Overview

• The racket sold on June 8 at a Prestige Memorabilia auction for $157,333.20 including buyer’s premium, marking the highest price ever paid for a tennis racket.
• It surpassed the previous auction record of $139,700 set by Nadal’s 2022 Australian Open racket at Sotheby’s in 2023.
• Organizers used high-resolution photomatching to confirm the racket’s use in 24 key matches of Nadal’s 2017 season, from the French Open final to the Miami and Madrid finals.
• The custom-made Babolat features Nadal’s “Rafa” emblem on the throat and a “RG2017 Nadal” stringing sticker from Roland Garros.
• The sale underscores Nadal’s lasting impact on tennis and his decades-long partnership with Babolat, which began when he was nine years old.