Poker News

Demonstrating that he may have a competitive career after his current profession ends, tennis champion Rafael Nadal came up short in a heads up poker battle against arguably the #1 female poker player in the world, Vanessa Selbst.

In a special charity poker match at the Casino de Monte Carlo on Saturday, Selbst and Nadal sat down for some cards with Nadal looking to extend an already impressive poker resume. In December 2013, Nadal played in a charitable “sit and go” held during the European Poker Tour’s stop in Prague, the Czech Republic. In that game, Nadal defeated the likes of football (soccer) legend Ronaldo, former Olympic skiing champion Alberto Tomba and field hockey player/poker pro Fatima Moreira de Melo before knocking out Daniel Negreanu during heads up play. This time around, however, Nadal couldn’t get past the abilities of Selbst, ending up a few chips behind her once the clock expired on the game.

“It was a great honor to play against a strong competitor and, although I lost, I had a lot of fun,” Nadal commented following the conclusion of the event. His poker coach, Alfonso Cardalda, was complimentary of his efforts on the green baize, stating, “Playing against Vanessa was a very important part of Rafa’s poker journey. After winning in Prague, this was his next big step. He played very well against one of the best poker players in the world.”

Selbst herself was impressed with Nadal’s transformation from tennis professional to strong poker player. “Rafa played a great game, but the format and the cards were in my favor,” Selbst admitted following the match. “I was able to win by using aggression in good spots and I also made a number of strong hands. I had an excellent time with Rafa and I’m looking forward to the rematch!”

Both players were in town in pursuit of their “day jobs,” so to speak. Nadal is in Monte Carlo to take part in the ATP Monte Carlo Masters, which he has won eight times previously. The clay court event (a surface that Nadal is the master of) is considered one of the top “preparation” tournaments for the upcoming French Open, which will begin at the end of May. Selbst was in town as she prepared to head for San Remo, Italy where the European Poker Tour will hold its next-to-last tournament of its Season Ten schedule beginning on Monday.

While many may have looked at Nadal’s sponsorship deal with PokerStars as simply a PR stunt, Nadal has shown that he is willing to put some time into working on his game. After being beaten in that charity event last year, Negreanu commented, “Nadal played a solid game and he didn’t make any mistakes. He knew when to make adjustments, to play more aggressively and he did.” At that time, Nadal had only been seriously interested in the game for about 18 months.

Although only 27, Nadal is perhaps looking for something that will spark his competitive fires once he chooses to lay down his tennis racket. The winner of 13 Grand Slam titles (including eight French Opens (the last four in a row), two Wimbledon crowns and two U. S. Open championships), Nadal is still the #1 ranked player in the world. Injuries have been an issue for Nadal over the past few seasons, however.

If Nadal was to continue in his poker pursuits, he wouldn’t be the first professional athlete to take up the game. The Brooklyn Nets’ Paul Pierce took part in last year’s World Series of Poker Championship Event and, just this weekend, former NFL tight end Bubba Franks (known for his stellar play with the Green Bay Packers) was on the tables at the World Poker Tour’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Add in other former or current athletes such as cricketer Shane Warne, tennis legend Boris Becker, boxer Lennox Lewis, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, hockey goaltender Roberto Luongo and pitcher Orel Hershiser (not to mention poker legend T. J. Cloutier, a former standout pro football player) and it is easy to see that poker seems to be a popular pick for athletes still looking for that challenge of competition.

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