"He can win 52 French Opens but not work Instagram."
That quip from Andy Murray summed up the laughable complications Rafael Nadal faced as he tried to engineer a social media catch-up with the Scot and his great friend and rival Roger Federer on Tuesday morning.
Nadal can rip across-court forehand on the clay of Roland Garros like no one else but working Instagram, it seems, is much more difficult for the Spaniard than winning a grand slam in Paris.
As tennis stars across the globe stay in touch online because hitting together on the court is not an option during the age of coronavirus, Nadal thought he'd join the party. He answered some questions from fans but ran into trouble when big names came knocking at his virtual door.
Murray and Federer were waiting to chat with Nadal but the 33-year-old wasn't sure how to invite them in. "I'm not sure Rafa knows how to invite someone into a live chat," Murray commented. "We could be here a while."
Nadal said: "I hope you guys are enjoying the Instagram live. As you can see I am a disaster in everything. But I'm trying hard."
Nadal didn't know how to find Federer as the Swiss maestro and fellow pros such as Stanislav Wawrinka poked fun at the 19-time major winner.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finally managed to connect on Instagram. Photo / Supplied
Nadal thought he had Federer on the line, then lost him, before finally linking up as the pair lost it at their eventual success.
Nadal: "Finally!"
Federer: "Are we in? Did we make it? My God, I don't know if it was you or me. How are you doing?"
Nadal: "It's for sure, myself."
Federer: "Me too. I went in and out, then in and out, I don't know how many times but at the end we made it! My God … you should have chosen another guy."
Federer and Nadal discussed how they and their families are dealing with the lockdown, the Swiss spoke about how his rehab was going following knee surgery and the pair shared some laughs as talk turned to tennis.
Nadal said he hasn't picked up a racquet since practising at Indian Wells before the tournament was cancelled because of coronavirus. "Perfect! You won't be able to play tennis anymore when you come back," Federer laughed.
The 38-year-old then launched an investigation into why, if Nadal is actually right-handed, he plays tennis left-handed – which Federer said has caused him real problems over the years.
Nadal said he can write and play basketball with his right hand, but when it comes to tennis, his left hand is the only tool for him.
Federer then tapped out as Murray prepared to jump in.
"Take Andy because he's laughing at us and I know that Stan's also watching," Federer said. "Try to get Andy in because I know he's waiting too, it's going to take like 10 minutes."
The technical difficulties continued as Nadal had camera issues but he managed to connect with the two-time Wimbledon champion.
"This Instagram live thing, I am going crazy with this, man," Nadal said.
"It was very amusing watching you trying to speak to Roger," Murray replied.
Suggesting he wanted to be like Murray and become a father soon, the Scot said quarantine was the perfect time for Nadal to get a headstart. "Now's a good time because we're at home with the family all the time," he said.
Federer was out of the picture but still watching on and he couldn't resist a cheeky jab at Murray's appearance, which he implied was much nicer than his usual frazzled on-court look.
Nadal also chatted to countryman Marc Lopez and the doubles specialist was happy to take the mickey both out of his ratings and the airtime he received compared to Nadal's previous guests.
"There were 50k watching when you were talking to Federer, now there are 29k (with me)," Lopez said.
Later, he added: "Are you cutting me already? This was my moment of glory."
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been on-court rivals for over a decade. Photo / Getty Images
Nadal's technological troubles stole the show in the entire affair. An article on the ATP website said: "Rafael Nadal has overcome plenty of opponents in his legendary ATP Tour career, but he faced perhaps his toughest one on Monday: technology."
