After an impressive 30 years of experience on the professional tour, José Manuel ‘Pepo’ Clavet has joined the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar as a new coach. He is now a member of the teaching staff that works to train the young talent of world tennis. Pepo has already joined the team that looks after Jaume Munar’s career, together with his coach for the last two years Tomeu Salvà. The two of them will be responsible for accompanying on tour the player who has reached no. 52 in the ATP Ranking this season and is now working intensely on his preparations for next year.

“Joining the Academy is a new experience for me. I hope to be able to contribute to this great group of coaches and staff at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, whom I have known for a long time. I am very excited and very happy”, explained a man who last November was working as Feliciano López’s coach.

Pepo Clavet arrives in Mallorca excited about a new stage of his career, which has already begun. “Fundamentally, I’m going to work with Munar. He is a 22-year-old kid, whom I hope to be able to help with my experience on tour. I am very excited for him to have a good season”, he noted.

Clavet worked with Feliciano during the most brilliant period of his career, time during which he won four singles titles in Eastbourne 2014, Gstaad 2016, Queen’s 2017 and 2019. He also reached six other finals in Memphis 2013, Queen’s 2014, Quito 2015, Kuala Lumpur 2015, Los Cabos 2016 and Stuttgart 2017. And he was by his side when he reached his career-high rankings of No. 12 in the world in singles (2 March 2015) and No. 9 in doubles (7 November 2016).

Besides Feliciano López, plenty of elite players have been under the watchful eye of Pepo Clavet throughout his career, both on the men’s and women’s tour. Noteworthy names include another Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar coach, Carlos Moyà as well as Carlos Costa, Sergi Bruguera, Tommy Robredo, Álex Corretjà, Juan Mónaco, Guillermo García López and his brother Francisco Clavet.

As from 2020, Pedro Clar, who until last year had shared the management of Jaume Munar’s career with Tomeu Salvà, will be focusing his work on the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who currently occupies No. 54 in the ATP Ranking and is at the Rafa Nadal Academy preparing for his debut at the ATP Cup, where he will be leading his country.

Spanish tennis just cannot wipe the smile from its face late in this 2019 season. The prestigious Orange Bowl which is held in Miami and is regarded as the World Cup of the younger categories, crowned Daniel Rincón, a Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar player, the Under-16 champion in both doubles and singles.

The 16-year-old player from Avila, who was seeded seventh, produced an outstanding performance to claim the crown. In the first round he saw off US player Kian Vakili 6-3, 6-4, while in the second he did not have to take to the court thanks to a walkover against another American player Grant Lothringer. In the last sixteen he defeated the American Azuma Visaya 6-3, 6-4, in the quarter-finals against the Italian Giulio Perego 7-5, 6-1. In the semi-finals he defeated home player and no. 2 seed Jack Anthrop 6-2, 6-3.

In the final he maintained the form that carried him through the whole week and demonstrated the hard work that both the player and the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar coaches have been putting in. He barely gave his opponent, the American Gabrielius Guzauskas, a chance, beating him 6-0, 6-1.

The result means that Rincón has written his name in the history of national tennis by becoming the sixth player to win the Under-16 title. The first player to do so was Álex Corretja in 1990, who was followed by Gonzalo Corrales (1991), Tommy Robredo (1998), Georgi Roumenov (2005) and Pablo Llamas (2018).

The title at the Orange Bowl caps off a great season in which he also won two other important tournaments. At Vila do Conde (Portugal) and Casablanca (Morocco) he picked up his first ITF World Tennis Tour Junior trophies, as well as reaching another final in Luque (Paraguay).

However, this was not the only success that Dani celebrated this week in Miami. As well as his singles victory, Rincón won the doubles with Abedallah Shelbayh, another Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar player. The Spaniard and Jordanian beat US duo Ozan Colak and Hugo Kashimoto 6-1, 6-2, capping off an unforgettable Orange Bowl.

The final Rafa Nadal Academy triumph came from Alexandra Eala’s victory in the Under-18 doubles. The Filipino player, who had produced some excellent tennis to reach the semi-finals, lifted the famous orange bowl together with Belarusian player Evialina Saskevich after defeating Canadian pair Collard / Bui. This crown brings an end to an exceptional year that has allowed Alex to end the season as number 11 in the ITF World Tennis Tour rankings.

The Rafa Nadal Museum is making the most of the end of the season to immortalise the Manacor native’s extraordinary year with an historic photo.

After a dream year, Rafa Nadal closed out the season by placing the trophy he received in London from the ATP in recognition of the fifth time he has finished the season as the world number one in the Rafa Nadal Museum Xperience. The trophy now sits alongside those he picked up in 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017 and can be seen at the facilities that form part of the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar.

He received the reward after a superb 2019 in which he won four singles titles, adding two Grand Slams (French and US Opens) and two Masters 1000s (Rome and Canada) to his haul. The Manacor native’s outstanding season was complemented with team victories for Spain in the Davis Cup and the European Team in the Laver Cup.

Although the start of the season was very exciting, his first title of the year would have to wait until 19 May. Until then the Balearic Islander had reached the final at the Australian Open and the semi-finals at Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. But Rome proved to be a turning point in Nadal’s season. From then on he was the best player on tour, stringing together 27 victories from 28 matches between May and September.

ATP Masters 1000 in Rome

His first title of 2019 came during the clay swing, which has rewarded him with so much success throughout his career. In fact, the trophy Nadal lifted at the Foro Italico was his ninth ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. It was an impressive win in which he produced a bagel (6-0) in each of his matches up to the semi-final, against Jeremy Chardy (6-0, 6-1), Nikoloz Basilashvili (6-1, 6-0) and Fernando Verdasco (6-4, 6-0). In the semi-finals he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, while he won another set to love in the final against Novak Djokovic (6-0, 4-6, 6-1).

Rome became the fourth title Nadal has managed to win nine or more times, joining The French Open (12), ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo (11) and the ATP 500 in Barcelona (11). On those four stages he has picked up 51.1% of the 84 singles trophies that adorn his cabinet.

The French Open

After an impeccable performance in the Italian capital, Nadal’s maintained his form as he made his assault on a twelfth Musketeers Cup at the French Open. This time he only lost two sets on his way to the title in Paris, in the third round against David Goffin and in the final against Dominic Thiem. In the first two rounds he beat German players Yannick Hanfmann and Yannick Maden, while in the last sixteen he saw off the Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero, in the quarters Kei Nishikori and he defeated Roger Federer in the semi-final.

In Paris he became the only man to win the same tournament 12 times, beating the record he set at the event last season, with eleven crowns at The French Open, Monte Carlo and Barcelona. The Musketeers Cup came back to the Rafa Nadal Museum Xperience once again, just as it had in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018.

ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal

Nadal started the North American hard-court season after taking a 17-1 record into Wimbledon. On the London grass his campaign came to an end in the semi-finals, a round he reached in every tournament he entered in 2019, except for Acapulco. But on his return to competition in Canada, he re-established his dominance on tour and after beating Daniel Evans, Guido Pella, Fabio Fognini and Daniil Medvedev he claimed his 35th ATP Masters 1000 title, increasing his dominance in the category.

The title at the ATP Masters 1000 in Canada, which he had already won the previous year, was also the first Nadal had successfully defended on hard court in his career. The result meant that the Spaniard had taken 4,720 points from the last 6,000 available to him in the tournaments played, thanks to a 21-1 match record.

The US Open

Despite his spectacular numbers, there was still more success to come in the US summer. Six wins on the trot at the US Open gave him his 19th Grand Slam, leaving him just one behind Roger Federer’s current haul. To earn the trophy he defeated John Millman in the first round, in his second match in New York Thanasi Kokkinakis gifted him a walkover and he then beat Hyeon Chung in the third round. In the last sixteen he defeated Marin Cilic, Diego Schwartzman in the quarters and Matteo Berrettini in the semis.

After four hours and 51 minutes and five sets (7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4), the player from Manacor closed out an astonishing run from May to September against Daniil Medvedev, that included four titles and gave him an excellent chance of finishing 2019 as the world number one, a trophy that would eventually end up in his cabinet.

Laver Cup

Despite suffering from wrist problems, Nadal was able to participate in a Laver Cup match held in Geneva (Switzerland) and pick up a point for the Team Europe that has won all three editions of the tournament (2017-19). The Balearic Islander won the seventh point in the competition 6-3, 7-6(1) to give his team a 7-3 lead. Europe eventually won 13-11 against Team World.

Davis Cup

Finally in the Caja Mágica in Madrid, Nadal ended a fantastic season with the Davis Cup title, contributing eight points to the Spanish team (5 in singles and 3 in doubles). It was the sixth crown for the Spanish Armada and their fifth with the Balearic Islander. In addition, it was the 100th trophy of Nadal’s career, with 84 in singles, 11 in doubles and 5 Davis Cups, allowing him to boast of a century of trophies, something very few others are able to do; John McEnroe (160), Mike Bryan (128), Jimmy Connors (126), Bob Bryan (126), Roger Federer (112), Ilie Nastase (107), Stan Smith (102) and Ivan Lendl (101).

Both the Davis Cup and a commemorative t-shirt signed by all the players on the Spanish team can now be seen at the facility in the Rafa Nadal Sports Centre

Nobody has lifted the famous salad bowl more times in the twenty-first century than the Spanish team. A total of eleven countries have won the Davis Cup since the year 2000, but the Spanish side has earned itself a special place in the winners’ circle largely thanks to the contributions of the world number one, Rafael Nadal, who has played on five winning teams (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019).

His latest triumph came last Sunday in the Caja Mágica, the first time the new competition format was used. Nadal was back in the Davis Cup one year after his last appearance in Valencia against Germany (ESP v. GER 3-2). This time Nadal’s presence proved vital. He gave his all to win every point he played in singles (5), as well as the three doubles matches he competed in (3). Eight points in total of the 11 that Spain needed to win their sixth salad bowl.

Nadal has maintained his excellence in the international team competition for a long time. The Manacor native has only lost one singles match in the 30 he has faced in the Davis Cup. And that was the first one he played, when he was 17 years old. It was against the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak in the first round, in a tie in which he would eventually deliver the decisive fifth point against Radek Stepanek.

This result means that Nadal has now won 29 consecutive Davis Cup matches in the singles. And it is a similar story in the doubles. To find his last defeat there we have to go back to 2005 when he lost a pairs match against the Italian duo of Daniele Bracciali and Giorgio Galimberti alongside Feliciano López (6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 9-7).

This season in Madrid, the Spaniard once again demonstrated his competitive dominance. In the singles he beat Khachanov (RUS), Gojo (CRO), Schwartzman (ARG), Evans (GBR) and Shapovalov (CAN), while in the doubles he saw off Dodig/Pavic (CRO) with Marcel Granollers, González/Mayer (ARG) also with Granollers and Murray/Skupski (GBR) with Feliciano López.

The result gives him his fifth title in the competition, well ahead of the following countries with the most trophies since 2000: France (2001, 2017), Croatia (2005, 2018) and the Czech Republic (2012, 2013) with two crowns each. For their part, Russia (2002), Australia (2003), the USA (2007), Serbia (2010), Switzerland (2014), GB (2015) and Argentina (2016) have each won it once, giving real perspective to the Mallorcan’s achievement.

And it is a tangible feat for anyone who wants to make the trip to the Rafa Nadal Museum, which now houses a trophy that all the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar players have already had the chance to see.

Apart from being Nadal’s fifth Davis Cup, it also represents a magic number; it is the 100th title he has lifted in his career. To the 84 singles trophies he has earned, and the 11 in doubles, he can now add five Davis Cups. This century of wins puts him in the select company of John McEnroe (160), Mike Bryan (128), Jimmy Connors (126), Bob Bryan (126), Roger Federer (112), Ilie Nastase (107), Stan Smith (102) and Ivan Lendl (101).

It is true that Nadal shares 5 Davis Cup titles with Feliciano López and there are two other Spaniards who have won more matches than him in the competition: Manolo Santana (69) and Manuel Orantes (39). But nobody in the Open Era has won more Salad Bowls. To find players with more trophies to their name you have to go all the way back to the days of black and white, with Roy Emerson (8), Fraser (7), Johnson (7), Smith (7), Tilden (7), Norris Williams (7), Borotra (6) and Cochet (6). It is yet another example of the extraordinary legend Nadal is building himself, in both individual and team events.