Rafael Nadal's quick thinking after Italian Open fall impresses Andy Murray & Andy Roddick

Andy Murray praised Rafael Nadal's quick thinking as the Spaniard won a point after falling down midway during his first-round match at the Italian Open. The Brit's views were seconded by Andy Roddick.

Nadal is currently competing at the Italian Open and kicked off his run with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win against Belgium's Zizour Bergs in the opening round. However, during his win, the Spaniard did something incredible in the third set.

While trying to react to Bergs' return to his serve, the Spaniard slipped and took a tumble. He immediately got up and stayed in the rally before going on to win the point with an incredible drop shot. This point left everyone in the arena awestruck as the 37-year-old celebrated the point with his signature fist pump.

Andy Murray took to X (formerly Twitter) where he praised the 22-time Major champion's quick thinking. The Brit talked about how Nadal wiped his right hand on his thigh for a possible backhand after noticing the incoming return was slow enough for the Spaniard to be confident that he would make it in time.

The 10-time Italian Open winner did hit a hammering backhand in his penultimate shot which helped him set up for a drop shot.

"I think the best athletes/players are the quickest thinkers and this is perfect illustration of this. Notice how Rafa gets up from the fall…Sees that the incoming ball is slow enough that he will reach it so takes a split second to wipe his right hand on his thigh in case he needs it to hit a backhand later in the point," said Murray.

Andy Roddick also agreed with the Brit's view as the American responded to his tweet with:

"This"

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"Andy Murray played in a difficult moment of the history of tennis" - Rafael Nadal speaks on Brit competing with the Big 3

The Big 4 at the 2022 Laver Cup

During his post-match press conference at the 2024 Italian Open, Rafael Nadal opened up about Andy Murray. The Spaniard remarked how the Brit has had an amazing career with a lot of finals but also admitted that Murray played in a difficult period of tennis as he had to face Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and himself at their peak.

"Andy had an amazing career."

"He had a lot of finals. He was an amazing player that probably played in a difficult moment of the history of tennis because he share the tour at the prime time of Novak, Roger and myself."

The 37-year-old also said that Murray was the closest in terms of quality to the Big 3 even though he didn't win as many titles as them.

"He was, in my feeling, the one that he was at the same level than us in general terms. In terms of victories, it's true that he achieved less. In terms of level of tennis, in terms of hold mentally the winning spirit week after week, he was the only one that was very close to be at the same level than us."

Nadal is set to face Hubert Hurkacz next in the second round whereas Murray will return from an ankle injury at the Geneva Open.