Why Nadal plays with a $775,000 watch

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Rafael Nadal has a strange relationship with “time”. From one side the King of Clay is consistently accused for being always “late” in between points, from another he plays with an incredibly expensive watch.

During the last match against Sock, Rafa was once again spotted wearing a $775,000 Richard Miller watch on his right wrist.

Why Rafa is wearing that watch?

The question is: “Why is he doing it?” The answer is obvious: promotion! For many tennis players wearing a watch is a burden and we can’t see another reason why Nadal should wear it (there is no chrono to check the time in between points!!!)

The watch
Rafa confessed he was a bit hesitant at the beginning “In the beginning there was a little bit of transition. [Richard-Mille and I] had to work together to adjust everything to my wrist…It’s like you are wearing nothing. It’s part of my skin.”

The watch is very light (20grams) and it can withstand 5,000 Gs of force.

Some history…

The King of Clay is not new to expensive watches. Rafa had already 2 watches stolen. One from the locker room (never recovered) and another one from is room in the hotel while he was celebrating his 7th French Open title. In this case the thief was caught and the watch was given back.

…funny story

Rafa has also lost a 3rd watch in the locker room in Cincinnati. The watch was also recovered this time by Eric Butorac (a doubles player) that commented “I remember holding it and thinking, ‘Wow, this is worth more than my career prize money,’ ” 

Butorac has also a “little less expensive” watch (a $5000 Rolex) “It’s the beginner Rolex. Literally to this day, I’m so stressed about that thing. I wear it when I go out to dinner or something, but I’m always like, ‘Which bag is it in and how safe is my hotel room?’ Imagine with Nadal’s!”

What about the other players?

Federer is sponsored by Rolex and he usually wears the watch during his trainings and soon after a match. Djokovic is the brand ambassador for Seiko. Sharapova is sponsored by Tag Heur. Serena has a deal with Audemars Piguet and she is the only top player (with Nadal) to wear the watch during official matches.

 

SPOT THE WATCH!