Tennis In Paradise

At Rafael Nadal’s signature tennis academy in Mallorca, students develop a killer backhand in a five-star setting.

- Tim Sturby

It’s a sunny Monday morning in November and I’ve just flown 3,800 miles from New York to Spain to play tennis. I’m not alone. Beside me on the court are five men and three women from seven different countries. Racquets in hand, we listen attentively to our smiling new coach standing before us. “It’s not too easy to improve so much in a week, so I want you to learn a little and have fun,” he says in his raspy voice.

I can’t help being a little anxious anyway: This isn’t just any tennis coach, but Toni Nadal, the man responsible for moulding his nephew Rafael into one of the greatest to ever play the game. And this court is at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, in the gorgeous seaside town of Manacor on the Spanish Island of Mallorca. Welcome to tennis paradise.

Although the doors of the RNA officially opened in May 2016, the 16-time Grand Slam champion had been floating the idea around for quite a while. “Rafa was seriously talking about an academy in 2011,” Toni recalls. “Many people from Qatar asked him to make one for them but he wanted to make the first one here in Manacor, his hometown.”