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Rafael Nadal is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of our generation, winning 16 career Grand Slams in his career. 10 of those Grand Slams have come at the French Open played on his favorite surface, the red clay. Highly regarded as the “King of Clay” Nadal has shown his dominance on the clay this season by rising to #1 on the ATP Tour. He is an incredible 24-1 in matches on clay this season and is 28-2 overall this season. At the age of 32, Nadal has established himself as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, but how much is this tennis legend really worth?
Rafael Nadal’s Net Worth As Of 2018: $32.4 Million
How has Nadal’s tennis career increased his net worth? Let’s look into his numbers
2002-2008
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At the age of 15, Nadal had decided that it was time to turn professional. Ranked #762, Nadal won his first match on the ATP Tour against Ramon Delgado becoming the ninth player in Open era history to win an ATP Tour-level match before the age of 16. In 2003, he was able to win two Challenger level events and was able to crack the top 50 in the world. He also became the youngest man since Boris Becker in 1984 to reach the third round of Wimbledon. In 2004 during the first major of the year, the Australian Open, Nadal also reached the third round and lost to Lleyton Hewitt a top-ranked Australian player. He then met one of his biggest rivals, Roger Federer, for the first time at the Miami Masters defeating Federer in straight sets. However, he was forced to miss the rest of the season shortly after that event because of a stress fracture in his left ankle. He went on to finish that year ranked 51st despite the long time away from injury.
2005 was the breakthrough year for Nadal as he was able to capture his first Grand Slam title at the age of 19. He dominated the clay court season with a 24 match winning streak and then went on to win the French Open in his first-ever appearance at Roland Garros. After winning the French Open Nadal was the #3 ranked tennis player in the world. He then went on to lose in the second round of Wimbledon and the third round of the U.S. Open. However, he did with the ATP’s Most Improved Player Award that year. In 2006, Nadal went on another 24 match winning streak during the clay court season and captured his second French Open title by defeating Federer in four sets. He also reached his first Wimbledon final but was defeated by Federer in four sets. In 2007, Nadal claimed his third French Open title defeating Roger Federer in the final again. However, Nadal was again defeated by Federer in the final of Wimbledon. In 2008, Nadal yet again went on to win his fourth straight French Open at the expense of Federer for a third straight year. At Wimbledon, Nadal was able to overcome the dominance of the Federer reigned over the grass courts and Nadal won his first Wimbledon title in what some have called the greatest tennis match ever played. A few months later, Nadal had finally climbed to the #1 ranking in the world, overtaking Federer who had held that spot for four and a half years. He also went on to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Bejing that year. He would finish that season ranked #1 in the world.
2009-2014
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To start the year off in Austrailia, Nadal was able to claim his first hard-court title by defeating Federer in five sets. However, the “King of Clay” took a shocking defeat in the fourth round of the French Open losing to Robin Soderling. This was Nadal’s first loss of his career at Roland Garros. Dealing with knee tendinitis, Nadal decided to sit out Wimbledon and Federer went on to win the title once again reclaiming his crown as champion of the grass and the #1 ranked player in the world. He returned later that summer for the hard-court season and lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Open to eventual champion Juan Martin Del Potro. He finished this year ranked #2 for the fourth time in his career. In 2010, Nadal reclaim his place as champion of the French Open defeating Robin Soderling. He dominated this French Open unlike the rest as he did not lose a set en route to the title. He then went on to win Wimbledon earning himself his eighth career Grand Slam before the age of 25. At the U.S. Open Nadal completed the career Grand Slam by winning his first title there defeating Novak Djokovic. His victory at the U.S. Open had secured the #1 ranking for the rest of the year.
In 2011, Nadal continued his dominance on the clay as he was able to capture his sixth French Open title by defeating Federer in the final. This also helped him keep the #1 ranking through the clay court season until eventually losing the #1 ranking to Novak Djokovic after losing to him in the final of Wimbledon. He then lost again to Djokovic in another Grand Slam final this time at the U.S. Open. In 2012, Nadal went on to secure another French Open title, the seventh of his career. He passed Bjorn Borg for having the most career French However, he was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by Lukas Rosol. He then had to withdraw from the 2012 Olympics and the U.S. Open because of knee tendinitis, which ultimately shut down the rest of his season. He finished ranked #4 in the world that year.
In 2013, Nadal went on to claim his eighth French Open title defeating fellow countryman, David Ferrer, in the final. When he arrived at Wimbledon he felt like he had a pretty good chance to compete for another title. However, it was not meant to be as the #135 ranked player in the world, Steve Darcis, handed Nadal his first-ever loss in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Nadal came back with revenge on his mind for the hard-court season as he went on to secure his second U.S. Open title. Yet again, he went on to finish the season as the #1 ranked player in the world. In 2014, Nadal went on to win another French Open title, the ninth of his career. After that victory, Nadal’s season took a turn for the worse as he was dealing with many different injuries, which caused him to miss most of the season.
2015-2017
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The year of 2015 was a season of struggle for Nadal as he was bounced earlier than usual from many tournaments. He was defeated in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Tomas Berdych in straight sets. In the French Open, he was defeated by Djokovic in the quarterfinals earning him his first loss at Roland Garros since 2009. At Wimbledon, he was knocked out in the second round against unranked Dustin Brown of Germany. At the U.S. Open, he was knocked out by Italian, Fabio Fognini, despite Nadal winning the first two sets. This concluded a disappointing season for Nadal as it snapped his 10-year streak of winning at least one Grand Slam. In 2016, injuries derailed the season of Nadal as he had to withdraw from the French Open before his fourth-round match due to a wrist injury. The same injury forced Nadal to miss Wimbledon as well. However, Nadal was able to compete in Rio for the Summer Olympics and came away with a gold medal in doubles with long-time partner and friend Marc Lopez. At the U.S. Open, Nadal failed to reach the quarterfinals as he was knocked out in five sets by Lucas Pouille. This was the first year since 2004 that Nadal had failed to at least qualify for one quarterfinal at a Grand Slam event.
In 2017, Nadal returned to better form and made it to the Australian Open final to start his season. However, he was defeated by Federer in a five-set match. Nadal turned back the clock for the clay court season and went on to win his tenth French Open title, his first since 2014. Nadal lost a tough five-setter (15-13) to Giles Muller in the round of 16 at Wimbledon that year. Heading into the U.S. Open, Nadal had reclaimed the #1 ranking in the world from Andy Murray. He then went on to win his third U.S. Open title against Kevin Anderson in the final. He finished the season as the #1 ranked player in the world becoming the oldest player to ever hold the #1 spot at the end of a season.
Present
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Nadal is off to a pretty good start this season. Even though he lost in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open, Nadal has looked dominant as ever on the clay. He is 24-1 this season on the clay and has won three titles already. Nadal is looking to add another French Open title to the trophy shelf as he will be looking to get past the tough and gritty Juan Martin Del Potro. Nadal’s net worth is broken down into two categories, which helps make him the second highest paid tennis player today. $7.4 million dollars of his $32.4 million come from the prize money he earns from playing tennis. He has earned the second most money from playing tennis only behind Federer. He receives $25 million from sponsorships and endorsement deals. If Nadal continues to dominate and play the way he has been playing he may be able to catch Federer in the race for most career Grand Slams. That could potentially set up Nadal to not only be considered the greatest clay court tennis player ever but also maybe just the greatest player to ever play the game.