|  FRENCH police have found the 300,000-euro watch stolen from Spanish tennis star Rafa Nadal on Tuesday in Paris.
Rafa, who had just made history by winning his seventh Roland Garros title, said the hotel staff had been ‘fantastic’ and ‘beyond reproach’ over the theft.
The watch was stolen from him at the élite hotel in the 8th Arrondissement, where Rafa is a regular customer, soon after the final match - putting rather a damper on his celebrations over his unprecedented win against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
Rafa said he had placed it on his bedside cabinet on Monday night and it was not there the next day, despite the door and windows of his suite not having been forced.
It was found at around 21.30hrs the same day, hidden in the grass next to the Corbeil-Essonnes metro line to the south of the city.
The culprit, a 38-year-old employee of the hotel, quickly confessed and took officers to the site where he had hidden the watch.
He was caught due to the magnetic card key which had allowed him to enter Rafa’s room.
Back in 2010, Rafa signed a sponsorship deal with Swiss luxury watchmaker Richard Mille, meaning he has to wear the ultra-light RM027 Tourbillon watch, which uses aerospace technology, during every game he plays. |
