Multi-award winning spanish tennis champion Rafa Nadal visited the Colegio San Agustin Tennis court yesterday greeting thousands of fans who waited with their kids to be part of the Rafa Nadal Clinic. Travelling with him is his uncle Toni, who happens to be his personal trainor. Coach Toni narrated that at an early age of 3, he started teaching the young Rafa how to play tennis.
Topspin Ace PH together with Globe Telecom brought to the Philippines for the first time, the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, an academy where together with Nadal’s team, they will develop young tennis players using the same values that have been fundamental to his achievements and success.
Organized by Topspin Ace PH, the Academy’s representative in the country and exclusively presented by Globe, It was a by-invitation only clinic personally conducted by his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, who also heads the academy. The clinic was held at Colegio de San Agustin in Makati last December 6, 2015.
“At Globe, every effort we undertake lets us bring our customers’ passions closer to them. From music to movies, and now sports, we’d like to give our customers who are also major tennis fans the best access so they can meet and see live their favorite players. Through the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy Clinic, not only will our customers see Nadal live, they also get to be a part of a worthy cause by supporting our young tennis talents,” said Globe Vice President for Postpaid Business Erli Valdez.
As a primer for the fans before the live tennis clinic, Globe held a Nadal fan-night ‘Vamos Rafa!’ where attendees who are also die-hard Nadal fans participated in an exciting quiz night for a chance to win tickets to meet and see Nadal live during the tennis clinic. Valdez continues that “It truly is gratifying for us to see our customers happy with activities like this. This further inspires us to pursue similar partnerships that will bring them closer to what they love.”
The invited participants for the clinic were athletes aged 6 to 16 years old, and have been nominated by their coaches to attend the workshop. Joining them are also homegrown tennis champions, siblings Miko and Alexandra Eala. Both of them broke records and won championships in competitions such as the Casely International Tennis Championship and the Little Mo International Grand Slam Championship, among others.
The Academy, inspired by the achievements of Rafa Nadal in the field of tennis, combines tennis and education so that students can continue their pathway to professional tennis. One of the main objectives of the academy is to maximize the potential of every player so that they have the opportunity to become professional players without the need to abandon proper studies.
Rafa Nadal, dubbed as ‘King of the Clay’ is a 14 Grand Slam Singles title holder, an all-time record holder of 27 titles in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and has one of the most titles for Grand Prix Super Series. He is currently ranked 5thin the ATP Singles ranking.
The Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, located in his hometown, Manacor (Mallorca), Spain, will officially open its doors in May 2016.