Reporter who was shamed by Rafael Nadal for falling ASLEEP during an Australian Open press conference offers a bizarre excuse
- A reporter fell asleep during a press conference at last year’s Australian Open
- Nadal joked that the reporter closed his eyes so he could focus on the interview
- Today in Melbourne the Italian journalist addressed the gaffe with reporters
- He admitted he was tired but maintained he only closed his eyes for a moment
- Nadal beat Nick Kyrgios in a four-set fourth-round thriller on Monday night
A reporter who went viral after falling asleep during a press conference at last year’s Australian Open has spoken out about the hilarious gaffe.
World No.1 Rafael Nadal jovially called out veteran tennis reporter Ubaldo Scanagatta, 70, during the post-match presser when he accidentally dozed off.
‘It’s not very interesting today,’ Nadal joked after noticing Scanagatta had closed his eyes.
‘I know you closed your eyes to be more focused on what I am saying.’
World No.1 Rafael Nadal jovially called out Veteran tennis reporter Ubaldo Scanagatta, 70, during the post-match presser when he accidentally dozed off
But a year on from the nap that made headlines, the Italian journalist said he was seated in a bad area in the press conference.
‘First of all I was sitting next to his (Nadal’s) PR media manager,’ Scanagatta told Channel Nine.
‘He’s always looking at him. If I was somewhere else he wouldn’t have seen me.’
Scanagatta admitted he was tired, but claimed he was simply resting his eyes when he was sprung by the Spaniard tennis star.
‘But I had closed my eyes actually, I wasn’t sleeping. Even if it was jet lag, the day before I thought I had a flight of 25 hours,’ he said.
‘It’s not very interesting today,’ Nadal quipped after noticing Scanagatta had closed his eyes
Italian veteran journalist Ubaldo Scanagatta (right), 70, said he was tired but maintained he only closed his eyes for a moment
‘So I was a little tired. Anyway, he saw me and say that.’
Nadal ended Nick Kyrgios’ gallant Australian Open campaign with an enthralling four-set, fourth-round victory at Melbourne Park on Monday night.
The so-called grudge match was instead played out in good spirits between the two feuding rivals, as Nadal prevailed 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) in a centre-court thriller.
The 33-year-old will take on fifth seed Dominic Thiem on Wednesday, in what will be a sequel to the past two French Open finals won by the Spaniard.
‘It was a very tough match. Since like in the beginning I was a little bit under control (but) against Nick you are never under control,’ Nadal said after denying Kyrgios by the exact same scoreline as he did last year at Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal ended Nick Kyrgios’ gallant Australian Open campaign with an enthralling four-set, fourth-round victory at Melbourne Park on Monday night