'Adopted son' Rafael Nadal gets street named after him in Mallorca's Sant Llorenc for his 2018 flood relief efforts

Rafael Nadal was one of the biggest helping hands when torrential rain and flash flooding wreaked havoc in his hometown of Mallorca in October 2018. Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, the area most affected, has now decided to honor the tennis player by renaming a street after him.

With the water reaching a level of two meters, the deadly floods resulted in the death of 13 people. It also destroyed numerous cars, covered the streets in mud, and knocked down trees, resulting in hundreds fleeing the town.

The following day, Nadal put on waterproof boots and joined numerous other volunteers to start sweeping away the dirt.

Apart from donating €1 million through his foundation, the 22-time Grand Slam champion offered shelter to people at the Rafa Nadal Academy. In October 2021, he was named the 'adopted son' of Sant Llorenc.

On Thursday, March 16, 2023, the Mallorcan municipality announced that the old Genova street will be renamed 'Catalan Rafel Nadal'.

When the former World No. 1 was given the title 'adopted son' a couple of years ago, he expressed gratitude and remarked that he tried to help without expecting anything in return.

"I am very grateful for the recognition," he said. "It can be said that Sant Llorenc is like my second town. I have a lot of family here. The only thing I did was what I felt in that moment. I tried to contribute what I could, so that the recovery was as fast as possible, as many other people did. I did it without expecting recognition in return."

Also, the Manacor City Council recently revealed that the Spaniard had approved a sketch of his statue, which will be installed at the Placa del Palau (Palace Square) in Manacor. The statue was announced after the player lifted his 14th Roland Garros title at the 2022 French Open in June.

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Rafael Nadal set to return at Monte Carlo Masters

A practice session during the 2023 Australian Open

After picking up a hip injury at the 2023 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Sunshine Double — the Indian Wells and the Miami Open. With a couple of videos of him practicing on clay being released recently, it was announced that the Spaniard is eyeing the Monte Carlo Masters for his return. It's a tournament where he has won a record 11 times.

Tournament director David Massey said that the Mallorcan was the first player to be registered.

"Rafa was the first [player] to be registered. He really wants to play at the Monte Carlo Masters and is giving himself every chance to take part in the tournament he's so fond of."

The event is scheduled to be played from April 9-16.The presence of Nadal would surely be a huge boost for the tournament.