Ariarne Titmus drops 3-word message ahead of Rafael Nadal's final match at Davis Cup Finals 2024

Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus expressed her thoughts on 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal. This comes just a few hours before the start of the Spaniard's last professional involvement in a tournament. He is set to play in the Davis Cup in Malaga.

Nadal, known as the "King of Clay," is set to feature during Spain's clash against the Netherlands where he is most likely to partner with Carlos Alcaraz for the doubles match. He last featured at the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament and lost the third-place playoff to arch-rival Novak Djokovic.

Ahead of Nadal's first match in the Davis Cup, his sponsor, Nike, shared a tribute to the Spaniard in honor of his contribution to the sport. Titmus shared the post on her Instagram stories and added in the caption:

"Forever a champion"

Screenshot of Ariarne Titmus' IG story (Image: Instagram@ariarnetitmus_)

Ariarne Titmus is an admirer of Rafael Nadal and has called him her "sporting idol."

Titmus herself has been highly successful in her domain. The 24-year-old has clinched four Olympic and six World Championships medals so far in her career. Additionally, she has tasted success at the Pan Pacific and Commonwealth Games, with three and eight medals, respectively. Her haul includes seven gold medals.

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When Ariarne Titmus opened up about her favorite tennis memory featuring Rafael Nadal

Titmus after her Women's 400m freestyle event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Japan (Image via: Getty Images)

Ariarne Titmus shared her favorite tennis memory of meeting Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Australian Open. The Spaniard won the tournament by beating Daniil Medvedev in five sets 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

In an interview in September this year, the Tasmania native revealed she got the opportunity to be in Nadal's box at the event. She added that it was an "unreal experience for her. She said (via Tennis Australia):

"I’d say my favorite tennis memory is meeting Rafa at the Australian Open in 2022. I got to sit in his player’s box with his family and his team. That was just an unreal experience. Do you know what the best part about it was? I realized he and his family are just like me."

During the interview, Ariarne Titmus also expressed her admiration for the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, and the reigning Australian Open women's champion, Aryna Sabalenka.