Rafael Nadal Birthday Special: When ‘King Of Clay’ hits ball-girl at Australian Open; apologises with kiss

As Rafael Nadal turns 35, we are remembering horrific incident happened at Australian open in the year 2020.

Rafael Nadal's forehands are deadly, as Anita Birchall discovered when she was struck by one while serving as a ball-kid at the Australian Open 2020.

When the poor girl found herself in the firing line of the Spanish world No. 1 on Rod Laver Arena, he was in the midst of wrapping up his second round match against Argentine Federico Delbonis. See Video Here.

Nadal walked over to see how she was doing and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek for good measure, which made her blush.He also patted her on the head, drawing cheers from the crowd.

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“For her it was not a good moment, I was so scared for her, the ball was quick and straight on her,” Nadal said after the match, giving her his headband as a momento.

“She’s a super brave girl. It has been one of the more scary moments of my career. I’m very happy she is good. She is brave. Well done.”

After the incident, Nadal met with Anita and her family and spent time with them. The cap that Nadal gave her said, "To my friend Anita, all the best."

Nadal shared a selfie with the tiny ball girl on Twitter. He said, “Had the chance to meet her and her family today. So happy she is well after the scariest moment I’ve had on a tennis court. Annita is a brave girl!” he captioned it.