Rafael Nadal's tennis academy celebrates historic Saudi Arabian representation at the junior Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup 2023

Rafael Nadal’s tennis academy is celebrating historic Saudi Arabian representation at the junior Davis Cup and the Billie Jean Cup in 203.

On Thursday, February 23, the Spaniard’s academy announced a first, as their student hailing from Saudi Arabia – 15-year-old Adam Alireza – was chosen to represent his country’s team at the 2023 Davis Cup Junior event to be held in Sri Lanka.

The Rafa Nadal Academy also acknowledged the historic first-ever Junior Billie Jean King Cup girls' team that is set to represent Saudi Arabia.

“Making history! The Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar Player Adam Alireza will represent Saudi Arabia at the Davis Cup Junior in Sri Lanka!” the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s academy tweeted.

“For Saudi Arabia there is a wider context as this is the 1st time their nation has been represented by a female team at an ITF Tennis event.”

Rafael Nadal launched his tennis academy in Mallorca in 2016 and it has since become one of the leading sports centers in the world. Many of the former World No. 1’s students have been yielding spectacular results of late.

World No. 4 Casper Ruud and World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime are two of the most successful tennis players to take lessons from the institution. Additionally both boys’ and girls’ champions at the 2022 US Open – Martin Landaluce and Alex Eala – were students of the Mallorcan's academy.

This week, Abedallah Shelbayh, a 19-year-old tennis player from Jordan, made history by becoming the youngest Arab to feature in a Challenger Tour final in Manama.

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"He gave me words of encouragement many times" – Abedallah Shelbayh on learning tennis under Rafael Nadal

Abedallah Shelbayh at the on-going Qatar Open

Abedallah Shelbayh’s historic run at the Manama Challenger has definitely been one of the tennis highlights this week.

On his way to the final, the young Jordanian got the better of 2023 Australian Open men’s doubles champion Jason Kubler, before eventually locking horns with the Australian doubles champion from 2022 Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final, where he fell short.

Speaking about his time at the Spaniard's academy, Abedallah Shelbayh stated that, albeit a difficult one, it was the best decision he made. The 19-year-old remarked that tennis wasn’t a popular sport in his country, thus, moving to Mallorca and being guided by Rafael Nadal made all the difference.

“I know it was not an easy thing for me, but it was the best decision since tennis, as I said, is not a big sport in Jordan,” Abedallah Shelbayh said in a press conference at the ongoing Qatar Open, “If I would have stayed there, I wouldn't have been where I am right now.”

“To be able to practice with him many times and hear many tips from him,” he revealed about learning under Rafael Nadal, “He gave me words of encouragement many times and a lot of tips on how to improve.”