In Pictures: Rafael Nadal's tennis academy in Mallorca in disarray after storm strikes overnight, leaves courts flooded
The Balearic Islands have been hit hard by a storm that led to widespread flooding across Mallorca, including inside the Rafa Nadal Academy. Photos released today show the damage at the Spanish tennis legend's academy, and the situation appears serious.
In the early hours of Monday, Mallorca was struck by DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels), a weather phenomenon that occurs when warm air collides with a cold front, causing intense rains and storms.
According to a report in the Majorca Daily Bulletin, emergency services were on "high alert," responding to 77 operations across various municipalities until 6 am local time on Monday.
The Rafa Nadal Academy, located in Manacor on the Balearic Islands, was also impacted by the storm. Australian tennis prodigy Taiki Takizawa, who trains at the academy, shared a video on Instagram showing the flood’s effects on the facility.
Additionally, the academy’s official X (formerly Twitter) account posted updates on the flooding, sharing several images of the damaged facilities. The post mentioned that everyone at the academy was safe and working towards restoring normalcy.
"Thank you all very much for your messages of love after the huge 🌨️ . The important thing is that we are all well and working to get back to normal life at the academy as soon as possible. Thanks to @BombersdeMca and the maintenance teams for your effort! 👏🏻👏🏻" they captioned the post.
One of the worst-hit areas has been Porto Cristo. However, recent updates suggest that while heavy rain is no longer expected, the weather is likely to remain unstable for another week.
Rafael Nadal opened his tennis academy to victims of Mallorca floods in 2018
Rafael Nadal's tennis academy opened in 2016. In 2018, a devastating flash flood struck Mallorca in October and took several lives. The Spanish tennis icon, however, tried to help out in many ways. He joined the clean-up efforts after the flood and also provided shelter to the victims in his tennis academy.
“It was terrible,” he told CNN Sport in an exclusive interview at his academy. “Scary, and very sad.”
“I really lived that tragedy, from very close.. Was very sad for all the people that lost the materials, but especially, the lives that can’t come back,” he added.
The following day of the flood, Nadal went to the court but, after just 10 minutes, told his team he couldn’t continue practicing. He returned to be with friends, and shortly after, they all decided to go help out in the flood-affected area. The Spaniard also contributed €1 million to support the disaster victims.