The King of Clay might be retired, but he's still making his presence known at the French Open.
When the action begins at Roland Garros this Monday, it will mark its first post-Rafael Nadal edition.
Nadal, who has a statue built in his honor at the famed venus in Paris, is the most decorated French Open champion in history, winning a staggering 14 titles with an otherworldly 112-4 record.
But when the tournament comes to a close Sunday, June 7, one of his rackets will likely make waves in the world of tennis memorabilia.
Prestige Memorabilia, which focuses solely in tennis, is auctioning off the most photo-matched Nadal racket to date.
Photo-matched to 24 different matches, Nadal used this Babolat racket in every one of his seven rounds of the 2017 French Open, his most dominant tournament run in history.
Additionally, Nadal used the racket across much of the early hard-court swing, including the Miami Open final against Roger Federer, as well as the entire clay season, including matches at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome before concluding in Paris.
Resolution Photomatching, which identified the matches, also made additional possible photo-matches to five of his Australian Open matches, including the legendary 2017 Australian Open final against Roger Federer.
Nadal's 2017 campaign is one of the most important of his career. After capturing a Grand Slam title every season from 2005 to 2014, a slew of minor injuries as well as a loss in form, plagued Nadal in 2015 and 2016. Though he did maintain his top 10 ranking, he did not appear in the final of a Slam in either of the two seasons.
With the addition of former world No. 1 Carlos Moya to his coaching staff in 2016, Nadal had a tremendously resurgent 2017, reaching three Grand Slam finals, winning the French Open and the U.S. Open.
The 2017 French Open marked his first Grand Slam title in three years, since winning the same event in 2014. And it was hugely important as it became known as "La Decima," marking his 10th title at Roland Garros.
The estimate for this racket is around $100,000, according to Prestige founder Matt Cashin.
The current record for a Nadal racket is $139,700 when Sotheby's sold one in February linked to 12 matches in 2022, including his improbable Australian Open final comeback against Daniil Medvedev. When Nadal captured his second title in Melbourne, he became the second man in history to circumnavigate the double career Grand Slam.
Prior to that sale, Prestige held the previous record for a Nadal racket, his 2007 French Open Final Babolat, which was Nadal's first match-used racket to ever appear at auction.
In this same auction, Prestige is also selling Nadal's jacket, which he wore during the trophy ceremony for his 2022 French Open victory, his 22nd and final Grand Slam title of his career.
Matt Liberman is a video producer and reporter for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.