What did Andy Murray text Rafa Nadal after Arsenal’s Madrid UCL thrashing? Spaniard reveals at Roland-Garros | Tennis News
Amidst his grand and emotional Roland-Garros farewell ceremony on Sunday, 14-time champion Rafael Nadal had the time to have a lively reunion with the other illustrious members of the Big Four – his long-time on-court rivals – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
While the moment brought together the four greats of men’s tennis this century, Nadal revealed an incident highlighting the snarky competitiveness that could get between them when it comes to other sports.
Nadal revealed how Murray recently reconnected with him through messaging after the UEFA Champions League quarter-final between Arsenal and Real Madrid. The 5-1 result across two legs would have elated the Arsenal supporter in Murray, who recently completed his six-month time as Djokovic’s coach.
A true-blue Madridista, Nadal revealed how Murray attempted a cheeky dig after the Gunners’ triumph.
“Always British” 😂
Rafa Nadal read out the text that Andy Murray sent as soon as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 💬#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/9X6A5MYPCX
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) May 26, 2025
“My good friend Andy, we were not in touch for a while,” Nadal told reporters after his emotional French Open farewell ceremony at Roland-Garros.
“The day that Arsenal beat Real Madrid, when the match just finished, after one second, he text me a message, telling me, ‘Hey, Rafa, haven’t spoken to you in a while. Just checking in to make sure you are okay.’
“So honestly, [it] takes me like five seconds to realise what I was reading, because at the beginning, I said, ‘Okay, he’s such a nice guy. He’s asking about how I’m doing, family.’
“After five seconds, I said, ‘This British sense of humour.’ By the way, I didn’t text him back when PSG beat Arsenal.”
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Nadal said he was elated to catch up with Murray, Federer and Djokovic during the farewell ceremony.
“They represent a very important part of my tennis career, because in some way we pushed each other to the limits, as I said in my speech. And that’s the truth,” Nadal said.
