RAFAEL NADAL has been slammed by Wimbeldon fans as “lazy” after getting a ball boy to throw away his rubbish – even though he was sat right next to a bin.
Nadal was a long way into his gripping five-set marathon defeat to Gilles Muller when he sat down to take a breather at a changeover.
The two-time Wimbledon champion then tucked into an energy gel as he looked to take on more sugars to boost his fitness levels as the match dragged on and on.
But even though a huge bin was positioned right next to his seat on Court One, Nadal beckoned a ball-boy over to hand him his empty wrapper.
The youngster then leaned a couple of inches past the player to drop the rubbish into the waiting bin.
The apparent laziness of the former world number one has been attacked on social media.
@JodiPhillips 85 said: “Nadal clearly needs to go to Specsavers if he can’t see where the bin is! Bonkers!!!! ”
While @pobarooney Tweeted: “Are tennis players that cut above they can’t put their own rubbish in a bin. #nadal#wimbledon”
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NADAL'S WOEFUL WIMBLEDON RUN
Since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2011 final, Nadal has failed to make it past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
His run of misery is…
- 2012 – Second round defeat to Lukas Rosol
- 2013 – First round defeat to Steve Darcis
- 2014 – Fourth round defeat to Nick Kyrgios
- 2015 – Second round defeat to Dustin Brown
- 2016 – Didn’t compete
Fellow Twitter user :markmckenzie7 said: “Did Nadal just give that ball boy his used chewing gum to put in the bin?! Lazy pig. #wimbledon”
@shelbry512x tweeted: “Did Nadal just call a ball boy over to put his rubbish in the bin for him WHEN THE BIN WAS RIGHT NEXT TO HIM??? ”
And it appears it is not the first time Nadal has shown an unwillingness to throw his own waste away.
Old footage has now emerged of the 32-year-old doing exactly the same during a tournament in Queens a couple of years ago.
Others were quick to defend Nadal from criticism, claiming most players in tennis do the same.
Some questioned whether he even knew the bin was there as he was weary from the epic struggle.
Nadal’s fourth-round tie against Muller was a titanic struggle that lasted four hours and 47 minutes.
The final set itself went on for two hours and 15 minutes – longer than Roger Federer had spent breezing past Grigor Dimitrov across the way on Centre Court.
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