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Nadal triumphs over Ronaldo in poker match

The retired soccer star was forced to clean plates for losing.

ByJonathan Scott

Published Nov 20, 2014

Rafael Nadal defeated "the original" Ronaldo, the 38-year-old retired Brazilian soccer star, in a charity poker match that saw him garner a $50,000 check toward his namesake youth-education charity, La Fundación Rafa Nadal.

"The strategies should always be an important part of the sport," Nadal told reporters at the PokerStars event, speaking about tennis and poker both.

​  

Apparently his was better than his friendly Brazilian foe, as Ronaldo was later forced to clean 400 plates as "punishment" for losing.​

​Here are scenes from the competition, and more photos.

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Elsewhere, Nadal termed last week's ATP World Tour Finals, which featured strikingly uncompetitive matches, the "strangest" year-end event he's ever seen. The No. 3-ranked Spaniard hopes to return in January for warmup events leading up to the season's kickoff Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open in Melbourne. The 28-year-old won that major title in 2009, and it remains the sole Slam championship that he has yet to seize more than once.