Coleman Wong Reveals He Was Close to Quitting Tennis Before Rafael Nadal’s Academy Approached Him
Coleman Wong also practiced with Rafael Nadal more than once at the latter's academy.
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Rafael Nadal, Coleman Wong (Image via X/AllAboutHQ; ATP Tour)
- Coleman Wong considered quitting tennis before joining Rafael Nadal's academy.
- He has progressed to the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open after defeating several opponents.
- Wong has trained with Nadal and won the boys’ doubles title at the 2022 Australian Open.
Coleman Wong wanted to quit tennis, but now he is one of the talented youngsters on the tour, and it’s all thanks to Rafael Nadal‘s academy. Wong is currently participating in the Delray Beach Open, where, after eliminating Yoshihito Nishioka and Tristan Schoolkate in the qualifiers, he knocked out Nuno Borges and seventh seed as well as home favorite Brandon Nakashima.
Wong started playing tennis at the age of five. Then at 17, he left Hong Kong and moved to Spain to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy. At that time, he told his parents that without making that move, he wouldn’t be able to become a professional player.
As I said, I was thinking to go on a different route and then… Yeah, Rafa’s…they invited me to go over and try and then, to try all the facilities and try to be in a group of juniors, which, all top juniors… I learned a lot during those years, and then, I went through a lot… To be able to do well here, yeah, I really wanna keep going.
Coleman Wong said during the on-court interview after beating Brandon Nakashima
The Hong Kong native also trained with the 22-time Grand Slam champion himself on multiple occasions. In 2022, both won at the Australian Open: Nadal won by defeating Daniil Medvedev, and Wong won the boys’ doubles title along with Bruno Kuzuhara.
Wong played his career’s first ATP 1000 main draw match at the 2024 Miami Open, where in the first round, Laslo Djere defeated him in straight sets. He then went on to make the main draw of four more events at this level, producing his best when he made the third round of last year’s Miami event, after knocking out home favorite Ben Shelton.
So far in his career, Wong has played just one main draw match of a Grand Slam event. Last year, he progressed to the third round of the US Open, losing that match to Andrey Rublev. In the ongoing Delray Beach Open, Wong will be facing Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals.
Rafael Nadal calls Carlos Alcaraz a legend
At the Australian Open this year, Rafael Nadal was present in the final and watched compatriot Carlos Alcaraz come from a set down to defeat Novak Djokovic in four sets to break his record. Alcaraz became the youngest man to win seven Grand Slam titles as well as to complete the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era.
Nadal used to hold the Career Grand Slam record as he achieved it at 24 by defeating Djokovic in the 2010 US Open final. Alcaraz reached the milestone at 22.
Alcaraz is no up-and-coming player; he has seven Grand Slam titles. He’s already a legend of our sport. If you look at all the great players in history, there aren’t many who have won seven Majors. In Australia, he played a high-level, hard-fought match where the age difference was evident, but each player tried to give their best with their own strengths. I really enjoyed watching the final.
Rafael Nadal told reporters after a charity golf event
Alcaraz is currently participating in the Qatar Open. He first eliminated Arthur Rinerknech, then knocked out Valentin Royer to schedule a quarterfinal match against seventh seed Karen Khachanov, who beat Marton Fucsovics.
Alcaraz has met the Russian ace five times and beaten him on all occasions. The last time they met was in the round of 16 of the 2025 Italian Open. The World No.1 is chasing the ninth ATP 500 title of his career, last lifting a title of this category in last year’s Japan Open.
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