RAFAEL NADAL WAS BACK PLAYING IN QUEENS TENNIS TOURNEY THANKS TO A CHANGE IN THE BRITISH TAX LAW

Written by: Staff on 16th June 2015

RAFAEL NADAL WAS BACK PLAYING IN QUEENS TENNIS TOURNEY THANKS TO A CHANGE IN THE BRITISH TAX LAW

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball against Alexandr Dolgopov of Ukraine during their first round match of the Aegon tennis championships at the Queens Club in London, Britain 16 June 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Rafael Nadal is back playing in front of his legion of London fans this week at the Aegon Championships but the former world no.1 maintains he wouldn’t be there but for a relaxation in the British tax rules.

Nadal flew in from winning his first grass court title for five years at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart and was due to play his first match at West London’s Queen’s Club today against the Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The 29 year-old Spaniard admitted on Monday that he had stayed away for four years due to harsh tax laws on overseas stars that first hit Andre Agassi for his commercial earnings along with Olympic gold medalist sprinter Usain Bolt.

Britain’s tax man, officially known as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, relaxed the rules last year after much lobbying from prominent sporting officials. Ian Ritchie, the former All England Club chief executive who now runs the Rugby Football Union, was front and center in the pleading the international sports stars case.

Yet even now Nadal could be seriously hit for the money he earns for lucrative endorsements with Nike, Babolot, and Kia Cars. He is listed by Forbes as earning $28m in off-court earnings and given the amount of time spent in England before Wimbledon could liable to pay the British tax man around £300,000.

This outweighs the vastly improved Queen’s Club first prize of £276,000 but Nadal is of course the beneficiary of an undoubtedly large but secret financial guarantee to appear.

“It is still not the ideal situation for us, but is better than a few years ago,” said Nadal after his arrival in England. “I had to stop playing here for a while. But I like playing here.”

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball against Alexandr Dolgopov of Ukraine during their first round match of the Aegon tennis championships at the Queens Club in London, Britain 16 June 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Nadal played at Queen’s Club five times between 2006 and 2011, and went on to reach at least the Wimbledon final each year. He added: “I think it is the best thing for my game.”

Then he came up with the surprising admission that his aim for the remainder of 2015 is not aiming at adding to his collection of 14 Grand Slam titles but simply to end the year without any more injury problems and qualify for the calendar ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November.

“My main goal is finish the season healthy,” he said. “I feel my mentality and my body are ready for it. And then if I’m able to play the full season, I hope to finish in good position in the rankings and then have the chance to start 2016 stronger.

“Winning Grand Slams or not, I have won enough into my career. Fourteen are enough.”

CONTENT VIA BOB LARSON TENNIS NEWS WIRE.

Topics: AEGON Championships, Atp World Tour, Queen's Club, Rafa Nadal, Sports, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

June 16, 2015 at 8:48 am

-@RafaelNadal IS BACK PLAYING IN QUEENS #TENNIS TOURNEY THANKS TO A CHANGE IN THE BRITISH TAX LAW http://t.co/fajypqDutL #AegonChampionships
Jacques_Ukraine says:

June 16, 2015 at 8:49 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@RafaelNadal IS BACK PLAYING IN QUEENS #TENNIS TOURNEY THANKS TO A CHANGE IN THE BRITISH TAX LAW http://t.co/fajypqDutL …