Do we like Rafael Nadal?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A long record of decency and generosity, held back by a paid Saudi ambassador role and a shaky answer about gay players there.
Nadal grew up in Mallorca, trained on local courts rather than at the big academies, and was coached by his uncle Toni, who made the right-hander play left-handed. He turned pro at 15 and finished with 22 major titles, 14 of them at the French Open, plus Olympic gold. He retired after the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
His biggest stoush off court was in 2016, when a former French sports minister suggested on TV that his seven-month break in 2012 hid a failed drug test. Nadal denied it and sued. In 2017 a French court ruled for him on defamation and awarded him 12,000 euros, which he said he'd give to a French charity. A separate 2012 claim by an economist, that companies linked to him used Basque tax rules, was denied by his agent, and tennis.com reported no outcome.
The harm check is where the asterisk comes from. In January 2024 he became an ambassador for the Saudi tennis federation, a country accused of using sport to polish its image. Nadal rejected that, called it a chance to develop the sport and said the country is behind in many things. Asked about gay players at his planned academy there, he said they wouldn't have problems at the academy but that for the country he didn't know. That's a thin answer for an LGBTQ+ audience, and plenty of people said so.
Away from Saudi Arabia, the record we found is clean. On vaccines in 2022 he said he trusted medical experts and that people should get vaccinated if they advise it. He also said people are free to decide but face consequences. We found nothing from him against trans people, women or migrants. His recent projects, a Netflix docuseries with Skydance Sports and exhibitions with fellow retired players, don't show any dodgy company.
The recent noise has been mild. In February 2026 he left five laughing emojis under a Patrick Mouratoglou video about whether Alcaraz and Sinner measure up to the Big Three, then deleted them. He later said he saw no controversy but thought the analysis was wrong. The four-part Netflix series Rafa launched on 29 May, with Federer, Djokovic and McEnroe interviewed.
The good stuff is real. After the deadly 2018 Mallorca floods he gave one million euros from his private money to the hard-hit town of Sant Llorenç and joined the clean-up himself. The mayor said he was one of us, which says plenty. Profiles also describe a man who stays gracious after matches and kept doubting himself on the way to the top.