Rafael Nadal celebrates Australian Open glory for American teenager who graduated from his academy

Rafael Nadal congratulated the American teenager, Maxwell Exsted, for winning the junior men's doubles title at the Australian Open. The latter has recently graduated from the 38-year-old's academy.

Exsted partnered Jan Kumstat at the Melbourne Major, and the duo triumphed 7-6(6), 6-3 over Egor Pleshivtsev and Ognjen Milic to win the boys doubles title. This was Exsted's second successive junior doubles title at the Australian Open, having previously partnered compatriot Cooper Woestendick in 2024.

Praising the teenager for this brilliant performance, Rafael Nadal took to his Instagram story and reshared a post from his academy's social media handle that congratulated the player on his victory. His caption read:

"Congratulations, @maxexsted!" 👏🏻@rafaelnadalacademy Team 👏🏻"

Rafael Nadal's Instagram story

The Spaniard's team also celebrated the 17-year-old's win by sharing a bunch of pictures on Instagram, showcasing the player's time on the court. Congratulating Max for the win, they added the caption:

"@australianopen Junior Doubles Champion!! Congratulations, @maxexsted! What a great week with @jankumstat in Melbourne! A week that we will never forget! VAMOOOOS!!"

Exsted previously trained with Rafael Nadal ahead of the Paris Olympics.

Rafael Nadal opened up about how his academy helps adults

The Spaniard at the Next Gen ATP Finals (Image Source: Getty)

In a video released by Rafael Nadal's academy on YouTube in 2020, the Spaniard explained how his academy plays a significant role in shaping adults' tennis games and helps them attain a positive experience there. He opened up about the fact that all the academies focus on improving young players, but his academy emphasises the adults game.

"When we think of the academy itself, we always think of the young players. However, here we also have different adult programs that work well, and we are satisfied to do a tennis program for a few days or weeks," said Nadal. "In fact, every year more adults come here to do a tennis program for a few days or weeks. For me it is a great satisfaction."

He also revealed that he does a personal check in the academy and asks all the players about their experience.

"I try to come here every day because I practice and go to the gym here. When I see players, I try to ask them about their stay here, and they usually say that the experience they get from here is very positive. That's something that personally makes me happy."

Rafael Nadal announced his retirement this year on October 10, 2024, and ended his career after competing at the Davis Cup Finals in November.