Rafael Nadal's sister Maribel sends her love as Spaniard wishes their academy's padel team good luck for Alpine Hexagon Cup

Rafael Nadal's sister, Maribel, recently reacted to the Spaniard's warm wishes for their academy's padel team competing at the 2025 Alpine Hexagon Cup. The padel tournament is scheduled to run from January 29 to February 2, at the Madrid Arena in Spain.

The Hexagon Cup is a professional team padel competition featuring eight teams, each with six players. Throughout the tournament, teams will compete in eight matches over the first four days and the top two teams will play the final on Sunday (February 2).

One of the eight competing teams is the Rafa Nadal Academy Team. Rafael Nadal recently took to social media to express his support and encouragement for his academy's team.

In a heartfelt video message, the former World No.1 reminisced about playing his first match in 2004 at the Madrid Open at the Madrid Arena where the Hexagon Cup will be played this year.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion talked about the immense support he received from the people of Madrid during his matches at the arena. In a video posted on Instagram, he also urged the fans to rally behind his academy's padel team.

“Hello everyone, how are you doing? Well, I wanted to invite you to support the Rafa Nadal Academy team in the Hexagonal Cup. This year marks 20 years since I won for the first time in Madrid on the same stage and shared very exciting and really for the first time I experienced what it means to have the audience of Madrid supporting me and without it, it would have been impossible to get that comeback,” the former World No.1 said (translated from Spanish).

“So I hope that the Academy team can feel the same this week, which I'm sure will happen. Make a difference. Big hug to everyone and thank you,” he added.

Reacting to Rafael Nadal's message, his sister, Maribel conveyed her love and support to the academy's team and re-shared the video on her Instagram story.

“😊 ❤️ ," Maribel captioned her Instagram story.

Screengrab of Maribel's Instagram story (Image Source: Instagram)

Maribel studied motor and sports sciences at the INEFC center in Barcelona and got a master's degree in sports management from Pompeu Fabra University. Currently, she is the deputy general manager at the Rafa Nadal Academy.

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A look back at Rafael Nadal's record at the Madrid Open

Mutua Madrid Open 2024 [Image Source: Getty Images]

The 2004 Madrid Open took place at the Madrid Arena, a venue that will also host the 2025 Alpine Hexagon Cup. In the 2004 Masters tournament, Rafael Nadal had advanced to the second round, defeating Davide Sanguinetti in the first round before falling to Vince Spadea.

Throughout his career, the Spaniard dominated the Madrid Open, claiming the title five times, the most of any player. His first title win came in 2005 when he triumphed over Ivan Ljubicic in the final. Five years later, in 2010, he secured his second title by defeating Roger Federer in the championship match.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014, overcoming Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in the respective finals. His most recent title win at the Madrid Open was in 2017 when he defeated Dominic Thiem in the final.

Rafael Nadal last competed at the Madrid Open in 2024. He defeated the likes of Darwin Blanch, Alex de Minaur, and Pedro Cachin in the first three rounds before falling to Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round.