💰 Nadal's winning racket sells for record price

A Babolat racket used by Rafael Nadal during his 2017 French Open-winning final was sold at a Prestige Memorabilia auction for $157,333.20 including buyer's premium on Sunday, the most ever paid for a tennis racket.

The previous record was a racket Nadal used during the 2022 Australian Open -- his final Grand Slam title when he defeated Daniil Medvedev -- which sold for $139,700 at Sotheby's in 2023.

In 2017, Nadal defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, for his record-extending 10th French Open title. He didn't drop a set all tournament and would go on to win four more titles at Roland Garros -- no other man in tennis has won more than eight.

Nadal's 2017 French Open racket was matched by resolution photomatching to 24 different matches across Nadal's 2017 season, including the Madrid Open final, the Miami Open final and likely the 2017 Australian Open final, the last two of which Nadal lost to Roger Federer.

"To find a Grand Slam Final-used racket from Rafael Nadal is rare," reads the Prestige Memorabilia lot description. "To find one photomatched across an entire clay season (and more) -- capped by a French Open title -- is unprecedented."

The custom-made racket includes his "Rafa" emblem on the throat and a stringing sticker from the 2017 French Open that reads "RG 2017 Nadal."