Rafael Nadal claimed his 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title with victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Canadian Open final on Sunday, although it was a remarkable act of sportsmanship that defined the 80th title of his career.
Tsitsipas caused a stir during his run to the final of Toronto as the 20-year-old became the youngest player to beat four top-ten ranked opponents at the same tournament and he was hoping to cause an upset against Nadal.
However, serving at 3-5 and 30-15, Tsitsipas was distracted by a fan in the crowd yelling out as he went to hit a first serve and the ball duly flew out of play. The Greek starlet tried to argue his case with the chair umpire in an attempt to gain another first serve, although the umpire was adamant that he must go straight to a second serve. Until Nadal stepped in...
The Spaniard walked to the net and told the umpire to let Tsitsipas take his first serve again and the umpire relented, much to the joy of the crowd as they rapturously applauded the decision. Tsitsipas duly held serve and then broke Nadal to level at 5-5 in the second set, although Nadal eventually found a way through and duly secured a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory.
The world's number one ranked player went on to praise Tsitsipas in his post-match interview, although it was the sportsmanship of the 32-year-old which stole the show. You can see the moment Nadal made sure Tsitsipas would get another first serve in the video below...
