Cameras Caught a Ball Boy’s Sweet Moment With Rafael Nadal Plaque at Roland Garros

Nadal's legacy will forever be in place at the French Open.
A ball boy touches the Rafael Nadal plaque at the French Open.
A ball boy touches the Rafael Nadal plaque at the French Open. / Roland Garros/Screengrab

Rafael Nadal will forever have a lasting legacy in tennis and at the French Open specifically.

Nadal, who retired from tennis last fall, was honored ahead of this year's major tournament at Roland Garros for the record 14 French Open titles he won in his career. Tennis fans in Paris absolutely adore Nadal. The tournament unveiled a plaque by the net at Court Philippe-Chatrier that includes a stencil of a clay footprint from Nadal.

Many tennis players have had a moment with the footprint this week, including World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who cleaned the plaque up a bit after his win in round one. There was also a ball boy who was caught on camera having a sweet moment with the plaque as he sat in position near it.

The boy couldn't stop staring at Nadal's name and footprint, and he even reached over and briefly touched the plaque. He simply couldn’t look away.

Nadal will forever be known as the King of Clay for a reason. He is greatly missed on the courts at Roland Garros this year.


More on Sports Illustrated

feed


Published
Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.