Lifelong Real Madrid fan Rafael Nadal gifted special jersey of Mexican football club during South American exhibition tour

Spanish great Rafael Nadal is known to be an avid soccer fan and extends his support to Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid. It now seems that another club is trying to rope in the tennis legend on its roster of 'special fans.' Top-tier Mexican club Atlas FC recently gifted the Spaniard a custom-made jersey while he made a pitstop in Mexico during his South American exhibition tour.

Nadal and Casper Ruud recently visited six cities through a 10-day tour of Latin America where they played exhibition matches, the last stop of which was Mexico City. During one of his media interactions, the smiling Spaniard was seen holding an Atlas FC jersey with his last name imprinted on the back.

Atlas FC took to social media to post a picture of the 22-time Grand Slam champion holding their black and red jersey, cheekily suggesting that they have turned him into a faithful member of the football club.

"@RafaelNadal has it very clear... Red and Black is the color of the Champions. Welcome to the Faithful, Rafa!" Atlas FC wrote on Twitter.

The 14-time French Open champion's tryst with soccer dates back to his childhood days when he used to accompany his uncle and former FC Barcelona star Miguel Angel Nadal for his matches. However, he grew up supporting Real Madrid and has honorary membership at his boyhood club, gifted in light of his incredible achievements in tennis. He was even invited to take an honorary kick-off during Real Madrid's game against Espanyol back in April this year.

Rafael Nadal explains why he chose tennis over soccer as a youngster

Real Madrid CF v RCD Espanyol - La Liga Santander

Rafael Nadal was left in quite a conundrum as a kid, as he had to pick between his two favorite sports - soccer and tennis. The Spaniard was a highly active soccer player as a teenager and spent a lot of time playing soccer and tennis. However, he was once told by his mother to pick between the two sports, and she did not give him the option to skip school for both. When asked by a fan why he chose tennis during a Q&A session ahead of the US Open this year, the Spaniard revealed his reasons.

“Well, my mother said I could not keep doing football, tennis and school. She said, ‘pick two and school has to be one of them," the four-time US Open winner said.

He even attended Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League final against Liverpool in Paris this June, while he was in the midst of his French Open campaign. He went on to win his 14th Roland Garros title a few days later.

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