Tennis legend Rafael Nadal, and PokerStars, have parted ways after three-years as an ambassador for the world’s largest online poker room.

Rafael Nadal and PokerStars have parted ways.

The man who won 14 Grand Slam titles by the age of 28 is currently competing in the China Open in Beijing, where he will face the American Jack Sock in the quarterfinals on Friday. You won’t find any news of his departure on Twitter, or in the national press. The only way I found out was because I noticed his mugshot had been removed from the PokerStars Team SportsStar page.

And that’s always been the problem with a signing like Rafael Nadal. I’m not privy to the kind of metrics PokerStars use to gauge the success or failure of a sponsored player/ambassador, but it was rare to find any association to poker on his social media channels, even less coverage in the national press – and my biggest sore point – he never really played any poker.