Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer feature in list of athletes with best image in Spain as impact continues despite retirement and inactivity
ATP
Despite not being active on tour over the last year, tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were recently featured on a list of athletes with the best image in Spain.
Federer retired in 2022, following a career that spanned two decades and saw him hold the World No.1 position, in addition to capturing 20 Grand Slam titles. Conversely, Nadal had been out of action for the bulk of 2023 due to injury, but the Spaniard is just as accomplished as his Swiss rival, having also held the spot atop the ATP rankings and currently sits with 22 Grand Slam trophies to his name.
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Nadal headlines the list of athletes with the best image in Spain
According to a survey conducted by SPSG Consulting, it comes as no surprise that the Mallorcan tops the list of athletes in his native land with a 95.70% approval rating. The 14-time French Open champion defeated the likes of Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta, Fernando Alonso, Pau Gasol and Sergio Ramos to claim the top spot. Rising Spanish tennis phenom Carlos Alcaraz came in fourth with a 16.65% rating.
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Meanwhile, Federer was third in the category of international athletes with 53.10% favorability whereas rival Novak Djokovic was seventh with a 16.98% approval rating. Nonetheless, it was football superstar Lionel Messi who topped the list with a 90% approval rating while Cristiano Ronaldo came in second with 62.28% favorability. Basketball players Michael Jordan and LeBron James were placed fourth and sixth with 18.74% and 17.18% ratings respectively.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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