The Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy is officially open. The academy founded by the fourteen-time major champion opened it’s doors on Sunday with a proper event to celebrate the opening. The man himself, Rafael Nadal, played an exhibition match along with a young junior from Mallorca and a pair of former world number ones, John McEnroe and Carlos Moya.

Star-Studded Start

As a proper christening for the new academy in Nadal’s hometown of Manacor on the island of Mallorca, Nadal partnered local junior Simon Bolbas, who was replacing former world number one Mats Wilander, in a doubles match against McEnroe and Moya. The match was played on the main court at the new academy and was a free spectacle for Nadal’s hometown fans.

Nadal (centre, in white) poses with a group at his academy. Photo: Rafael Nadal twitter
Nadal (centre, in white) poses with a group at his academy. Photo: Rafael Nadal twitter

The all-Mallorcan pair delighted the home crowd by scoring a victory over their legendary opponents, edging McEnroe and Moya, also a Mallorcan, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8. Rain delayed the match for over an hour, but it did little to kill the mood as the academy was opened in style.

Return to Mallorca

Nadal had seldom had the opportunity to play in his hometown throughout his career. After the match, he addressed the crowd saying, “Thanks to all and thanks especially to Carlos, who has been always so close in the most important moments of my career. We will see whether I can play again in Manacor before the end of my career, whatever in Davis Cup or any other event. Hopefully it can be the first time of many. We have a prepared Centre both for tennis and for many other sports.”

As there are no events on the main tour held in Mallorca, let alone Manacor, Nadal has rarely played big matches in front of his home fans. The closest he came was the 2007 Battle of the Surfaces with Roger Federer, which was played across the island in Palma de Mallorca.

Nadal will next take to the court for a tour-level event next week in Beijing. 

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About the author
Pete Borkowski
Tennis has always been my obsession. What better way to channel that obsession than writing about it? After 18 months of blogging with Sportsblog.com as the writer of A Fan Obsesseds blog, all the while completing my Bachelors in history and French, I joined VAVEL so that I can better share my love and knowledge of tennis with the world.