Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, a hotbed of young talent
The Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, the high-performance tennis centre located in Manacor, continues to consolidate its growth thanks to the expansion of its facilities and, above all, the sporting success of its players.
One year after the premiere of the “Rafa Nadal Academy” documentary, which was broadcast worldwide on Movistar and Amazon Prime, the young promising tennis players who have been around the world have continued to progress on the various tours while maintaining their tennis and academic studies in Mallorca. In addition, since the premiere of the documentary, the academy has opened 7 new covered clay courts, 3 indoor hard courts, a new gym and pool, large player zones and a modern medical centre suited to the needs of young and adult players.
Thanks to its continuous growth, the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar was a winner at the National Sports Awards, where it received the prestigious Joaquim Blume Award, which was first given in 1959 in recognition of the sports learning centre that stands out for its work in promoting and fostering sport. It is the first time in its history that a tennis academy has won the award.
Who are the young standout talents at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar?
In a historic 2022, Casper Ruud was, besides Rafa Nadal, the only player to reach two Grand Slam finals (US Open and Roland Garros). The Norwegian, who joined the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar as the world number 143, now occupies No. 2 in the world ranking. During this season, Casper has won 4 ATP titles and reached his first Masters 1000 final in Miami.
This year Dani Rincón (US Open Junior champion in 2021) has won his first titles on the ITF circuit and reached a further final. Dani, who was a Davis Cup Junior winner and singles and doubles champion at the Orange Bowl, was called up this week by Sergi Bruguera to be a hitting partner for the Spanish team that qualified in Valencia for November’s Davis Cup finals in Malaga.
Alex Eala has become the first Filipino girl to win a Grand Slam singles title at the US Open. Her achievements date back to 2020 and 2021, when she won the doubles Junior Australian Open and French Open titles. The ex-junior world No. 2 and champion of the prestigious Les Petits As this year won her second ITF professional title in Thailand. Also, she has received invitations to play at the WTA 1000 in Miami, the Miami Open and the Mutua Madrid Open.
Abdullah Shelbayh has won his first two professional titles this year. The second of them came when he defeated his peer and friend Dani Rincón in the final. Last August he became the first player from Jordan in history to qualify for the main draw of an ATP Challenger Tour event at the Rafa Nadal Open by Sotheby’s International Realty, which took place at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar. In the tournament, Abdullah made history by reaching the semi-finals
Jaume Munar is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career after winning the ATP Challenger tournaments in Perugia and Marbella and reaching the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Gstaad. He is close to equalling his career-high ranking and breaking into the top 50 players in the world.
Max Basing realised his dream and became a student at Stanford, one of the most prestigious universities in the USA. During his tennis season, Max was the rookie of the year in the ITA Northwest Region thanks to 11 singles and 6 doubles wins during the season.
After picking up a serious injury that kept her on the sidelines for a year, Ariana Geerlings is back in competition and has won the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors in Gran Canaria, Alicante and Lousada, Portugal. This summer, she was the runner-up at España Junior.
As well as the stars of the documentary, the Rafa Nadal Academy can count among its ranks Daniel Vallejo, the world junior No. 1, Coleman Wong ,from Hong Kong, who has already won the US Open and Australian Open Junior doubles with Martín Landaluce, champion of the US Open who has a scholarship at the Academy.
