MX23RW : Saturday, November 23 23:27:17| >> :600:310460085:310460085:

Rafael Nadal praises Tim Smyczek sportsmanship

Third seed Rafael Nadal praises the sportsmanship of Tim Smyczek during their thrilling five-set contest in the Australian Open second round on Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal has acknowledged the gesture made by opponent Tim Smyczek during the final game of their five-set marathon in the Australian Open second round.

When serving for the match at 6-5 in the fifth set, a spectator shouted out when Nadal was about to serve which resulted in a double fault, but Smyczek, who was two points away from being eliminated, told the umpire to replay the point.

The 28-year-old told reporters: "I want to congratulate Tim because he was a real gentleman for what he did in the last game.

"It was amazing. Not a lot of people would do something like this at 6-5 in the fifth. I think that he played a great match."

Nadal came through the game to win 6-2 3-6 6-7 6-3 7-5 to set up a last-32 tie with Dudi Sela.

ID:200496: cacheID:200496:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:1398:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Rafael Nadal collapses to the ground after triumphing in the second round of the Australian Open on January 21, 2015
Read Next:
Nadal wins after five-set epic
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!