Samantha Stosur and her daughter "pretty stoked" after meeting Rafael Nadal at United Cup
Rafael Nadal met with Samantha Stosur and her daughter during the ongoing United Cup, leaving the duo delighted during his time in Australia.
Spain and Australia were drawn in Group D of the tournament and recently faced one another in an insignificant tie that determined who would finish second in the group. The Aussies won 3-2 after Samantha Stosur and John Peers won the mixed doubles clash against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and David Vega Fernandez 6-3, 6-2.
Stosur shared a few images from and after the tie on her Instagram story, including one of herself and her two-year-old daughter Genevieve sharing the frame with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
"Pretty stoked with this, thanks Rafa," the 2011 US Open champion captioned her story.
Samantha Stosur and Rafael Nadal both endured contrasting United Cup campaigns. The Aussie won both of her mixed doubles encounters against the teams from Great Britain and Spain. Nadal, on the other hand, lost both of his singles matches, losing against Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur.
Rafael Nadal claims United Cup matches will help him ahead of the Australian Open
Rafael Nadal had a disappointing start to his 2023 season, losing both of his United Cup matches against Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur. The 36-year-old has now won just one of his last seven competitive matches.
Despite starting the new season on a disappointing note, the World No. 2 doesn't believe that the situation is a bad one for him because he was playing well during certain moments in both of his matches. The Spaniard also claimed that the United Cup fixtures would help him during the Australian Open.
"I have two weeks before the Australian Open start. I can't say that the situation is ideal, but at the same time, I can't say that it's very negative, because for moments I was playing good. I think that two matches is gonna help me. I need to win couple of matches. But the level was not that bad. Putting in perspective that I arrived needing a little bit more time," he said in his post-match press conference after losing to Alex de Minaur.
The World No. 2 is not registered in any of the tournaments next week, so the Australian Open will most likely be his second event of the 2023 season. The Mallorcan will enter the Grand Slam as the defending champion, having won it in 2022 by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final.