Tennis fans on Twitter understandably flipped out Thursday when the name “Nadal” was trending and connected to the word “retirement.”
Naturally, they assumed almost-34-year-old superstar Rafael Nadal was calling it quits, which isn’t an outrageous leap to make considering the Spaniard has a storied career and a variety of injuries over the years. But rest assured, tennis Twitter: Nadal, the 19-time Grand Slam champ, is not retiring (yet).
However, an unbeaten horse named Nadal was unexpectedly retired Thursday.
The 3-year-old unbeaten horse — he was trained by the legendary Bob Baffert — won all four of the races he competed in and earned more than $1 million in winnings, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. But Thursday, the Kentucky Derby qualifying points leader was diagnosed with a condylar fracture in his left front leg and immediately had surgery to put screws in the injured leg.
While that’s obviously unfortunate for the horse and those who work with it, sports fans were largely just relieved to learn Nadal the horse, not Nadal the tennis player, retired. Relax, tennis Twitter. It’s OK.
Different Nadal retiring, not Rafa. pic.twitter.com/PDH8M1sMKj
— KJ (@wingster55) May 28, 2020
I swear to god when I saw Nadal trending I thought yall meant the Clay Court GOAT is retiring and my heart sank. Turns out it’s a horse. pic.twitter.com/YclNJIfOl5
— rainy days. cloudy skies (@santacalculus) May 28, 2020
And here I thought it was… never mind #Nadal pic.twitter.com/q0lcdtIMLe
— Darius (@KingDarius83) May 28, 2020
Twitter: do not ever make Nadal trend again without some kind of warning. You guys almost read in the papers that a black gay man in SC had a heart attack and died with his dog next to him.
Thanking the stars this is about a horse! pic.twitter.com/RGVCXmvNyt
— Goldburn P. Maynard Jr. (@deathntaxesprof) May 28, 2020
Me when I opened Twitter and saw “Nadal retiring” trending… we’re good though. It’s just a horse pic.twitter.com/TleNAHhMF0
— Patrick Moats (@PatrickMoats1) May 28, 2020
When you’re a tennis fan and open Twitter to read about Nadal’s retirement…. pic.twitter.com/Jpo0dfKi6F
— Lucian B (@luci22b) May 28, 2020
Wtf y’all had me be thinking Rafael Nadal was retiring pic.twitter.com/lTar80ixgg
— VI VI MMXVI (@D_Ran44) May 28, 2020
Nadal trending is the first time something trending legit scared me. Dammit twitter… pic.twitter.com/PNPgMSthDq
— $yhr🔺️ (@SyhrTheVP) May 28, 2020
I reacted to the news trend "Nadal Retired" as any sports fan would. But apparently this is about a horse from Kentucky.
What's next? Ronaldo (who as everyone know is a sled dog from Alaska) hangs his boots? https://t.co/ZLG47OTvH7
— Etai Mizrav (@Etai_Mizrav) May 28, 2020
As a Novak Djokovic fan, I got so excited to read that Nadal is retiring. Then I realized that it’s about a horse—not the King of Clay Rafael Nadal. I was already counting all of the extra Roland Garros titles that Djokovic could earn. pic.twitter.com/bY4sNDjExt
— Chidike Okeem (@VOICEOFCHID) May 28, 2020
[jwplayer YC3fACI6-q2aasYxh]
[vertical-gallery id=920488]