Chris Evert amused by Rafael Nadal meme from Met Gala

Tennis legend Chris Evert recently reacted with amusement to a Met Gala-inspired meme featuring Rafael Nadal.

The 2023 Met Gala took place on Monday, May 1. This year's Costume Institute exhibition - "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" - celebrated Karl Lagerfeld's entire body of work and life, and the dress code was "in honor of Karl."

It saw tennis legend Roger Federer returning to the event for the first time since 2017; back then he wowed fans worldwide with a crystal cobra in his tuxedo. The 20-time Grand Slam singles champion, who was co-chair of this year's Met Gala, was joined by his wife Mirka on the red carpet in New York this year.

Roger Federer was not the only tennis star to attend this year's Met Gala. Serena Williams, who announced her pregnancy at the event, as well as Andy Roddick and Matteo Berrettini, were present too.

Ever since the conclusion of the Met Gala, there have been a lot of memes on the happenings at the event. One of them prominently displayed Rafael Nadal's ritual of always placing his sports drink and water bottles diagonally aligned near his bench.

18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert took to Twitter to react to that meme, expressing her feelings with a slew of laughing emojis.

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Rafael Nadal withdraws from the Italian Open 2023

Rafael Nadal pictured at the 2023 Australian Open - Day 3.

Rafael Nadal picked up an abdominal strain during the Australian Open earlier this year, similar to the one he suffered at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. As a result, he was forced to withdraw from the Dubai Tennis Championships as well as the Qatar Open.

Nadal later announced his withdrawal from the Indian Wells and Miami Masters events. This was followed by back-to-back withdrawals from the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Open.

The southpaw was set to return to the court at the Italian Open, but last week he posted on social media that he would not be participating in Rome either. Although the 22-time Slam champion acknowledged progress in his injury rehabilitation, he said was proceeding cautiously and avoiding a rushed return to competition.

"Hello everyone! I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Rome. You all know how much it hurts me to miss another one of the tournaments that have marked my professional and personal career for all the love and support of the Italian tifosi," Nadal said.

"Despite having noticed an improvement in recent days, there have been many months without having been able to train at a high level and the readaptation process has its times and I have no choice but to accept them and continue working. A hug to all," he added.