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King of Clay Rafael Nadal, who is regarded as one of the best tennis player of all time, has amassed a net worth of of $200 million dollars over the years. The Spanish professional tennis player has won countless tournaments throughout his entire career. He is known as the King of Clay because he currently holds the record of the highest consecutive wins on a single surface with eighty two victories in total. Nadal’s net worth was earned through his salaries and career earnings. He is regarded by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as the 2nd greatest player in the world in the men’s single division.
Rafa has won at least one Grand Slam annually in the last ten years without missing a single year. Throughout his career, he has won several awards which include five ATP Player of the Year awards and Sportsmanship Award. He was regarded as the ITF World Champion four times and has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year once.
Early Life
He is born as Rafael Nadal on June 3, 1986 in Mallorca Spain. Nadal’s father is a businessman who owns several companies while his uncle used to be a professional footballer. He is the son of entrepreneur Sebastián and wife Ana María Parera. He has one sibling, Maria Isabel, who is a little younger than him. When he was around three years old, he had already experienced victory as he won at the regional tennis tournament for those who are under-12 players.
It was his uncle who saw the athletic potential of Nadal in tennis when he was still young and then encouraged him to start learning how to play the game. When he reached the age of eight, he was already winning different tournaments for players who are under twelve years old. During this time, he was also showing potential as a footballer, however his father asked him to choose only one sport to pursue as it would be counterproductive to master two sports at the same time and he needs to still have a time for his schoolwork. Nadal decided to choose tennis as he enjoys the sports more.
As he was competing for different tournaments as a child, he was spotted by the Spanish tennis federation and wanted to relocate him to Barcelona in order to further train him with the funding from the government. However his family refused to let him leave Mallorca and his father just decided to personally fund his training costs instead as he continues to develop his skills while at home. When Nadal turned 15 years old, he was able to defeat a retired professional, Pat Clash, in an exhibition match. This has begun Nadal’s career, with early victories coming one by one and he became the ninth player in the history to win the ATP match at the age of 15. The next year he was able to reach the semi-finals at the Boys' Singles tournament held at Wimbledon.
Budding Career As A Professional Tennis Player
When he turned seventeen, he was already ranked as the 79th best player in the world and continued building a successful career at an early age. At a very young age, he has already participated in different tournaments and even won his very first ATP title on doubles event held in Croatia. The following year, he then participated in the Prokon Open where he won his first ATP title for singles event. He then played against Federer for the very first time where he emerged as the victor and had his first ever win in a singles event during the Davis Cup.
The next few years, Nadal and Federer has continued their rivalry and he has won more Grand Slam Titles that he did. However in 2005, Nadal only won seventy nine matches while Federer was up by two with eighty one matches won. During this time, Nadal was able to establish himself being dominant on the clay courts and eventually beating Federer in the French Open, where he became the first player to claim victory against Federer in the Grand Slam finals. At the end of 2005, he was named as the second-ranked player in the world.
Becoming One Of The Highest Paid Players Of All Time
With his skills and talent as a professional tennis player, he was able to make and earn money on his own not relying on the business of his dad. Nadal has been bringing in millions of dollars annually with his winnings and from various brand endorsements. At an early age of 15 years old, he was able to bring home about $120 million in tournament prize money. He was able to take home about $21 million from his endorsements alone in 2016 and was even named one of the highest-paid celebrities in the world. That year, he was able to take home around $40 million from his endorsements and tournament winnings. In 2018, he actually earned about $41 million from his his endorsements and tournament winnings as well. The following years, he has estimated to have earned around the same amount on 2019 and 2020.
Sources: Wealthy Gorilla, Give Me Sport, Just Richest, Celebrity Net Worth