PARIS — A day after the French Open honored Rafael Nadal on court docket, dozens of spectators started promoting the clay-colored “Merci Rafa” T-shirts handed out at Sunday’s tribute — with some listings reaching as much as $540.
The shirts, marked with the French phrase for “Thank You Rafa” and the date “25.05.2025,” got to followers attending the ceremony on Court docket Philippe-Chatrier to have a good time the 14-time French Open champion. Distributed in various shades of clay, the T-shirts had been a part of a coordinated tribute. Followers had been requested to put on them, creating an enormous mosaic within the stands that spelled out “RG14” — a nod to Nadal’s 14 titles in Paris.
Inside minutes of the occasion, listings started showing on resale platforms, together with the clothes market Vinted, which had 30 shirts listed as of Monday.
One vendor, Maxime Berthuis, listed his shirt for $570, delivery charges excluded.
“I am not going to put on the T-shirt anyway,” Berthuis instructed The Related Press, including he purchased a ticket to the ceremony for lower than $43. “Truthfully, I do not know the way I will spend the cash but.”
He mentioned he had obtained a number of gives since posting the itemizing yesterday — together with a slew of indignant messages from Nadal devotees.
One other consumer who listed a 2XL dimension T-shirt for $170 mentioned it was merely a lot too massive for her.
The president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, mentioned he was surprised by how a lot the T-shirts had been being offered for.
“A number of the costs I noticed scared me,” he mentioned on Monday. “It is a bit unhappy to see individuals revenue off the ‘Merci Rafa’ shirts. We weren’t going to gather them after the ceremony. We created one thing distinctive — and perhaps that uniqueness explains why that is taking place.”
Moretton mentioned he had not obtained a shirt himself, regardless of standing only a few ft from Nadal through the tribute.
“I am additionally in search of a T-shirt, however I am not about to go on Vinted,” he mentioned.
