7 top players who have trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy ft. Casper Ruud
Rafael Nadal broke new grounds time after time right from the start of his career. His passion for the sport also led to the formation of the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2016. It is located in his hometown of Manacor in Mallorca, Spain.
The academy is led by Toni Nadal, the 22-time Major champion's uncle and former coach. Featuring state of the art facilities related not only to tennis, but also other sports, the academy is the perfect training ground for budding athletes. There's also a school for 10- to 18-year olds on the premises.
Plenty of current top players and rising stars use the center as their training base. Some of Nadal's own colleagues across the ATP and WTA tours have trained there from time to time.
Here's a look at seven top players and rising stars who have made a name for themselves due to their time at the Rafa Nadal Academy:
#7 Yaroslav Demin
Demin, 18, nabbed the boys' doubles title at the French Open earlier this year. Despite losing the boys' singles final at Wimbledon, he rose to the top of the junior ITF rankings.
Demin is now trying to make a transition to the pro tour and so far has competed on the Challenger and ITF circuit.
#6 Daniel Rincon
Rincon joined the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2019 and won the boys' singles title at the US Open a couple of years later. He showed tremendous promise even as a youngster and won the Orange Bowl in the under-16 category.
Rincon made his ATP debut at the 2023 Barcelona Open, but lost to Jason Kubler in the first round. He also qualified for the main draw of the Geneva Open, but fell at the opening hurdle once again.
Rincon captured his maiden title at the Challenger level in April 2023 in doubles. He also won a couple of ITF titles at the start of the year. The Spaniard is now gunning for more success on the ATP tour.
#5 Abedallah Shelbayh
Shelbayh is Jordan's most promising tennis prospect in ages. Having honed his skills at the Rafa Nadal Academy, he made considerable progress this year. En route to his maiden Challenger final in April, he knocked out World No. 79 Jason Kubler to notch his first win over a top 100 player.
Shelbayh made his ATP debut at this year's Qatar Open, but lost in the first round. He made his Masters debut at the Madrid Open, but failed to win a match there as well. He scored his maiden ATP win at the Srpska Open by defeating Elias Ymer in the opening round.
Shelbayh thus became the first player from his country to win an ATP match. His biggest triumph so far came in October, when he bagged his first Challenger title. He's now close to cracking the top 200 of the ATP rankings.
#4 Martin Landaluce
Landaluce is another promising talent who currently trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy. He became the junior World No. 1 in February this year. He claimed the boys' singles title at the US Open last year and then made his ATP debut later in October at the Gijon Open.
The 17-year-old made his Masters debut at the 2023 Madrid Open, but lost to veteran Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the first round. Landaluce mostly competes on the ITF circuit as he tries to move through the rankings.
#3 Alex Eala
Eala has been a student at the Rafa Nadal Academy since she was 12 years old. She won the girls' singles title at the 2022 US Open and a couple of doubles titles before that.
Eala won two bronze medals for her country at this year's Asian games, one in women's singles and another in mixed doubles. While she is still finding her footing on the WTA tour, she's already cracked the top 200 in the rankings.
#2 Jaume Munar
Munar is also a product of the Rafa Nadal Academy. The Spaniard rose to a career-high ranking of No. 52 back in 2019. He has reached one final on the ATP tour so far, which was at the 2021 Andalucia Open.
While Munar's results in 2023 have been all over the place, he did reach the fourth round of a Masters tournament for the first time. He did so at the Madrid Open, having never won a match at the venue prior to this year.
#1 Casper Ruud
Ruud is one of the most successful stories to come out of the Rafa Nadal Academy. Having idolized the Spaniard since his childhood days, the Norwegian has followed in his footsteps with his impressive results on clay.
Ruud has reached three Major finals, two at the French Open and one at the US Open. He also finished as the runner-up at last year's ATP Finals and peaked at No. 2 in the rankings. The 24-year-old has 10 titles to his name so far.
Ruud has ended the last couple of season ranked in the top 10 and could possibly repeat the feat this year as well.