Nadal pays it forward

It's always a pleasure to read about Roger Federer, this year's recipient of the ATP Stephan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, doing some good deed now and then. It was therefore no surprise that an act of kindness by Federer has inspired another to repeat the gesture to another fellow tennis player.

Preparing to leave Indian Wells for Miami for a pre-tournament photo-shoot, world tennis number two Rafael Nadal offered Ana Ivanovic, his female counterpart on the WTA rankings, and her entourage a ride on the private jet which organizers chartered for him. He had learned that Ivanovic had difficulty getting a plane ticket to Miami and had been relegated to the waiting list of a commercial flight. There were apparently still some spare seats on the chartered private jet so after making sure it was alright with the organizers the Spaniard invited Ivanovic. Recounting the story in his blog, Nadal wrote, "I remember Roger gave me a ride from Montreal to Cincy last summer and I know how it feels to be stuck in a place when you want/have to leave to play the next tournament."

This indeed nicely echoes what Federer did for Nadal late last year when the latter was in a similar situation: After competing at the ATP Masters Series Tournament in Montreal, the latter couldn't get a plane to arrive in time to prepare for the next ATP Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. Federer then heard about Nadal's predicament and let Nadal hitch a ride on the private jet chartered for him.

One good turn really does deserve another although in this case the favor wasn't returned directly. But certainly Federer (as well as his fans) would recognize the compliment implied by Nadal's generosity toward Ivanovic.