Rafael Nadal received the Legend Award at the 19th edition of the AS Sports Awards 2025, held at the Hotel Palace in Madrid. The ceremony honored several prominent Spanish athletes for their recent achievements. Pilar Gil from Prisa opened the event by highlighting female athletes as role models.
The gala, organized by the AS newspaper from the Prisa Group, paid tribute to Nadal in his first year retired from professional tennis. The Balearic tennis player expressed his gratitude: “I am very grateful to receive this award. It is an honor to be here. A stage of my life has ended, I think well ended, I miss nothing. I was prepared to enjoy other things because everything has a beginning and an end”.
Nadal also commented on his friendship with Roger Federer: “I am not very given to these awards. I maintain a good relationship with Federer and surely we will do something in these years. It is true that I need time to get back on the court. I think he would beat me now because he has been training for a while”. He also mentioned his interest in golf: “I love golf, but I played more as a tennis player than now. I have to find time for it”.
Other awardees included Marc Márquez, for his spectacular return in MotoGP after injury; Spanish women's cycling, with four medals at the Ruanda Worlds and three at Europeans; María Pérez, the first woman to revalidate double world golds in race walking (20 and 35 km, Budapest 2023 and Tokyo 2025); and Iris Tió, the first Spanish world champion in artistic swimming solo free with six medals in Singapore.
Raúl González, awarded for his career, praised Nadal: “Nadal is the best athlete in the world”. Jesús Navas, another honoree, said: “I thank Rafa Nadal for everything he has given us”. Marc Márquez added: “We are recovering from another injury, there's still more. This year has been unique in every sense. I left my comfort zone and I won”.
The Promise Award went to Ander Garaiar for his 100-meter medal, and the Paralympic Award to Martín de la Puente, Wimbledon doubles champion. Support messages came from Pau Gasol, Jannik Sinner, Aitana, and Antonio Banderas.