Rafael Nadal rewarded for incredible acts of sportsmanship

Rafael Nadal ended his season prematurely through injury and handed his World No.1 ranking to Novak Djokovic in the process.

But the Spaniard has been rewarded for his incredible acts of sportsmanship throughout the 2018 season.

The 32-year-old was crowned as the 2018 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award winner overnight, breaking Roger Federer’s seven-year hold on the trophy.

The award is a testament to his many memorable moments from throughout the season – here’s a few:

Nadal’s class act for Juan Martin del Potro

Rafael Nadal produced a comeback win for the ages in July at Wimbledon, but it was his classy post-match embrace of Juan Martin del Potro that stole the show.

After an epic battle spanning almost five hours, del Potro slumped to the grass following his defeat – and Nadal was quick to climb over the net to console his opponent with a long and exhausted hug.

The thoughtful moment of sportsmanship on show at Wimbledon touched the hearts of viewers from around the world, and it meant a whole lot to del Potro himself.

Nadal cops code violation ‘for good sportsmanship’

Rafael Nadal has been stung by the new shot clock rule at the US Open, all because he was trying to be a nice guy.

The defending champion eased into the third round on Thursday (AEST) with a straight sets win over Vasek Pospisil – but the win didn’t come without its problems.

Nadal received a bizarre time violation in the third set when he fell foul of the 25-second shot clock.

Pospisil appeared to be struggling in the stifling New York heat and wasn’t ready when Nadal was about to serve.

The Canadian put up his hand to ask Nadal for an extra few seconds, resulting in the shot clock expiring.

Inexplicably, the chair umpire issued the code violation warning to Nadal for holding up the game.

Nadal stops match for distraught mother

Rafael Nadal has once again shown why he is the nicest guy in tennis, stopping a recent match while a distraught mother searched for her child.

The Spaniard was playing an exhibition doubles match with Simon Solbas against Carlos Moya and John McEnroe in Mallorca when a large commotion broke out in the crowd.

TV footage showed an upset mother desperately searching for her daughter, standing next to a steward and shouting ‘Clara’.

Nadal’s incredible act after ‘match of the year’

Rafael Nadal has shown off his class with a beautiful act of sportsmanship towards Dominic Thiem after their five-set epic at the US Open.

The world No.1 created history when he overcame losing the first set 0-6 to reach the semi-finals in New York.

Nadal won 0-6 6-4 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) after four hours and 48 minutes to set up a clash with Juan Martin del Potro.

It was all respect between the two combatants, with Nadal skipping the usual net handshake to hug Thiem.

“(I) just said that I am very sorry and you are good. Keep going,” the victor said of the embrace.

“Because he’s young, he has plenty of time to win big tournaments. He has everything. He’s a fighter, he has a great attitude so that’s the most important thing.

Nadal’s unbelievable sportsmanship for young opponent

On his way to winning an 80th career title, Rafael Nadal stunned fans with an amazing act of sportsmanship for his opponent.

Nadal claimed a record-extending 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title with victory over birthday boy Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Canadian Open final on Monday morning (AEST).

Tsitsipas, who was playing in his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final on his 20th birthday after four consecutive wins over top-10 players in Toronto, threw all he had at Nadal but was ultimately beaten 6-2 7-6 (7-4).

During a thrilling second set in which Tsitsipas threatened to cause a major boilover, Nadal showed once again why he’s one of the classiest players in tennis.

Serving at 3-5 and 30-15, a fan yelled out as Tsitsipas was hitting a first serve.

The ball sailed well wide and left the Greek youngster no other option but to hit a second serve.

His pleas with the chair umpire to give him a first serve back fell on deaf ears, until Nadal came to the rescue.

The World No.1 walked to the net and told the umpire to let Tsitsipas hit his first serve again, earning a huge ovation from the crowd.

Nadal’s incredible gesture for flood victims

World No.1 tennis star Rafael Nadal has taken part in the recovery efforts after a torrential rainstorm caused flash flooding and killed at least 10 people in Mallorca.

The Spaniard sprung into action after the town of Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, about 60 kilometres east of the island’s capital Palma, was devastated by the rainstorm.

Nadal first offered rooms at his tennis academy to victims who had been left without a place to stay.

“Today is a sad day in Mallorca. Our heartfelt condolences to the relatives of those who died from the floods of Sant Llorenç,” the academy wrote on Twitter.

“Today we return to offer the rooms of the #RafaNadalSportsCentre and of the Academy for all the affected ones that need accommodation.”

Approximately 50 people had stayed at the academy the previous night.

with Agencies.