Rafael Nadal kisses ball girl on cheek after shot accidentally hits her in face at Australian Open
Rafael Nadal kissed a ball girl on the cheek after inadvertently hitting her with a tennis ball during his win over Federico Delbonis at the Australian Open.
As the world no.1 was closing in on his second-round win over the Argentine, a wayward backhand return sent a tennis ball flying into the side of the young girl's face.
Nadal, and Delbonis, quickly went over to the girl to check on her before the Spaniard gave her a kiss on the check.
Shortly afterwards, once he had wrapped up the win, Nadal again approached the ball girl and gave her his sweatband as a memento of the match.
When asked about the kiss in his post-match interview, he said: "Probably after 15 years, (my wife) doesn't care (very) much!"
"One of the scariest moments of my career"@RafaelNadal talks us through *that* moment with the ballgirl 😅
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He added: "(It was) one of the more scary moments I've had on the tennis court — the ball was quick, and straight on (her) head.
"I was so scared for her. Very happy that you're good. You're very brave, so well done."