On October 17, Neymar Jr. went to the Six Kings Slam semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal met the legendary Brazilian soccer player after the game and gave him a racket.
In a much-anticipated match at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh, Alcaraz took on his idol Nadal.
Given his recent success in China and the fact that Nadal hasn’t participated in a professional match since the Olympics in Paris, the 21-year-old was the clear favourite going into the match. Alcaraz won by a resounding 6-3, 6-3 score as predicted.
Attending the semifinal in Riyadh was Neymar Jr., who plays club football for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. Following his quarterfinal matchup with Rune, he met Alcaraz on Wednesday. This time, he had a special encounter with Nadal.
Neymar received his racket as a gift from the 38-year-old, who is scheduled to retire from tennis following the Davis Cup Finals in November.
Later, Neymar posted a mirror selfie in an elevator to his Instagram Story to flaunt his prized item. In addition, he called Nadal a legend and thanked him.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
Ranked no.153, Nadal played his last match on the 29th of July when he lost to world no.4 Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4 in the 2nd round in Paris (draw).
Presently, during this year Rafael has managed to achieve an overall 12-7 match record. Rafael Nadal’s best achievement of the year was getting to the final in Bastad.