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My visit to Rafael Nadal's state-of-the-art Mallorca tennis academy

My visit to Rafael Nadal's state-of-the-art Mallorca tennis academy

Times21-05-2025

Before his retirement Rafael Nadal would usually be bounding about on the clay courts of Paris at this time of year in preparation for the French Open. These days, you will find him in Mallorca keeping up his post-career fitness in the corner of a gym alongside some members of the public who are (respectfully) not quite so trim.
Even at the height of his two-decades-long career, it has often been said that Nadal would casually blend in with the rest of the population at home in the small town of Manacor. Within minutes of The Times parking up outside the Rafa Nadal Academy there is proof. Walking towards the entrance, we immediately catch sight of one of tennis's greats, with little fuss, through the

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