ATP Challenger: Bernard Tomic wins Rafa Nadal Open

While Rafael Nadal is hunting for the title at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year in New York, the first ATP Challenger event took place at his tennis academy on the other side of the pond. Many of the six German players in the main draw of the Rafa Nadal Open Banc Sabadell, endowed with 43,000 euros, drew a positive conclusion of their week in Mallorca.

By Florian Heer from Manacor

The Rafa Nadal Academy is located at the entrance to Manacor, the city of 40,000 inhabitants, birthplace and home of the world’s number one. Equipped with an in-house museum, 26 tennis courts, two swimming pools, seven pádel courts and much more, which the sportsman’s heart desires, the spacious grounds offer excellent conditions for holding the hard court tournament.

“We’re all extremely comfortable here. There’s nothing to complain about. From the gym to good food to the ice bath, everything is available”, Matthias Bachinger was satisfied.

“In 2007 I was allowed to train with Rafael Nadal on Mallorca. But the academy didn’t exist then, I don’t know exactly where the whole thing took place. I haven’t been here since, which is rather unusual for a German,” laughs the blond boy.

After rather mixed weeks in the previous season, Bachinger finally reached the final with victories over Ricardo Ojeda Lara from Spain, the German qualifier Tobias Simon, the top seeded Italian Thomas Fabbiano and local hero Enrique López Pérez. There the 31-year-old Munich player had to admit defeat to number six seeded Bernard Tomic 6:4, 3:6, 6:7(3) on Sunday evening. Bachinger was already in front with one set and one break, but lost after 2 hours and 34 minutes.

“The training, the travels and the tournaments mean a lot of stress and at some point the body says’Stop! This often deprives me of my energy and then I can’t really fight on the court and not win a match. The last few weeks haven’t been so successful. Now I feel better again and things should continue to go uphill,” says Bachinger as a slogan. “The most important thing is to stay healthy and fit. Then you are also with fun with the thing. Everything else comes on its own.”

Daniel Brands reached the quarter-finals by beating compatriot Mats Moraing and the British Daniel Evans and finally had to admit defeat to the strong Frenchman Kenny de Schepper.

“The last few years have not been so easy. I had my best season in 2013 and fell ill with glandular fever the following year. It took me a little while to come back and play my tennis constantly. I’ve had many days where I didn’t feel 100 percent fit – and then you don’t have many chances in professional sport. I also had to have knee surgery last year and started playing tournament tennis again in March 2018 because I was itching again”.

Brands finally celebrated his first tournament success at this level in six years at the ATP Challenger in Recanati.

Victory gave me confidence again. That’s very helpful, I’m now looking very confidently into the second half of the season,” said the highly shot-up Bavarian, who has been training with Alexander Satschko in Munich since the beginning of the year. Frederic Arlt accompanies Brands at tournaments, including Mallorca. Both seemed to enjoy the week.

“This place is incredibly beautiful. There’s probably not much like it in the world. I think we’re very lucky to play here,” Brands was also full of praise for the world’s number one tennis academy.

“You have everything you need. You notice that Rafa was probably involved in the planning, because of course he knows best about the interests of the players. The accommodation is also very nice. The rooms are spacious and the distances to and from the places are short, since we are accommodated directly on the plant. This is very pleasant. All you have to do is stop getting a cabin fever. That’s why my coach and I went to Porto Cristo for dinner,” says Brands, who hasn’t been to Mallorca since he was a child.

“The last time was a very long time ago. I must have been two years old at the most when I was here with my parents. I’m on vacation next week and I’m going to spend it here with my girlfriend. “That leaves a little time to explore the island.”

The “XPerience” exhibition is also a highlight for many tennis fans in the Sports Center of the complex outside the tournament season. The gates of the Rafa-Nadal-Museum open daily from 10 am to 6.30 pm. However, 15 Euro are due to the regular tariff proudly.

You can marvel at Nadal’s impressive collection of trophies and many interactive games around the world of sport. The clearly imprinted marketing stamp of the exhibition, however, cannot be completely ignored by the visitor and the two-storey tour finally leads to the adjacent fan shop. Here the Nadal fan can stock up with various souvenirs at the end.