While on the court Rafael Nadal is making waves in the Italian Open, off the court, his son is making headlines as well. When the King of Clay was busy preparing for a comeback at the Italian Open this year, fans noticed an adorable moment of Rafael Jr. there! Since then, the tennis world has been in a frenzy over the striking similarity between the father-son duo.
Rafael Nadal just earned his first victory at the Italian Open this year. But while he was busy vying for his 11th victory in Rome, fans came across a picture of Nadal’s son enjoying his time during his father’s match in the audience. There, while Nadal was playing on-court, to cheer him on, his wife and Rafael Jr. were also present.
And one picture of his son further captured the attention of his fans, where his expressions mimicked those of his father! Putting Rafael Nadal’s childhood picture alongside his son’s, we all saw the resemblance! One of them rightly pointed out that “they are literally identical”.
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baby rafael nadal and baby rafael nadal junior. they are literally identical 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/P29x4BqaDV
— mimi🧍🏻♀️| RAFA COMEBACK ERA ⁵⁵⁴ (@rafastefbaes) May 9, 2024
Although, after the birth of his son in 2022, Nadal tried to keep everything private. But recently, a change has been noticed. His son has become a regular visitor during his matches since this year’s beginning.
This includes his son’s visit during the Brisbane International, then the Barcelona and Madrid Open as well. Nadal also addressed this and said, “Well, I would love to play a little bit longer and give him a memory of myself playing tennis.”
And indeed, his presence not only gave him a sense of strength, but it also gave his fans a glimpse of the unique similarities between him and Nadal Jr.
Rafael Nadal’s and his son’s childhood looks!
The cuteness of the photo grabbed the attention of all tennis fans. One fan showcased this and wanted to cry because of the overload of cuteness! The fan wrote, “gonna cry rn how cute” and it surely resonated with all his fans worldwide.
gonna cry rn how cute
— mimi🧍🏻♀️| RAFA COMEBACK ERA ⁵⁵⁴ (@rafastefbaes) May 9, 2024
While one fan labelled Rafael Jr. as the “cutest” of all. “rafa jr is the cutest i wanna pinch his cheeks 🥲🥲🥲”, he wrote. And indeed, with a hat on his head, Rafa Jr. stole the hearts of many tennis fans.
rafa jr is the cutest i wanna pinch his cheeks 🥲🥲🥲
— Dee (@tifosasainz) May 9, 2024
Another fan simply wrote “OMG” to showcase his shock at the high similarity between the two.
One fan described the nature of the picture, where both look confused. And it was indeed true! Looking far away, both of them are trying to decipher something. “ayni kafasi karisik bakis” wrote the fan which translates to “same confused looks”.
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However, one fan was convinced otherwise.The fan wrote, “He looks like Mery.” According to this fan, Nadal’s son looks like Maria Francisco, Nadal’s wife.
He looks like Mery
— agnesdominique (@Agnes_Dominique) May 9, 2024
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While fans enjoy these adorable moments off the court, the tennis world awaits the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal’s dominance at the Italian Open once again!