Rafael Nadal
's championship point-winning racquet from his 2007 French Open final triumph over
Roger Federer
has fetched an impressive sum of over $118,000 at an auction on Monday. This sale places the item among the highest-priced pieces of tennis memorabilia ever auctioned.
Nadal beat Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the 2007 final in Paris to win his third Grand Slam title before the Spaniard moved on to secure a further 19 - 14 of them at
Roland Garros
- becoming one of the sport's greatest players.
The auctioned racquet had not only played a pivotal role in
Nadal
's historic French Open win but was also used in earlier matches of the tournament, including the semi-final against
Novak Djokovic
.
Sold for $118,206 at Prestige Memorabilia's online auction, The
Tennis Auction
, the racquet was previously part of the collection at the
Australian Tennis Museum
before its recent closure.
It became the third most valuable tennis racquet ever auctioned and follows Nadal's 2022 Australian Open racquet, which fetched $139,700, and Billie Jean King's 'Battle of the Sexes' racquet, which was sold for $125,000.
Nadal, unfortunately, missed the recent Australian Open due to a small muscle tear sustained during his comeback at the Brisbane International earlier in January.
Despite this setback, the 37-year-old tennis icon is gearing up for his return to the court in February, with plans to participate in the ATP 250 tournament in Doha.
(With Reuters inputs)
English (US) ·