In Nadal's words, Messi is 'speechless'

The list of nominees for the Laureus Male Sportsman of the Year Award was released yesterday. Lionel Messi and Rafael Nadal are among the six contenders. There is no questioning the Spanish legend's penchant for 'fair play'.

Nadal has recently created a new example of this. The Laureus men's sportsman of the year award feels Messi deserves the legend who has jointly won a record 22 Grand Slams in boys' tennis.

Nadal is a fan of Real Madrid. He also wants to become the president of his beloved club in the future. Messi has established himself as a legend in Real's arch-rival club Barcelona. Nadal also has a good relationship with his arch-rival in La Liga and former Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo while at Barca.

In all this, Nadal was not supposed to be a fan of Messi. But everything started to change after the World Cup in Qatar. After Argentina's loss in their first match to Saudi Arabia, Nadal said, "Argentina still deserves to win the World Cup." He also said about Messi, "Messi has taken away a lot from his beloved Real over the years.

But as a sports lover, a special player like him has to be appreciated. Messi has given us a lot of special moments in sports. Nadal spoke about Messi even after Argentina beat France in the World Cup final. "I'm happy for Messi to win the World Cup... I like the way Messi won the cup, the way they were welcomed in the country," he told Spanish media AS.

That Messi is Nadal's rival in the race to win the Laureus Male Sportsman of the Year award. But 36-year-old Nadal sees him as a rival! Ulto posted on his Instagram account story, "Lionel Messi is moving forward." You deserve it (Male Athlete of the Year).'
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The Laureus award is given based on the previous year's performance. Messi won the World Cup last year. And Nadal has won two Grand Slams—the French Open and the Australian Open. Nadal has won the Laureus Male Athlete of the Year award twice before. Messi won once.

After receiving the nomination, Nadal's praise has reached Messi's ears as well. Messi returned the compliment as a legend to another legend. The PSG star wrote on his Instagram story, 'Such words from a great athlete like you leave me speechless... Thank you Rafael Nadal. You deserve to win everything the way you fight on the court. You are a winner. We still have a lot to give, don't we?'

The other four nominees for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award are Stephen Curry (basketball), Kylian Mbappe (football), Armand Duplantis (athletics) and Max Vesterpen (Formula One).