Top tennis players who have made a mark beyond the tennis court

Fundación Rafa Nadal

Rafa Nadal Foundation assist children and youth in India

The Rafael Nadal Foundation was started in November 2007 with an intention to aid and develop children and youth. The inspiration for this foundation stemmed from a Red Cross benefit match that Nadal and Iker Casillas participated in. Nadal was surprised by the amount of money collected and this instilled the belief in him that he could contribute beyond the tennis court and prompted him to start his own foundation.

The foundation has since spread its wings to India, setting up an academy in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. The Fundación, whose motto is “to provide an opportunity for children and adolescents with disabilities and from underprivileged surroundings”, has collaborated with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation towards the Anantapur Educational Center project.

The academy in Anantapur is a center for excellence where Nuria Sanchez Garcia, a former professional tennis player mentors budding tennis players and educates them about the finer aspects of the game. Garcia, a batch mate of Carla Suarez Navarro and Nicolas Almagro at their tennis academy back in Barcelona, played professional till she was 21, when she decided to hang up her racket and vowed to never touch it again. But it was Rafa who persuaded her to come here and volunteer at the Academy.

The complex encompasses five state-of-the-art and flood-lit clay courts, encased within the low platform of a school corridor and the foundation hopes to utilise “sport as a tool for personal and social reintegration” in the lives of the children who are a part of it.