Dani Rincón is crowned champion of the Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar, while Rafa Nadal watches on

31.08.2025

RNA Editorial.

Dani Rincón won the seventh edition of the Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar , an ATP Challenger Tour tournament held this week at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar. After a tough battle for the title and in front of a packed Centre Court, the player from Avila defeated Austrian Jurij Rodionov 7-6(3), 6-2, in one hour and 43 minutes of play.

Rincón, trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar and the 2021 US Open Junior champion , got off to a blistering start, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set. However, Rodionov fought back and recovered the break in the seventh game, later leveling the set at four. The final result came in the tiebreak, where Dani gave no chance.

In the second set, Rincón broke his opponent’s serve in the third game and did so again in the fifth, closing out the match with a clear 6-2.

After collecting the Champion’s trophy from Carmen Sánchez de Medina, Head of Sponsorship at Telefónica, Dani Rincón began his speech with an emotional thank you to the Rafa Nadal Academy: “They brought me here six years ago, they trusted me when I was a child, they’ve helped me so much, and thank you so much for trusting me from the beginning.”

The tournament, already established as one of the benchmarks on the ATP Challenger circuit, was attended during the week by Rafa Nadal himself, who also did not want to miss the grand final.

Tournament director Joan Suasi thanked the crowd for their magnificent response throughout the week: “It’s wonderful to see this great atmosphere. It’s been a fantastic week of spectators and events, and we hope to have you with us for many more years to come.”

Regarding the triumph of an Academy player, Suasi congratulated Rincón:
“It’s a huge success. We at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar are very happy that Dani has won the tournament after many years of trying.”

With this victory, Dani Rincón adds his name to a list of winners that already includes Croatian Duje Ajdukovic (2024), Serbian Hamad Medjedovic (2023), Italian Luca Nardi (2022), Slovakian Lukas Lacko (2021), Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori (2019) and Australian Bernard Tomic (2018).