“That doesn’t happen at Wimbledon” British tycoon Richard Branson enjoys with Rafael Nadal at his Academy in Mallorca

Rafael Nadal‘s Academy is one of the best tennis academies in the world where not only local talents are supported, but even the Pro’s come to practice and train at the Academy in Mallorca. The academy is headed by Rafa’s uncle and former coach Toni Nadal with the 21-time Grand Slam champion also playing an active role in the Academy’s development.

Apart from the necessary infrastructure for tennis, the Academy also looks after the education of the young kids who enrol, with a dedicated museum for Rafa’s trophies and a fantastic French Open themed cafeteria also present on the premises. All these facilities and amenities in the Academy have left British business magnate Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, amused.

Before Rafa took off for Rome to play in the Italian Open, the final Masters event before the 2022 French Open, he played host to Branson Family at the Academy. Branson took to his personal blog on the official site of the Virgin Group to speak about the visit and spending time with Rafa who despite his busy practice sessions took out time for his guests.

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“I’m still looking to improve” Richard Branson after discussing tennis with Rafael Nadal

Branson gave a detailed review of the visit to Mallorca where the main purpose was the family’s visit to Virgin Limited Edition resort Son Bunyola but he also took out time to visit Rafa with whom he has a good friendship as suggested by the blog.

“The Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy is in his hometown of Manacor, and he has converted his training centre into a high-performance tennis academy that combines tennis and education to support the next generation of tennis players. If any of them go on to have 1/100th of the success Rafa has had in the sport, they will be very happy indeed. He has created the academy partially for top talents making their way in the game, directed by Toni Nadal, Rafa has also made it accessible to local people to come and play and enjoy the wonderful facilities.

“Rafa was deep into preparations for the current Masters tournaments, building up to the French Open he has dominated for so long. But he was good enough to give us a few hours to sit and chat about what is going on in the world – and of course share some of his tennis wisdom. I’m still looking to improve!

“We laughed reminiscing about the last time we shared a court, at the Necker Cup. Rafa had such a great sense of humour about the laid-back nature of our tournament. At one point our dog Sumo ran onto the court and interrupted his serve – that doesn’t happen at Wimbledon!” wrote Branson.

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