Rafa Rewind: All the quokkas, koalas and cute animal selfies essential to the Nadal fan’s collection

Cheer up, Rafael Nadal fans!

The 37-year-old broke hearts when he announced that he won’t be competing at the upcoming Australian Open due to a flare-up of his hip flexor injury—the same injury that kept him sidelined for almost all of 2023—but not all is lost.

As Nadal sets his sights on recovering and preparing for his next major challenge at Roland Garros, the Spaniard’s loyal fans can set their sights on something a bit more cheerful: adorable animal selfies.

From koalas and quokkas to Australia’s slightly less cuddly wildlife, this throwback compilation of Nadal’s adorable animal encounters Down Under should take the sting out of a Rafa-less Melbourne fortnight.

Australia is world renowned for its unique fauna, like kangaroos and crocodiles. But in Brisbane, the classic Aussie animal meet-and-greet involves none other than the koala—an adorable marsupial native to the country.

When Nadal made his debut at the Brisbane International back in 2017, he was welcomed with a warm hug from Dian the Koala:

But if there’s one Aussie animal that gives koalas a run for their money in terms of cuteness, it’s the playful quokka.

In fact, the “quokka selfie” has been an Instagram trend in Australia for a while—there are dozens of tutorials on how to snap the perfect shot—and in 2020, Nadal kicked off the season by taking one of his own:

“Perfect way to start 2020 with good friends!😜” he wrote on social media during a visit to Rottnest Island ahead of the ATP Cup in Perth.

It may not have been as graceful as Roger Federer’s quokka selfie—but that just made it even more hilarious.

From dogs to wildlife, Nadal’s fear of animals is well known and well-documented—but that hasn’t stopped the Spaniard from snapping a few more adorable animal encounters in Australia over the years. (All at a safe distance, of course.)

In 2011, he paid a visit to the Melbourne Zoo with physio Rafael Maymo to visit the penguin nursery. And in 2018, he also stopped by the Werribee Open Range Zoo in Victoria to meet the Southern White Rhino and learn about their threatened population.