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It’s all eyes on the US Open for the next two weeks. Serena Williams won her first set Monday against Danka Kovinic, and there are plenty of celebrities in the stands enjoying the games. Rafael Nadal has his first set in the tournament Tuesday against Australian Rinky Hijikata. Ahead of his match, the Spaniard had dinner with Ben Affleck.
On Sunday, Nadal shared a photo on Instagram at the dinner table with his team and friends. “Fun dinner with my team and friends!” he wrote in the caption. “And… all good before the tournament starts.” They ate at Piccola Cucina Uptown, an Italian restaurant in Manhattan, with team members Marc López, Rafael Maymó and Carlos Costa, and more, per Diario AS.
Nadal, whose wife, Mery Perelló, is not in the US, as she is in her third trimester and was recently hospitalized for observation.
The actor and tennis professional have been friends for nearly a decade. It all goes back to when Nadal asked him to participate in an exhibition match with Juan Martín del Potro in 2013, where Stiller lost to an 8-year-old girl.
Earlier this year in February, Stiller recounted his embracing match with Jimmy Fallon on his show. “He pulls me out of the crowd, which is…a dream come true to be in Madison Square Garden and people start cheering, and also, it’s this nightmare that’s happening simultaneously. Because I realize I really don’t play tennis.”
“Immediately I just died inside because I knew there was no way to get out of this thing alive because if I hit a winner on the eight-year-old girl, everybody hates me.”