Diario AS and Havas Creative Madrid understand the powers of sports celebrity and crowd engagement. The partners have used the power of Rafa Nadal to draw and involve a crowd in a very inventive way. With pens. They created unique pens that contain clay ink, made with clay collected from the tennis courts of Philippe-Chatrier, where Roland Garros is played, and the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, where the Conde de Godó is held – the courts where Nadal made history. Then they invited people all around the country to use the pens to write letters of gratitude letting Rafa know how his story had inspired them.

On December 1, during the AS Sports Awards presentation, the biggest sports gala in Spain, they handed Nadal hundreds of letters written with clay ink.  

The #DearRafa initiative showed Nadal that his story is not only about his titles or the matches he has won, but also about the stories of countless anonymous people he has inspired throughout his career. the courts of Philippe-Chatrier, where Roland Garros is played, and the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, where the Conde de Godó is held.

The initiative was supported by emblematic tennis institutions and has the participation of major sports figures who wanted to join the tribute.

“Taking clay from Roland-Garros and turning it into ink to write letters to Nadal is one of those magical ideas that we are sometimes lucky enough to bring to life,” stated Jesús Rasines, chief creative officer, Havas Creative Spain. With #DearRafa, Diario AS not only pays tribute to one of the greatest athletes in the history of Spain, but also celebrates the values that have made him a universal role model – humility, perseverance and passion.