The Nike Sneakers That Got Rafael Nadal Through His Tennis Career

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The King of Clay is stepping out of his court.

Rafael Nadal announced Thursday that he’ll retire from tennis at the conclusion of the 2024 season, ending one of the most successful careers in the history of the sport. The 38-year-old Spaniard has won Grand Slams, including 14 French Open titles to make him the undisputed master of the surface and the most dominant player of any single Grand Slam event in the open era.

His next closest competitor in the French Open is Bjorn Borg, who won the event six times in the ’70s and ’80s, and Novak Djokavic’s 10 Australian Open titles makes him the next most dominant in a single Grand Slam tournament.

Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam victories puts him second all-time in the men’s open era, behind only Djokavic’s 24, while Serena Williams and Steffi Graf boast 23 and 22, respectively, in the women’s game.

For such accomplishments, there were, of course, sneakers.

Nadal signed his first Nike deal when he was just 2013 and has never left the company. He’s rocked a number of iconic looks featuring the Swoosh beginning with his first Grand Slam victory at the 2005 French Open, and two years later the tournament marked the debut for his signature Raging Bull logo.

Below, Footwear News takes you through Nadal’s sneaker history, including his Nike contract and every shoe he wore for a Grand Slam victory.

Rafael Nadal’s Nike Contract

As he nears his retirement, Nadal has been earning approximately $10 million per year from Nike for some time now. His first contract, signed at the age of 13, gave him just $500,000 across five years. He then jumped up to $10 million per year with a new 10-year extension signed in 2008, and another five-year extension signed in 2018 maintained the same financials.

Rafael Nadal’s Nike Ads

Given his success and the millions he’s earned from Nike, it should be no surprise that Nadal has featured heavily in Nike campaigns.

Perhaps his most memorable is the John McEnroe-narrated spot showing Nadal’s tenacious style of play throughout his career beginning as a 16-year-old phenom. At the end of it it, McEnroe says, “Unbelievable. Is he going to play every point like that?” and the tagline reads, “Crazy dreams take crazy effort.”

Upon reaching 21 Grand Slam titles in 2022, Nadal became the men’s career leader at the time. Nike celebrated the accomplishment by posting a video tracking each victory along with the caption, “He now stands alone at the top as the GOAT in the men’s game.”

Rafael Nadal’s Custom Nike Sneakers

Below, Footwear News will take you through all the sneakers Nadal wore in his 22 career Grand Slam titles, but there’s an important caveat to make.

It’s fairly standard for professional athletes to wear different versions of the sneakers they endorse to sell to the public, but Nadal’s have featured more significant customizations because of his foot injuries. He’s dealt with Muller-Weiss Syndrome, a degenerative foot disease, since he was just 19 years old. In his 2011 autobiography, “Rafa: My Story,” Nadal wrote about working with Nike on custom soles to ease the pressure on the damaged bone in his foot. The solution was a shoe that was wider and higher with a thicker, elevated sole.

“Adapting to the new sole was at first uncomfortable, because by altering the region of the foot where the weight naturally falls, the shoe impaired by balance,” Nadal wrote. “And then, as the specialist had predicted, I started suffering muscle strains where I’d never had any problems before, in the back and thighs. We did the best we could, but as I began training with the new shoes, new difficulties would keep cropping up, obliging us to keep on making tiny but critical changes to the soles. Years later, we still do. It’s a work in progress. We still haven’t got it absolutely right. Maybe there is no absolutely right solution.”

It’s also believed that the same traction pattern is used for each of Nadal’s shoe, regardless of the model.

Nike Air Max Breathe Free 2

Major Victories: 2005 French Open
Nadal secured his first French Open and major tournament win just two days after turning 19 years old while wearing the Air Max Breathe Free 2. Even today, the model is considered by some to be the best tennis shoe of all-time. Among its standout qualities from designer Ben Yun was its durable XDR outsole.

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Nike Air Max Breathe 3

Major Victories: 2006 French Open
Nadal wore the Air Max Max Breath 3, which featured a detached and heavily cushioned tongue, for his second-consecutive French Open title

Nike Air Max Breathe Cage

Major Victories: 2007 French Open
The third of Nadal’s third-consecutive French Open titles came in the Air Max Breathe Cage, which ushered in a new era for the Breathe franchise and was named Tennis.com’s shoe of the year. The and cage-like Drag-On Injected upper gave the shoe its name, and the French Open marked the debut for Nadal’s bull logo, which has been revised since but always features on his left shoe while his “Rafa” nickname is on the right.

Nike Air Max Breathe Cage 2

Major Victories: 2008 French Open, 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open
The Air Breathe Cage 2 was the first sneaker worn by Nadal for multiple major titles and for a major tournament victory without a clay court. The second Breathe Cage model also saw Nadal through to his first world no. 1 ranking.

Nike Air Max CourtBallistec 2.3

Major Victories: 2010 French Open, 2010 Wimbledon, 2010 U.S. Open
After snapping his streak of four consecutive French Open victories in 2009, Nadal took back his clay crown in 2010 as well as two other major victories while wearing the Air Max CourtBallistec 2.3. (That’s Ballis- tec , not Ballis-tic.) Flexibility and durability were an area of focus for the 2.3 iteration, as Nadal wore a hole through the medial side near the ball of his foot on the 1.3 during the Australian Open in the year prior.

Nike Air Max Court Ballistic 3.3

Major Victories: 2011 French Open
The Air Max CourtBallistec 3.3 featured more of a cage-like design for its upper, and the colorway Nadal wore for his 2011 French Open victory hosted blue, white and red stripes along with the number 5 on the heel toe denote his five prior wins at the tournament.

Nike Air Max CourtBallistec 4.3

Major Victories: 2012 French Open, 2013 French Open, 2013 U.S. Open, 2014 French Open)
Judging by the number of years he wore it and the number of major titles secured, the Air Max CourtBallistec 4.3 was clearly one of Nadal’s favorite sneakers from his career. The model held him down for four majors in three years. More mesh was used for the 4.3’s upper compared to its predecessor for better breathability, with a Drag-o 2x cage wrapping the forefoot

Nike Lunar Ballistec 1.5

Major Victories: 2017 U.S. Open, 2017 French Open
Lighter Lunarlon foam and an Adaptive Fit upper came to the Ballistic line as its naming convention changed and Nadal took home two major trophies in 2017.

Nike Air Zoom Cage 3

Major Victories: 2018 French Open, 2019 French Open, 2019 U.S. Open, 2020 French Open, 2022 Australian Open, 2022 French Open
The Air Zoom Cage 3 will go down as the sneaker Nadal wore for his last major victory and in more Grand Slam tournaments than any other. He’s continued to wear the model from 2018 through to this year, even when some alterations were made to the shoe’s appearance to make it look like the updated silhouettes he’d endorse.

A lightweight and dynamic TPU cage wraps the mesh bootie on the upper, while a Zoom Air heel unit is hosted in the Phylon midsole with durable XDR rubber beneath.

About the Author:

Ian Servantes is a Senior News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.

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