Rafael Nadal engages in funny banter with Will Smith after beating $350M-worth actor's team in E1 World Championship race

Tennis legend Rafael Nadal engaged in funny banter with Hollywood actor Will Smith after the Spaniard’s team clinched their first-ever win in the UIM E1 World Championship. Team Rafa’s win in Doha gave them a massive boost as they have amassed 72 points and have climbed to the top of the standings.

The UIM E1 World Championship is an all-electric race boat championship with nine teams. Several legendary athletes, including 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, NFL icon Tom Brady, basketball phenom LeBron James, and five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen own teams in the unique competition.

The Doha GP was held in late February and Nadal’s team - Team Rafa - secured their first race win of the season. American actor Will Smith, with a net worth of $350 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth), was at the venue as he watched his team - Westbrook Racing - finish third at the event.

Smith’s team later shared a video on Instagram praising Team Rafa for the win.

"Good one. I'm cool with Rafa. I wouldn't have been able to handle it if Brady won," the Hollywood star said.

Nadal responded to Smith’s video and wished him luck for the upcoming races. The tennis icon wrote:

“@willsmith good luck in the next @e1series race!”

Screengrab of Rafael Nadal's reply to Will Smith. Source: Instagram @rafaelnadal

Nadal earlier congratulated his team’s racers, Cris Lazarraga and Tom Chiappe, for their incredible win.

“Last August we celebrated together the second position 🥈 of @e1teamrafa at Lago di Como. We set ourselves the goal of winning an @e1series event soon... And you did it today in Doha! Congratulations to the whole team for a great success! The first 🏆 of many! What a great weekend @crislazarraga33 & @tom.chiappe! Vamos! 💪🏼,” he wrote.

Rafael Nadal recently spoke about his rivalry with Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal with Roge Federer. Source: Getty

Rafael Nadal enjoyed a trophy-laded career that saw him win a whopping 22 Grand Slam titles. The one person beside him throughout was his biggest rival and good friend, Roger Federer. The two revolutionized modern-day tennis with their intense rivalry and won 42 Grand Slams between them.

Despite having a healthy rivalry with 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and playing more against the Serb, Nadal noted that his matches against Federer were more attractive to fans.

"Well I think having completely different approach to the matches. I think with Roger [Federer] the match, I think that's in my opinion that’s why the rivalry with Roger was a little bit more I mean attractive for the fans than Novak [Djokovic] against me. Even if I played more times against Novak," Nadal said on an episode of Served with Andy Roddick earlier this month. (47:20 onwards).

Nadal, fondly known as the King of Clay for his staggering 14 French Open titles, has remained in touch with the sport since his retirement and is currently producing the next line of talent at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy.