“I just want to be good enough so I don’t have to collect all the balls in the bushes,” Roger Federer said, as he found his new hobby in the form of golf after his retirement. Interestingly, Federer isn’t the only one who has turned to golf post-retirement. The likes of Ash Barty and Andy Murray have also turned to this sport after leaving tennis. As a result, former American tennis star, Mardy Fish invited Rafael Nadal to join this exclusive club.

Yesterday, Nadal played the final match of his career at the Davis Cup Finals. The Spaniard lost against Botic van de Zandschulp in his comeback match. Subsequently, Spain lost the tie against the Netherlands 2-1 to bow out of the tournament. With this, Nadal’s career came to an end. As Nadal called time on his illustrious career, he received an interesting invitation from Mardy Fish.

The American legend took to his official Twitter handle and said, “Rafa, see you on the golf course buddy. Revenge comin for all those losses on the tennis court…” Interstingly, Nadal has had an intriguing rivalry with Fish. The two played in 9 matches against each other, with Fish winning just a solitary match against Nadal. As a result, Fish wants to settle the scores by defeating Nadal in golf.

Meanwhile, Nadal is no stranger to golf. His swings have been much talked about and he even won a mid-amateur tournament earlier this year. “I love the game of golf in general,” Nadal once said.

Moreover, Nadal is a big fan of golf in general and Tiger Woods in particular. Back in 2019, he had a wonderful interaction with Woods.

When Tiger Woods watched Rafael Nadal at the US Open

At the 2019 edition of the US Open, Woods attended Nadal’s match there. The Spaniard went on to win that tournament and expressed happiness at the gold legend coming to watch him play.

Nadal revealed, “It’s a huge honour to play in front of all of [New York fans] but to play in front of Tiger is a very special thing. I’ve always said that I don’t have idols, but if I did I would have to say that one idol is him. I always try to follow him, every single shot through the whole year. For me, it’s a pleasure to have him here supporting me. It means a lot. He’s a big legend of sport, one of the greatest sportsmen of all time. I want to congratulate him for one of the most amazing comebacks of the sport ever when he won The Masters this year.”

With tennis commitments behind him now, Nadal would like to take on a new challenge in the form of golf. He has played the sport before and even found a winning touch like tennis. Thus, Nadal would be up for Mardy Fish’s challenge, if he decides to join their exclusive club.