As world sport mourned the death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes on Thursday including former greats and even politicians, tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were not far behind in paying tribute to the late cricketer.
Ripples from the demise of Hughes, two days after he was knocked unconscious by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG, quickly spread across the planet and beyond cricket's boundaries as the game reeled from a rare death in competition.
The 25-year-old South Australian shot-maker collapsed on the field, despite wearing a batting helmet, after being struck by a bouncer from New South Wales paceman Sean Abbott, Sport24 reported.
Hughes underwent emergency surgery, but he never regained consciousness.
On a day where cricketers past and present paid tribute to Hughes, the impact of his passing also extended to other sports, with tennis stars Andy Murray and Nadal, regular visitors to Melbourne for the Australian Open, taking to Twitter to extend their condolences.
Murray tweeted that Hughes' death is so incredibly tragic, adding that his thoughts go out to the late cricketer's family and to Abbott in this very difficult time for them all.
Cricket has little following in Spain but Nadal, one of the country's greatest sportsmen, tweeted that he is shocked about the news of Hughes, adding that his thoughts are with the family and the cricket fans.
Meanwhile West Indies Cricket Board President Dave Cameron said that a minute's silence would be observed during all matches in the third round of the WICB Professional Cricket League as a mark of respect.
Earlier, play was called off on the second day of the third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah, with an image of a smiling Hughes adorning the electronic scoreboard in the empty stadium in the United Arab Emirates, where the 25-year-old recently played for Australia, the report added.
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