Rafael Nadal’s first public appearance since retiring from tennis is in a tongue-in-cheek ad campaign for leading tennis and padel court booking app Playtomic.
The 22-time Major winner is seen struggling to use Playtomic’s player matching feature, which uses technology to pair players with others at a similar level, from beginners to seasoned players, to find an ideal match.
The ad shows Nadal attempting to seriously deliver lines about the player matching feature, describing its accessibility, ease of use and suitability for players. However, in the voiceover Nadal expresses his frustration: “You are supposed to find players at your level, but I can’t find anyone.”
The advert also pokes fun at Nadal’s epic long rivalry with Novak Djokovic when the Spaniard is seen typing in ‘nova’, referencing the Serbian champion, in the hope he might find ‘a perfect match’. In the voice over, Nadal says “I’ve looked to see if there was anyone from the circuit, but it seems not” as his search for a perfect match continues.
Nadal became an investor in Playtomic in April 2024, and following his retirement is set to be more visible with the Spanish start-up, which has swiftly become the world’s preeminent racket sports community-building tech company.
Playtomic operates in 60 countries with more than 6,000 partner clubs and more than 23,000 courts. The Spanish outfit has over 1.4 million active users on the app, marking a sharp increase from approximately 1 million in 2023.
“Working with Rafael Nadal was a perfect fit for this campaign,” said Felix Ruiz, CEO and Co-Founder of Playtomic. “We spoke with Rafa and wanted to get him involved in a campaign – and the point was made that Rafa could never use our match-finding app as he’s just too good, and that was when we wanted to play on this concept. The ad humorously highlights that the player-matching feature in Playtomic is for everyone. While Rafa might be a tough match for us to find, the app is easy and effective for everyone else to use!”
The ad will run on digital and social media channels, inviting players of all levels to experience Playtomic’s unique features for finding courts and matches to play in, from beginner-friendly matches to advanced play.
