Rafael Nadal leaks bombshell news of Matteo Berrettini pulling out of fourth round of Australian Open

Superstar Spaniard Rafael Nadal has long mesmerised the tennis world with his eccentric mannerisms behind the microphone, but the 20-time Grand Slam champion could be set to jump in front of the microphone in retirement.

The world No.2 played the role of newsbreaker in today's post-match conference after cruising to victory over Italian Fabio Fognini in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

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Nadal's press conference was held shortly before the night session, which had been set to see Greek No.6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas face Italian No.9 seed Matteo Berrettini.

That match was called off when Berrettini pulled out with an abdominal strain he had suffered in his third-round win over Karen Khachanov, handing Tsitsipas a walkover.

But that wasn't public knowledge when Nadal took a seat for his post-match press conference.

The chat with reporters began in typical fashion, but when Nadal was asked about his form in his straight-sets win against Fognini, he unwittingly dropped the Berrettini bombshell.

"I need to make another step forward against Tsitsipas," Nadal said, before stalling.

"Is it official? He'll play tonight ... Okay. Well, I don't know, maybe.

"I think I heard that Berrettini was a little bit injured but not official at all."

Nadal then let out a nervous laugh before continuing.

"Sorry for that ... but yeah, something ... well, I messed it up," Nadal said.

The official Australian Open Twitter account then broke the news of Tsitsipas' walkover seconds later.

But the officials had been beaten to the news by the most unlikely of newsbreakers, Rafael Nadal.