Netflix & Skydance Sports Announce New Docuseries on Tennis Icon Rafael Nadal [VIDEO]

Netflix and Skydance Sports have teamed up on a documentary series about the life and career of Spanish sports and tennis icon Rafael Nadal. The series will include unprecedented access with Nadal throughout his comeback to competitive play in the 2024 season after sitting out much of 2023 due to injury.

The docuseries will spotlight Nadal’s sterling career, as well as his life off-the-court, showcasing never-before-seen material from Nadal’s personal archive and featuring landmark access with the tennis star, his family and his close circle of coaches and advisors.

Winner of 22 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including a record 14 French Open singles titles, Rafael Nadal has been playing tennis since the age of three and turned pro at 15. Nadal is considered one of the greatest players in tennis history, has excelled on all surfaces, and won all of the sport’s major events, including four U.S. Open titles, two Wimbledon championships, two Olympic gold medals, and two Australian Open crowns.

Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy®-winning director Zach Heinzerling (Stolen Youth, Cutie and the Boxer, McCartney 3, 2, 1) is set to direct. The yet-to-be-titled docuseries will be produced by David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jason Reed, and Jon Weinbach for Skydance Sports.

“Rafael Nadal stands as one of the most influential and greatest figures in the history of sports. We are excited to present his remarkable story to our members, offering an intimate glimpse into his journey to cement his legacy to become the legend he is today,” said Diego Ávalos, Netflix’s VP of Content for Spain, Portugal, and the Nordics. “Partnering with our friends at Skydance to celebrate Nadal’s unequivocal career is a true honor.”

“Rafael Nadal is truly one of the greatest players and inspirations in the history of tennis,” said David Ellison, Founder and CEO, Skydance. “Beyond that, he is a friend and working with Rafa, Zach, and Netflix to tell his story is both an honor and a privilege.”

“I never thought I’d do something like this, but I got a call from David Ellison and with his words together with an amazing project they put in front of my eyes it really convinced me this was the right thing to do. Everyone will be able to see how my life has been during my tennis career and particularly in this very last year I had. It will also show how my life and my tennis career developed through the years. I am sure the final product, the docuseries, will be amazing and that it will be seen around the world. My thanks to David Ellison and his team at Skydance for creating and believing on this project. To my family and my team for allowing being filmed this past year, I know it was not easy for all of us. To my colleagues and peers who have given time to put themselves in front of a camera for some time. And thanks to the tournaments around the world that facilitated the work, it wasn’t easy.” said Rafael Nadal.

Skydance Sports have produced popular docuseries for Netflix including upcoming projects Aaron Rodgers: Enigma and the untitled Dallas Cowboys dynasty series.

Netflix is the premier home for great sports stories as this series join Netflix’s lineup of sports programming, including recent releases like Quarterback, Receiver, Starting 5, Simone Biles Rising, Sprint, Formula 1: Drive To Survive, Full Swing, and more, as well as live programming including the Netflix Slam when Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz went head-to-head, Paul vs. Tyson, the NFL Christmas Gameday, and WWE. Netflix has partnered with sports leagues including Formula 1, National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the PGA TOUR, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and more.