Sad pictures of Rafael Nadal's academy have emerged, which was damaged after a massive storm struck Mallorca.
The Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy was founded on October 19th, 2016. It is located in the 22-time Grand Slam champion's hometown of Manacor on the island of Mallorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.
At its opening, Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle and longtime coach until 2017, and his agent Carlos Costa led the academy. Carlos Moya, who replaced Toni as Nadal's primary coach, was named technical director.
Nadal's Academy has 23 hard courts, 22 clay courts, 16 padel courts, squash courts, a football pitch, a swimming pool, and a sports medicine facility, making it an impressively comprehensive operation.
Casper Ruud is the most high-profile player to have trained there. Therefore, his 2022 French Open final against Nadal was a particularly proud moment for those working at the academy.
Many tournaments are also held at the academy. The most notable of these is the Rafa Nadal Open, which has been held on the ATP Challenger Tour since 2018. Bernard Tomic won the first iteration of that event more than six years ago.
Although Nadal has understandably not been able to devote a huge amount of time to his academy due to the intense lifestyle of a professional player, Toni says that is likely to change.
Nadal will play the final tournament of his legendary career at the Davis Cup Finals in a few weeks. Toni mentioned in an interview that he will give more time to the academy after retiring, as well as stating his nephew would accept the Real Madrid Director of Football job.
However, Nadal and everyone else involved with the academy are currently dealing with damage caused by a severe storm that struck Mallorca, damaging several parts of the island.
The intense overnight storm was most severe in the early hours of Monday. It has led to road closures, rescues and dozens of emergency operations taking place across the Island.
Unfortunately, Manacor was one of the areas most impacted, and Nadal's Academy did not escape serious damage, as proven by pictures posted by the academy's official social media pages.
The pictures prove how widespread the damage to the academy is. In the first picture, one of the indoor facilities is flooded, a clear indication that the storm was massive and damaged many parts of the academy's infrastructure.
Since indoor facilities were damaged, it is unsurprising that outdoor courts at the Rafa Nadal Academy were also badly flooded. It will be challenging to get its operations up and running again quickly.
Thankfully, the academy's social media pages confirmed that everyone was safe and work had already started to get everything back to normal as soon as possible.
"Thank you all very much for your messages of love after the huge storm. 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!"