racket to be restrung.

During the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal was set to take on Britain’s Jack Draper. However, during the match’s first set, Nadal flagged down the umpire, informing him that his favorite tennis racket had gone missing.

“It’s this one for the stringer, not that one,” those present heard Nadal explaining. “I need the racquet back! It is this not one. I need the dampener and everything.”

After grabbing a spare racket, Nadal realized what had actually happened. “The ball boy took my racquet!” he said. Apparently, the match’s ball boy had made a mistake, accidentally taking Nadal’s favorite racket to be restrung as opposed to one of the backup rackets he wanted restrung.

“Normally, I have the number of the rackets under control so I said I need the stringer, but I need the stringer for the other racket,” Nadal told Eurosport after the game.

"The ball boy took my racket" 🎙

During his first game at this year's @AustralianOpen, Rafael Nadal had the wrong racket swooped off to be restrung!#AusOpen #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/2qsbzNfaUQ

— Sky Sport NZ (@skysportnz) January 16, 2023

“So [the ball boy] picked the racket I was ready to play with. But no problem at all.”

Nadal ultimately won the match 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1, writing off the brief confusion with his racket as a “funny situation.”