Rafael Nadal — Indian Wells 2013 Match-Used Racquet & Signed 2022 Australian Open Set

Two elements of Rafael Nadal's equipment, separated by nine years and joined by the same trajectory: the return to winning form in the Californian desert in 2013, and the twenty-first Grand Slam title claimed in Melbourne in 2022.

The racquet is a Babolat AeroPro Drive built to Nadal's personal specification and used through the quarter-final, semi-final and final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in 2013, the tournament he won against Juan Martín del Potro, closing a seven-month absence through injury and opening one of the most successful seasons of his career. The frame carries the marks of that campaign: abrasions to the paintwork, a worn grip and residual clay consistent with the matches played in the weeks before Indian Wells.

The second element is the kit worn at the 2022 Australian Open: the signed match shirt, the white shorts and the signed fuchsia jacket, the latter worn as Nadal lifted the trophy on Rod Laver Arena after coming back from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev — the twenty-first major of his career and, at that moment, a record.

Match-used material from Nadal is scarce, and the two moments gathered here mark the two ends of a decade of dominance: the proving of a return and the sealing of a record.