Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille Are a Watch Collab for the Ages. Here’s Every Piece They’ve Made Together.
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Rafael Nadal really needs no introduction. He’s arguably one of the best tennis players of all time, notching 22 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including a record 14 French Open titles. Thanks to 81 consecutive wins on clay (the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era), he’s more than earned his unofficial title as the King of Clay. His first major title came in 2005, and for more than 15 years, he never slowed down, clenching yet another French Open win in 2022. However, the tides turned for the star player last year when injury knocked him out of the second round of the Australian Open at the start of the 2023 season. As a result, he exited the Top 10 for the first time since 2005 and later declined to enter the French Open. Now, after a year of recovery, the beloved Spanish player has announced his triumphant return to the ATP tour for what may be his last season.
Watches and tennis have long gone hand in hand ever since Rolex became the official timekeeper of Wimbledon back in 1978. Since then, countless players have landed partnerships with watchmakers or served as brand ambassadors. If you look closely, you’ll often notice one of the first things that players do upon exiting the court is strap on their favorite timepiece. But Nadal is one of the few pros who actually wears his watch during the match. Most timekeepers aren’t fit to withstand the force of a tennis swing, but Nadal teamed up with one of the few brands that are able to deliver a truly performance-driven timepiece that’s up for the challenge, Richard Mille. The duo has been developing watches together since 2010, resulting in 10 exceptional models including their latest collaboration, the RM 35-03, which launched in December 2023. Here, we take a deeper look at the evolution of Nadal and Richard Mille’s partnership and the wild watches they’ve created.
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