Ben Stiller Remembers Being Beat By A Kid While Playing Tennis With Rafael Nadal

Ben Stiller stops by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in New York City on Monday (February 22).

The 56-year-old actor and director promoted his new Apple TV+ series, Severance.

Ben also opened up about a funny story of when he was pulled from the crowd to play tennis with Rafael Nadal, and it turned into a doubles tournament.

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Ben recalled that it happened in 2013 as Rafael was playing Juan Martin del Potro when they stopped the match to recruit members of the crowd to join them. Juan chose a young girl.

“About halfway through the match, Nadal stops and he goes, ‘Wait, should we make it doubles?’” he shared. “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.”

Ben continued, “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. And I don’t have enough skill to hold it back because I’m just all or nothing.”

“So Nadal serves it, the eight-year-old-girl hits it back perfectly across, the crowd cheers! Comes to me? Boom, right into the net. Immediately, just like all of Madison Square Garden: ‘Uggghhhhhh.’”

He added, “Del Potro puts the girl on his shoulders and they’re cheering and she walks off. I didn’t make eye contact with Nadal, my wife, anybody.”