By DPA
Hamburg : Rafael Nadal asked Roger Federer for his autographed shirt, in a gesture more typical of football than tennis, after losing to the world number one in the final of the Hamburg Masters Series.
"Roger signed it in the changing rooms. Both were very happy," a source close to the Spanish player told DPA.
The gesture of asking for a shirt as a souvenir is not very common in tennis, but Nadal and Federer – who as children both dreamed of playing football professionally – are comfortable with the ways of the most popular sport in the world, where exchanging shirts at the end of a game is a frequent habit.
Nadal lost to Federer in Hamburg Sunday, to end a record-breaking series of 81 consecutive victories. The Spaniard travelled to Barcelona Monday for a publicity session alongside Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho and Spanish NBA player Pau Gasol.