A Uni Watch Look at Rafael Nadal

Good Thursday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a good Wednesday!

Although I no longer play, I’ve been a tennis fan for most of my life (for years I thought Brinke Guthrie and I were the only two tennis fans on the site), and you’ll recall for years I teamed with Brinke to bring you previews of the gear to be worn by the players for the year’s four major tourneys (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open); I think we sprinkled in some Olympic Tennis coverage as well. But it always seemed those columns weren’t particularly popular, so when Brinke “retired” from Uni Watch last year, I dropped those columns.

But longtime reader and friend of the site Judy Adams (who you may recall recently penned an absolutely awesome think piece on buying merch for teams other than your own) has written a piece I’m going to share with you today on one of the all-time greats, Rafael Nadal, and his many varied tennis stylings over the years. It’s a fantastic deep dive into a player who may be retiring from the game following the 2024 Olympics. This definitely isn’t your Brinke “here’s a bunch of IG and X tweets on what Caroline Wozniacki is wearing” piece. It’s the sort of thing Uni Watch really does best. Even if you’re not a tennis fan, Judy delves deeply into Nadal’s quirks and signature looks (like his penchant for biting trophies and placing his water bottles just so), and I think you’re really going to enjoy this.

So sit back and enjoy while we bring you…

• • • • •A Uni Watch look at Rafa Nadal
by Judy Adams

I’ll admit I was never much of a fan of Rafael Nadal. I always preferred the understated elegance and grace of Roger Federer’s game to the fist-pumping, leg-kicking power of Nadal’s. But as one of the “Big 3” of men’s tennis and the undisputed greatest clay court player of all time, I respect the guy. His record of 14 titles at the French Open is on par with Wilt’s 100-point game, Michael Phelps’s 28 Olympic medals, Cal Ripken’s 2,632 consecutive games and other seemingly unbreakable records by male athletes. So ahead of the 2024 Olympics, which will no doubt be Rafa’s final appearance at an Olympic games and quite possibly his farewell appearance, let’s take a look at some of Rafa’s memorable outfits over the years.

• Rafael Nadal Parera from Mallorca, Spain turned pro in 2001 at age 14. In September of that year, the 15-year old Nadal earned his first ATP ranking points at a Challenger event in Seville wearing a baggy two-toned green/blue t-shirt with sleeves that reached past his elbows.

On September 24, 2001, 15-year old Rafael Nadal made his debut in the ATP rankings at #1002.

• Nadal played his first main draw at a Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in 2003. He of course wore white, as required on the courts of the AELTC: a collared polo shirt and baggy shorts. Later that summer, Nadal made his first appearance at the US Open, again virtually swimming in his oversized polo shirt.

Nike, with their trademark swoosh clearly visible on his shirt and his head- and wristband, has outfitted Nadal throughout his career.

• On March 28, 2004 at the Miami Open, reigning #1 Roger Federer played Rafael Nadal for the first time. Aside from being the beginning one of the greatest rivalries-turned-friendships in all of sports, the event had great sartorial implications for Rafa Nadal. It marked one of Nadal’s first appearances in a sleeveless t-shirt.

He still wore baggy shorts at the time, but we’re getting closer to the look that Nadal made famous.

• “Capris.” “Man-pris.” “Piratas.” Call them whatever you want, the below-the-knee pants made their first appearance at a Grand Slam at the 2005 Australian Open. Along with the headband, the sleeveless muscle shirt, and the fist pump, Rafael Nadal’s early career-defining pirate look was now complete. Considering how iconic this look was for Rafa, it comes as a surprise that Nike originally offered the kit to Roger Federer.

Nadal’s trademark look comes together at the 2005 Australian Open.

Federer rocking the pirate look just doesn’t work.

• In May 2005, Nadal scored a 4-set win over Chilean Mariano Puerta in the final of the French Open to notch his first Grand Slam title. Although nobody doubted he was good on clay courts, we could never have imagined how utterly dominant he would be on the terre battue. In addition to leaving his mark on tennis fashion, this marked the beginning of Rafa’s tradition of biting – rather than kissing – the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

Vintage Nadal leg kick and fist pump en route to his first Grand Slam title.

Nadal confessed years later that he wished he’d never started biting trophies because they taste pretty bad.

• Just weeks after his triumph in Paris, Rafa sported a rare quarter-zip version of the sleeveless shirt at The Championships in SW19.

The sleeveless quarter-zip makes for an unusual look.

• Rafa continued to rock the pirate look from 2005 through 2008. In August 2008, he took the singles title at the Beijing Olympics wearing his country’s colors.

Representing Spain on his way to the gold medal in men’s singles.

As had become his custom, Nadal bit the gold medal.

• The 2008 US Open was the last time Nadal sported the pirate look at a Grand Slam event.

Rafa was ready for a change after the 2008 US Open.

• The 2009 season kicked off in Doha, Qatar. Rafa, who ascended to the #1 spot in August 2008, had discarded the sleeveless shirts and piratas and returned to a more traditional polo shirt and Bermuda shorts kit.

A simple polo shirt and shorts.

Rafa was beaten in the Doha quarterfinals by Frenchman Gael Monfils who, ironically, was rocking a sleeveless muscle shirt.

• 2010 was arguably the best year of Nadal’s career. Although he was forced to retire due to injury in his Australian Open quarterfinal match against Andy Murray, he more than made up for it over the course of the season. He reached the semifinals on the hard courts at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open (the so-called “Sunshine Double”). He swept the European clay courts, winning Masters events in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid, dropping only 2 sets over the course of 15 matches. He won the French Open without dropping a set, defeating Robin Soderling of Sweden, who up to that point had been the only person to beat Rafa at Roland Garros. He beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic for his second Wimbledon title. 2010 was also a huge year for him from a fashion standpoint, as he experimented with a variety of looks throughout the spring and summer.

Australian Open in orange and pink, two colors that have remained part of Nadal’s wardrobe since 2010.

Brown diamond-patterned shorts in Indian Wells.

Miami Open. Note the plain white inseam on his shorts.

Rafa wore this blue combo – again with the plain inseam on his shorts – throughout the 2010 clay court season.

He ditched the patterned shorts but made up for it with a block patterned shirt at the French Open.

Nadal snuck a little color – orange, of course – into his Wimbledon whites. The v-neck is similar to the collars of Nike’s NFL jerseys around the same time.

• Nadal capped off the 2010 season by winning the US Open for the first time. Having previously won Slams in Australia, Paris, and London, as well as Olympic gold in Beijing, with his title in New York Nadal joined Andre Agassi as the only two men who have ever won the career “Golden Slam.”

Nadal’s all-black “Darth Nadal” look first seen at the 2010 US Open has become somewhat of a tradition for him in New York, especially for night matches.

• 2011: Nike’s Dri-Fit shirts look neither dry nor particularly fit on Nadal during the 2011 season.

Nike’s problems with see-through pants started long before the 2024 MLB season.

• Nadal had one of the sport’s most memorable uniform-related moments at the Rio Open in February 2015. During his quarterfinal match against Pablo Cuevas, Nadal noticed his shorts were on backwards after her returned from the locker room during a break between sets. He asked chair umpire Carlos Bernardes if he could return to the locker room to fix the problem. Bernardes told him that, in keeping with the rules, Nadal would incur a time violation. So during the next changeover, Nadal wrapped a towel around his waist and adjusted his shorts. This was not Nadal’s first beef with Bernardes and for years after this incident, Nadal requested that Bernardes not sit in the chair during his matches. Seems to me if you can’t put your shorts on properly during a 5-minute comfort break, you really shouldn’t blame the chair umpire.

Nadal returns from the locker room with no shirt and his shorts on backwards.

• Nadal won his second gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, this time in doubles with compatriot Marc Lopez.

Interesting to see that Nadal and Lopez, both outfitted by Nike, wore different shirts despite representing the same team.

• The muscle shirts made their return at the 2018 Australian Open, this time with short shorts rather than capri-length piratas.

Nadal again rocking pink and a return to the sleeveless muscle shirts at the 2018 Australian Open.

• Nadal’s kit has remained largely the same over the past 6 years: a smattering of muscle shirts, all black for night matches but otherwise favoring bright colors: pink, yellow, orange, and purple. The combination of age, injuries, and the pandemic has slowed him down. He pulled out of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2021, marking the first time since 2004 that he missed 2 Slams in a calendar year. As he has throughout his career, Rafa defied all odds and came back from what appeared to be career-ending injuries to win the Australian and French Opens in 2022, and his run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon had fans truly believing Nadal was on his way to a calendar-year Grand Slam, which hasn’t happened in singles since Steffi Graf did it back in 1988. But he pulled out of his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios and has been largely absent from the tour since then. Barring some kind of miracle, the 2022 French Open – his 14th title at Roland Garros and 22nd Grand Slam title overall – will be the last time we see Rafael Nadal Parera bite down on a championship trophy.

Nadal’s final trophy bite?

• No retrospective of Nadal’s evolving on-court look would be complete without mentioning his logo and his obsessive-compulsive disorder – his superstitions and rituals that help him focus.

Nadal’s personal logo made its debut at a Grand Slam event in 2007 fittingly at the French Open, where he was the 2-time defending champ. The original version of the logo – the stylized head of a bull, a reference to his nickname, “Raging Bull” – looks like something you’d find in a gift shop in Taos or Sedona. By the Australian Open in early 2008, the logo had been revised to its current version.

The original bull logo on the outer heel with “RAFA” on the back of his shoes.

Nadal’s revised logo can be seen on the back of his left shoe at the 2008 Australian Open.

A better look at Nadal’s personal logo on his hat and shirt – both orange, of course.

Nadal has several rituals that he adheres to, which he believes help with his focus and concentration: his socks must be adjusted to exactly the same height, his water bottles must be perfectly aligned and face the same direction, he steps over lines (not on them!) with his right foot first, and so on. But his most famous ritual is his pre-serve ritual: tug on pants, right shoulder, left shoulder, right nose, right ear, left nose, left ear, adjust headband, wipe brow. Over and over again, before each serve. Early in his career, Nadal had elements of the pre-serve ritual, but it didn’t start to come together until sometime in the summer of 2009, as seen in his match against Monfils at the US Open.

Nadal’s full ritual on display in what was likely his final French Open match:

• • • • •Thanks, Judy! What a fantastic retrospective. Great stuff.

Readers, please give Judy a virtual “Standing O” in the comments and of course, feel free to share your thoughts on the gear, career and quirks of Rafa Nadal.