"I was just fan-girling the whole night": Leylah Fernandez shares amusing Rafael Nadal encounter in Malaga

Canada’s Leylah Fernandez has shared an interesting story about seeing Spain’s Rafael Nadal in Malaga. Both players are currently in the Spanish city to participate in different events. In the coming days, Malaga will host two team-based events — the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup — at the same time.

The 2021 US Open runner-up and the current world number 31 Fernandez, who is in Malaga to represent Canada in the Billie Jean King Cup, has been quoted in a report where she talked about an interesting story about seeing the former world number. The-22-year-old revealed that she was in the gym when she saw Nadal coming in and she instantly told her teammates about it. "I was in the gym finishing up my recovery, and then Rafa was coming in,” she said. “And i was telling everybody, the team, that rafa is here. I was just fan-girling the whole night.”

The month of November will be a special one in Malaga, not because it is hosting two premiere team-based tennis competitions at the same time but because of Nadal who will be taking the court for the final time. The 38-year-old, who is often regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, announced earlier this year that he will retire from professional tennis after the Davis Cup.

Nadal has struggled with fitness concerns, especially towards the later stages of his career. It is because of this reason that he missed six out of the last eight Grand Slams. Nadal returned to the court earlier this year but has failed to produce positive results consistently, once again because of niggles. He will be representing Spain in the Davis Cup finals which will begin from November 19. The Spanish team will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinal of the competition.