Several tennis fans recently debated Rafael Nadal‘s contentious row with Lorenzo Sonego at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, featured in Roger Federer’s new documentary.
Nadal was bidding to win his third Grand Slam of 2022 and faced an in-form Sonego in the third round of Wimbledon. The Spaniard won the first two sets relatively easily, dropping a combined three games.
In the third set, the 22-time Grand Slam champion made an unusual move when he condemned Sonego’s loud grunt. Rather than take issue with the chair umpire, Nadal walked to the net and requested a face-to-face conversation with the Italian because he felt distracted.
At that point, Sonego was in the lead with a break but was broken back and would eventually lose the match in straight sets. In his post-match press conference, he was unimpressed by Nadal’s behavior and accused him of unsportsmanlike conduct.
That same year, Nadal played at the Laver Cup, and unseen footage of a conversation between him, Roger Federer, and Matteo Berrettini about the incident was featured in Federer’s documentary Twelve Final Days, which aired recently.
Tennis journalist Blair Henley expressed her amusement at the discussion, which she shared in multiple screenshots on X. Berrettini appears to defend his countryman, saying that the grunt was unintentional.
“Could not stop laughing at the fact that Twelve Final Days (which I loved) included a debate between Berrettini and Nadal over whether Lorenzo Sonego’s delayed grunting is intentional.”
Nadal even mimicked Sonego’s grunt while discussing the incident with Berrettini. The 2021 Wimbledon finalist explained that he had known Sonego since childhood and that his grunt was not intentional despite the Spaniard’s initial claim that it was an extended grunt done on purpose.
“He does it all the time. I know him since we were kids.”
After winning the match, Nadal regretted his actions and apologized to Sonego while he spoke during his post-match interview.
