Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia are huge tennis fans. They’ve always had so many Spanish players to support as well – for the better part of two decades, they supported Rafael Nadal and his generation of Spanish tennis stars. Now, King Felipe is all about Carlos Alcaraz, and Felipe has even turned out for some of Alcaraz’s matches in Madrid. Still, Felipe adores Rafa. Rafa retired last year after a lifetime of injuries left him mostly hobbled in his late 30s. King Felipe decided to honor Rafa in a special way – the King of Clay is now the Marquess of Llevant de Mallorca. It’s an actual hereditary title too, meaning Rafa’s son (Rafa Junior) will one day be the Marquess.

King Felipe VI bestowed the first noble titles of his reign on Thursday and his announcement included the naming of Rafael Nadal as Marquess of Llevant de Mallorca.

Nadal, who was granted the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2008, when he was 22 years of age, received the accolade from the hands of Prince Felipe, who was crowned King of Spain in 2014. Besides Nadal, swimmer Teresa Perales and singer Luz Casal also join the Spanish nobility with the granting of these titles.

“They are exponents of excellence, whether in service of the Crown or in the field of philosophy, culture, science, arts, or sport,” declared the King’s House. “They are a source of pride for Spain and a permanent example of the values that should inspire our society.”

In September 2022, King Felipe VI awarded Nadal with the Camino Real Award of the Instituto Franklin-UAH, which is granted by the University of Alcala de Henares. On this occasion, the king has granted the 22-time Grand Slam champion the title of Marquess of Llevant de Mallorca, which is hereditary.

As well as the 92 tour-level titles that the Spaniard won, including 22 Grand Slam trophies and an astonishing 14 Coupes des Mousquetaires from Roland Garros, Nadal managed to transcend tennis through the values and legacy he built during his time as a global sportsman.

After over two decades among the elite, Nadal brought an end to his professional career last November, while wearing the colours of Spain in the Davis Cup.

[From ATP Tour]

Putting this in British-royalty terms, it would be like King Charles deciding that Andy Murray needed more than a knighthood (which Andy already has) and Charles giving Andy a noble title, a dukedom or an earldom, for Andy’s services to tennis. It’s kind of crazy, although I also think it’s pretty cool for Rafa, the Marquess of Llevant de Mallorca. The only thing is… while Rafa is obviously honored to be recognized in this way, I kind of think he’ll hate this. He just wants to be left alone to run his tennis academy and sail around on his yacht. He doesn’t want to do “marquess business.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.