"Was it Novak Djokovic in disguise?" - Tennis fans amused as ball boy vanishes Rafael Nadal's racquet during Australian Open 1R win

Rafael Nadal faced an unusual situation during his opening match at the Australian Open 2023 against Jack Draper.

The Spaniard, who is defending his Australian Open title at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, noticed that his main racquet had gone missing after holding on to his service game 4-3 in the first set.

Rafael Nadal soon seemed to realize that the ball boy had mistakenly taken his racquet, which the Spaniard needed at that time.

"It’s this one for the string and not that one. This one is for the string. I need the racquet back," the 22-time Slam winner notified the chair umpire.

Rafael Nadal further updated his opponent Draper about the situation before asserting that he was going to carry on with his back-up racquet.

"The ball boy take my racquet," Nadal said, "Yeah, yeah. I’m going."

The amusing mix-up, however, drew hilarious reactions from tennis fans.

"Rafa’s racquet is being listed on eBay as we speak," one fan joked.

Another fan commended him for keeping his cool during the unexpected situation.

"Many players won't react the way Rafa did... Ever since the Rafa Jr arrives, dad Rafa is just on another level of coolness. Imagine someone took Kyrgios racket?" the fan wondered.

Here are a few more reactions from fans:

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Rafael Nadal wins his first round match against Jack Draper at the Australian Open 2023

Rafael Nadal defeats Jack Draper 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the 2023 Ausstralian Open

Rafael Nadal won a tough first-round match against rising star Jack Draper at the 2023 Australian Open. While many had predicted that the defending champion was highly likely to lose his opening encounter due to his poor run of form in recent tournaments, the 22-time Grand Slam champion managed to surprise the tennis world with his tenacity yet again. The Spaniard scored the all-important win in four sets 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

In his on-court interview, the former World No. 1 spoke about his victory.

"Last year (Australian Open) have been, without a doubt, one of the most emotional tournaments of my tennis career. No doubt about that but, unfortunately (that's in the past)," the Spaniard said.

So, we need to keep working. Super happy to be back here in Rod Laver Arena with the victory that I needed. The last couple of months haven't been easy for me but, yeah, hopefully this victory will help me," he continued.

"If we put in perspective all the situation that I went through, the last six months, I think (this has been) a very positive start. I played against one of the toughest opponents possible in the first round, being seeded (No. 1)," the 22 time Slam winner stated.

He's young. He (Jack Draper) has the power. I think he has a great future in front. We're gonna see him playing a lot of years here and have great results," he concluded.