Rafael Nadal He is a universal figure, one of those athletes whose brand will continue to grow when he retires. A planned and close goodbye that remains undated, waiting for the last dance of an athlete who, still active, is already thinking about the day that he never imagines. In which his rackets will be hanging from some altar while the memory continues to produce economic revenue. By then he will be up and running. NDL Pro-Health, the business project that he presented this Thursday with Juan Matji, president of Cantabria Labs. An event at the Rafa Nadal assured that he is progressing in training, although “I am still in pain.” The “first option” is still the Australian Open, “but I can’t confirm anything.”
Nadal: “I train what the body lets me”
“I’m not training without pain. My first choice is still Australia –the director of the Open himself advanced it without having the player’s ‘ok’–, but I am not in a position to confirm what will happen to my body in a few months. If I were in zero pain, I would consider other things. I’m trying to take steps forward. We are testing and following the medical indications,” revealed the Spanish tennis player.
“I’m training what my body allows me to do. More so now than a month ago, I’m always dealing positively with the current situation, which is a recovery process from surgery. You have to take steps forward and others back. Even the smallest one matters to gain hours of training and rhythm to compete again“Explained Nadal. An elite player with a new thought who openly states that “tennis is a sport for losers, because in a week only one wins. “You have to learn to live with defeat.”
NDL Pro-Health is a line of nutritional supplements for sports. It is “a joint venture with an international vocation” in which the tennis player will be the owner, but with Cantabria Labs as an “exceptional partner.” Matji and Nadal have turned their business relationship into something personal. “I am someone who has become aware over the years of the importance of taking care of oneself. When I started, health, nutrition and supplementation were not so important. Health and vitality are key to being happy,” Nadal said in the presentation. of his new project, which arrives at a vital stage of transition towards the outcome of his career.
Since 2019, the Spanish tennis player has been an ambassador for a Spanish laboratory that owns the brands Iraltone, Heliocare, Edafence, Immunoferol or Endocare. A company that has set the goal of billing 500 million in 2027, more than double its sales in 2021: 242. An exponential growth that will be possible thanks, among others, to the impulse of a prescriber who remains perpetually in the ‘top of mind’ of the most valued Spaniards.
Heliocare is one of the brands that remains in a select range that includes Banco Santander, Nike, Amstel, Telefónica, Babolat or Kia, which has just delivered a new vehicle to Nadal. This association has become one of the most iconic in the automotive industry, an industry always at the forefront of advertising investment. Hence, Nadal’s return to the courts, with farewell performances at the Grand Slams, will cause one of the strongest impacts of sports marketing in the coming months.
The rush to announce his return overwhelmed Craig Tileydirector of the Australian Open, who announced that Nadal would be on the same courts where he was injured in 2022. The tennis player’s entourage, who in March 2023 fell out of the top ten for the first time in 18 years, was quick to say that they could not confirm the news. A declaration of intent to limit the speech of all the voices that ask about him and his future. Only Nadal knows how and when he will return.
Beyond tennis and the business project, the figure of Nadal, as an emblem of consensus, will be attractive to all types of positions, both institutional and sports. As reported by El Periódico de España, from the Prensa Ibérica group, one of the dreams of Florentino Perez is to sit him in the presidential chair of Real Madrid. A perfect fit for a self-confessed Madrid fan and one that the top Madrid leader considers to be “the best possible ambassador.” His would be an honorary position, leaving the executive side to other people who work at the club and will continue to do so when Florentino Pérez leaves.
“If I want to be president of Real Madrid? I promise it’s not a dream, but I think I would like it, although today we have the best possible president. Afterwards, what you may think today may not be what you may think tomorrow,” he stated shortly afterwards in an interview with ‘Movistar +’. A statement made from the power and prudence of a universal athlete who is already starting a new one without abandoning the that has given him so much success. A triumphant equation that will keep him off the slopes.