Madrid (Spain) – In football it is common for players to change their shirts at the end of the match, but when the Argentine Pedro Cachin asked Rafael Nadal for a shirt After the defeat to the Spaniard, receiving it as a gift from the former number 1, there were those who were surprised by what happened and even those who criticized it.
While the Polish Iga Swiatek and the Australian Nick Kyrgios defended Cachin’s request, the Czech Jiri Lehka took the opposite path and found what happened strange. Nadal’s executioner in the competitionLehecka was asked about the matter after his victory over the Spaniard and gave his opinion.
“I don’t know, it’s difficult for me to say, because I entered the court to win. When you enter the court and go there to win, it’s difficult to chase it and ask for something. I don’t want to seem disrespectful or anything, that’s the last thing I would want, but if you’re playing a game and you’re thinking about asking the guy for something, then why are you there?” the Czech noted.
“Everyone can have their own opinion on this. I totally respect what Pedro did. I would do it maybe after the whole tournament, later when I saw him somewhere, just asking for a photo like I did after our training. That’s what I did, because of course I didn’t know if I would have a chance to play with him again,” Lehecka added.
Waitek and Kyrgios support Cachin
Current world number 1, Swiatek also spoke about the gift shirt that Cachin received from Nadal and saw the Argentine’s attitude naturally. “I had never seen this before, but if I played against Rafa, I would definitely ask for a t-shirt”, said the Polish, who has never hidden that Rafa is a great inspiration for her.
Even the controversial Kyrgios, who firmly defended the Argentine’s request through social media. “NBA and football players do this all the time. It’s a memory, an experience that required a lifetime of work and less than 1% of humans can do it”, tweeted the Australian, countering a criticism from a British journalist.
Interestingly, the same Kyrgios adopted another position years agoin 2020, when the American Sebastian Korda asked Nadal for an autograph shortly after being eliminated from Roland Garros by the Spaniard, receiving as a gift a shirt signed by the former world number 1.
