It was only a matter of time before Casper Ruud rewrote the record books for Norwegian tennis on the ATP Tour. And the day arrived on Sunday in Buenos Aires. On the Argentinian clay he became the first player from his country to win a singles title on the professional tour when he beat the Portuguese Pedro Sousa in the final of the Argentina Open 6-1, 6-4 in just 71 minutes.

“It’s a great feeling. I’m enjoying the moment. It’s a very special thing to win my first title and the biggest of my career so far”, the player who arrived at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in 2018, when he was just inside the top 140 in the ATP Rankings, recognised in an interview with ATPTour.com. In the less than 2 years since, his rise has been meteoric and on Monday he reached no. 34 in the world, his highest position yet.

His eruption into this elite section of the list also means he has exceeded the mark set by his father Christian Ruud in October 1995, when he peaked at no. 39 in the world. The news means that Casper is also the highest-ranking Norwegian in history. “I beat his ranking and I won a title, which he was unable to do”, joked the young 21-year-old player. “I no longer have to listen to the question of whether I can surpass my father, but now I have to try to think about improving and getting further”.

It was not the first time he has faced the possibility of claiming an ATP title. Last year, he fell at the final hurdle in Houston, but in Buenos Aires he took his chance with aplomb. And he did so after an impeccable week in which he saw off opponents such as Pablo Andújar (first round), Roberto Carballés (second round), Dusan Lajovic (quarter-finals), Juan Ignacio Londero (semi-finals) and Sousa in the decider.

After tasting success, the Norwegian was forthcoming about the help he has received in Manacor from the Rafa Nadal Academy. “It’s a great place if you want to be a professional tennis player. The Academy has helped me a lot with the coaches and everything else, as well as Rafa himself. He is very involved in my tennis and my career, so I’m very grateful to them and I will continue there for as long as I can”.

But Casper’s road does not end in Buenos Aires. Now, with Pedro Clar in his corner, he travels to Rio de Janeiro, a place that holds great memories for him. It was there that he was a semi-finalist in 2017 and he bowed out in the quarter-finals last year. Can he reach another final? We will find out from 17 to 23 February.

The Spaniard is taking his methodology to the Middle East.

The Rafa Nadal Academy Kuwait is now a reality. The facilities were inaugurated on Wednesday with an exhibition match between Rafa Nadal himself and David Ferrer. More than 1,500 people enjoyed one of the greatest sporting events in the country’s history, which Rafa won 6-4, 6-3.

As maintained by Rafa during his two-day stay in the country, the second Rafa Nadal Academy’s goal is to become a leading tennis centre in the Middle East and to support the Kuwait tennis federation in the development of a programme that drives the sport with a formative project led by ex-player and the Academy’s head coach Nuno Márquez and by the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar team of coaches in Kuwait.

“Although we opened two Rafa Nadal Tennis Centres in Mexico and Greece last year, this is the first academy we have opened outside of Manacor. It is a project that I am excited about and truly motivated by, as this is a region of the world that has potential for us to help grow the culture of tennis. We believe that from the academy we can help not only young talent here in Kuwait, but in the whole of the Middle East”, underlined the Spaniard.

“We have a great coaching team, the facilities are spectacular and we are working with Tamdeen, who have exceptional staff. Like in Mallorca, we’ll try to promote respect, determination and perseverance in the students. Although I would love great champions to come from here, the principal and most important thing is that they grow with strong values that help them in sport, but also in the future and in the development of their personal and professional life”, said Rafa himself.

For the last 48 hours, Rafa has had the opportunity to visit the Academy facilities, which include 8 indoor courts, 8 outdoor courts, the 1500-seat open-air stadium in which he played David Ferrer and a covered multi-use pavilion with the capacity to house 5,000 spectators.

The world number one’s first coaching project came in 2016 with the inauguration of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, his native city. International expansion came in 2019 with the creation of the “Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre” complexes at the Hotel Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres (Mexico) and the Sani Resort (Greece). Now, in 2020, this exciting project continues to grow with the opening of the second Academy in the world in Kuwait, a project that has been developed alongside the Tamdeen group.

Alex Eala’s list of achievements just keeps on growing, with even more success early this season. While she played in the main draw of a junior Grand Slam a few months ago at the US Open, it was the 2020 Australian Open where she was able to celebrate her first title in the category. The Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar player took the spoils in the doubles alongside the Indonesian Priska Madelyn Nugroho.

Under the watchful eye of her coach Daniel Gómez in the stands of Court 13 at Melbourne Park, Eala and Nugroho beat the Slovenian Ziva Falkner and Briton Matilda Mutavdzic 6-1, 6-2. Earlier, in the semi-finals, they knocked out the favourites Kamila Bartone and Linda Fruhvirtova, while in the quarters they saw off 7th-seeded French pair Aubane Droguet and Selana Janicijevic.

At just 14 years of age, the Filipino has become the first player from her country to win the Australian Open or any other Grand Slam tournament since her compatriot Francis Casey Alcantara did so in the boy’s junior doubles in 2009 alongside Hsieh Cheng-Peng.

“I’m so happy. It’s incredible”, said Eala after winning her first Grand Slam crown and recording a new achievement for her country. “It wasn’t an easy match, we did very well, we kept our energy high and we were positive”, she concluded after the historic victory. Elsewhere, in the singles, she improved on her performance at Flushing Meadows (second round) by reaching the last sixteen on the Australian hard courts.

Eala’s steady rise continues after finishing last year by lifting the title in the ITF Junior in Cape Town (South Africa) and playing in another final in Osaka (Japan). This is the natural evolution of a player who is in the top 10 of Junior ITF Ranking, where she occupies the No. 9 spot.

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.