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22- time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has been out of competitive action after a brief run at the Brisbane International in December last year. The Spainard however has been in news after his c hampionship point-winning racquet from 2007 French Open got more than USD 118,000 at an auction on Monday, January 29.
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Nadal won the 2007 French Open with a scoreline 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Roger Federer in Paris claiming his third Grand Slam title. The auction, which took place at the Prestige Memorabilia’s online auction, saw the racquet get USD 118,206. With this it became among the highest priced such memorabilia.
Moreover, with this racquet, the 37-year-old also beat the current 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. This bid is now the third most valuable tennis racquet till date after Nadal’s 2022 Australian Open racquet was auctioned for USD 139,700 and Billie Jean King’s ‘Battle of the Sexes’ racquet getting USD 125,000.
While the Spainard missed the Australian Open 2024 with a muscle injury, he is likely to return on court in February during the ATP 250 tournament in Doha. The 37-year-old has been named in the entry list at the Qatar Open, which is scheduled to be played from February 19 to 24, alongside Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray.
