Smyczek's incredible moment of sportsmanship against Nadal

This could quite possibly be the greatest moment of sportsmanship we see all year.

And with so much talk of the death of the gentleman in sport it was refreshing to witness this beautiful moment on Rod Laver Arena last night.

First, a moment of scene setting.

Unknown American qualifier Tim Smyczek is in the match of his life. He is on centre court at a major against one of the greatest players the game has ever seen, Rafael Nadal.

They have been battling for four hours in oppressive heat. Smyczek was long odds to even get a set off Rafa but they are 6-5 in the fifth, the crowd is on the edge of their seats. A huge upset is not too far away.

Imagine what is going through Smyczek’s head. Playing against one of his idols, going toe to toe with one of the greats. The pressure is intense.

At 30-0 with Nadal serving to win the match he throws the ball up and an idiot in the crowd screams out during the ball toss. Rafa faults.

Instead of sniffing an opportunity for a shot at a second serve to get back into the match Smyczek tells Rafa to replay the point, have his first serve again.

It was an incredible moment during the most intense game of the American player’s life.

The crowd responded warmly and he received a standing ovation when he left the court after finally succumbing to Nadal.

Rafa summed it up best when, in his post match interview, he said,”Firstly I want to congratulate Tim, he is a real gentleman. What he did in the last game was … not a lot of people would do something like this at 6-5 in the fifth after four hours.”

This from one of the true gentlemen and champions of the game.