October 10, 2024 Today at 6:37 PM
Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal has announced his retirement at the age of 38. After the Davis Cup in November he says goodbye to professional tennis.
He adjusts his tennis shorts, pulls his shirt up a bit on both shoulders, drapes his locks behind his ears and wipes the sweat from his nose and cheeks with a wristband. That ritual, with which Rafael Nadal started every point on the tennis court for 23 years, will soon be a thing of the past, as the 38-year-old Spaniard has announced that he will hang up his racket in November.
Nadal, nicknamed Rafa, was born on the Spanish island of Mallorca as the son of an entrepreneur and housewife, but his uncles pushed him into the sports world. While uncle Miguel Angel briefly played for the Spanish football team, uncle Toni caught the tennis bug. He put a racket in the hands of three-year-old Nadal and later became his coach.
As a 15-year-old, Nadal made his professional debut. During his career he was number one in the world for 209 weeks and his tennis record was impressive. The ‘king of clay’ won 22 Grand Slam titles and won Roland Garros 14 times, a record that still stands in his name today. But it’s time to stop. He made the ‘difficult decision’ to do so after the Davis Cup in November.
Golden generation
The left-handed Nadal was a member of a golden generation. For example, Roger Federer had already reached number one in the world when 17-year-old Nadal first faced him in 2004. With success, Nadal defeated Federer in straight sets. The rivalry between the two was intense on the field, but they also developed a bromance. The image of their last match, during the Laver Cup in London in 2022, says it all: side by side on a bench, they shed tears.
Nadal also fought several duels with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian enfant terrible has even managed to pass Nadal in the rankings and now has 24 Grand Slam titles to his name. Nadal won his last grand slam in 2022 against Casper Ruud, a former student of his own tennis academy.
Although Nadal won several prizes, the ever modest player struggled with all kinds of injuries throughout his career. Nadal’s knee injury reportedly even led to his wedding to María Francisca Perelló being postponed. Together with ‘his perfect traveling companion’ he has a two-year-old son, Rafael.
135 million
prize money
Nadal played tennis and collected around $135 million in prize money during his 23-year career.
Prize pot
Nadal played tennis and collected around $135 million in prize money during his 23-year career. Only Djokovic earned more, around 185 million. But Nadal is on the decline in terms of sport and the finances also prove this. In the twelve months to August he won just $300,000 on the square. In the same period he earned $23 million through sponsorship deals.
Since the very beginning, Nadal has been an ambassador for the car manufacturer Kia and the matador recently signed a new deal with the Indian IT giant Infosys. The Spaniard also buys food and drinks from the Subway sandwich chain and the Heineken drinks group. Together with Federer, Nadal is also a face of the luxury brand Louis Vuitton. But the best-known and perhaps most lucrative collaboration is with the sports brand Nike, which pays him more than 10 million dollars a year. Nadal was criticized by fans for his role as ambassador for the Saudi tennis federation. For this he would receive a 7-figure sum.
A tennis academy, a museum and a gym in Nadal’s hometown of Manacor also bear his name. All in all, his net worth is estimated at $225 million.
