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Arthur Rinderknech has been making the most of his time in Madrid, heading to the Bernabeu to see Real Madrid in action before turning his attention to this week's Masters 1000 event. The French star has shot up the rankings over the past year, thanks mostly to some big wins at Grand Slam tournaments and a run to the Shanghai Masters final.

Seeded 22nd at the Madrid Open, Rinderknech got a bye and didn't play his opening match until Friday, so he took the opportunity to watch Real Madrid's 2-1 victory over Alaves earlier this week, and met up with countryman Kylian Mbappe. And Rinderknech had a very unusual choice of attire for the La Liga game, rocking up in a Stade Rennais shirt. The world No. 26 and his team posed for pictures with Mbappe after the game, proudly wearing the red and black.

"@staderennaisfc is everywhere. Great moment and great meeting for the Team at the Bernabéu Stadium! Hopefully next year in LDC. Big THANKS to @k.mbappe for the invitations and vamos for the CDM," Rinderknech wrote on Instagram.

But he received the seal of approval from Mbappe himself, and the Frenchman's pre-tournament trip to the Bernabeu gave him a boost for the Madrid Open, as he handily beat qualifier Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-2 in his opening match.

"I love soccer since a really young age, so it's always great for me to go and watch another sport, especially this one. I really, really enjoy," Rinderknech said after booking his spot in round three.

"And yeah, it was nice to meet also Mbappe, who is a star here and pretty much in France and everywhere in the world. So yeah, it was a good moment before the tournament started."

Although Mbappe invited Rinderknech to the game, the French ace revealed that he had never met the Real Madrid forward until this week. "[I know him] through a friend. I mean, I didn't know him, but through a friend. Now we got to meet him," he said.

Neither Mbappe nor the Madridistas were bothered about Rinderknech's decision to wear a shirt from a Ligue 1 side either, and the 30-year-old is now hoping to land a special sponsorship deal for his tennis kit.

"The Rennes shirt? He laughed a little bit about it, but he said it's a nice, great club," Rinderknech added. "It was fine. It wasn't a rival shirt, it was a totally different one, so it was okay. It was just for the fun of it. But of course, I was supporting Madrid and Mbappe to win."

Rinderknech has been vocal in his hopes of rocking the Rennes logo on the tennis court, and gave a positive update on his quest to after beating Lajovic. "We are on it," he smiled.

The No. 22 seed in Madrid will now face either Andrey Rublev or Vit Kopriva for a place in the last 16. And who knows? By the time he reaches his home tournament, the French Open, next month, he could be proudly representing Rennes.

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