"Abuse from a Wimbledon finalist... Humanity is broken"- Journalist comes to colleague's defense amid criticism over comments on Nadal's shirt gifting

A British journalist recently offered a staunch defense of fellow 'Tennis Podcast' host David Law's take on Pedro Cachin asking for Rafael Nadal's shirt. Law received flak from not only fans but Nick Kyrgios, famous actor Sendhil Ramamurthy, and a few of his peers after disapproving of the Argentine's request.

Nadal defeated Cachin 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the third round at the Caja Magica to notch three consecutive wins on the ATP Tour for the first time since the 2022 US Open. Following the match, the latter expressed his admiration for the Spaniard and asked him for a t-shirt to take home.

While the above interaction between Rafael Nadal and Pedro Cachin encapsulated the beauty of tennis for many fans, it perturbed British journalist David Law, who gave his opinion on X (formerly Twitter).

"Sorry Pedro, asking for your opponent’s shirt at the net ain’t it," David Law wrote on X.

The tennis community subsequently had a go at the Tennis Podcast host. 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios also joined them in their pile-on.

"Why? NBA players, soccer players do it all the time? It’s a memory, an experience that took a life time of work and that less than 1% of humans get to. You wouldn’t understand," Kyrgios wrote in Law's replies.

Catherine Whitaker, who is co-host of Tennis Podcast, was admittedly disappointed at the discourse surrounding her colleague's post.

"My friend and colleague @DavidLawTennis posted a completely legit opinion on a completely innocuous subject on here yesterday, and so far he’s received straight up abuse from a Wimbledon finalist, a moderately famous actor, and a journalist colleague. Twitter/humanity is broken," Whitaker wrote on X.

Aside from Nick Kyrgios, Whitaker was referencing famous TV actor Sendhil Ramamurthy and a few prominent journalists in her post, who were equally incensed by David Law's take.

"Ur such a t**l. This isn’t the cool tweet you think it is. Take it down. It was a beautiful thing," Ramamurthy wrote.

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Rafael Nadal looking to reach Madrid Open SFs for the first time since 2019

Rafael Nadal retrieves a ball at the 2024 Madrid Open

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal will take on 30th-seeded Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round of the Madrid Open later on Tuesday (April 30). The Spaniard has turned in a good campaign at the Caja Magica this fortnight, having dropped only one set in his defeats of 10th-seeded Alex de Minaur, Argentina's Pedro Cachin and USA's Darwin Blanch.

Nadal will be eager to go past the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament with the 2024 French Open just around the corner. Incidentally, the 22-time Major winner has fallen at the last-eight hurdle in Madrid in his last two appearances and will therefore be eager to make it to the semifinals.

The former World No. 1 fell to eventual winners Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals of his last two outings at the event in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The 22-time Major winner reached the last-four of the Madrid Open in 2019, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. The five-time champion will face a familiar foe and World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev for a place in the semifinals, provided he navigates past Lehecka's challenge in Madrid.