Next Nadal on the march? Joan Nadal Vives, son of Uncle Toni, makes ITF debut
Is Rafael Nadal's successor already in the starting blocks? Maybe - because cousin Joan Nadal Vives celebrated his ITF premiere on Sunday.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jan 04, 2021, 10:39 am
That Uncle Toni's kids have a lot of talent and hit the ball well? You heard it again and again. Can this lead to a professional career? Will show itself in the years to come. At least the beginning has been made: Joan Nadal Vives, one of Toni Nadal's three children, played his first ITF adult tournament on Sunday.
Still without success: Nadal Vives lost in the first qualifying round at the M15 tournament on Manacor (on the Rafa Nadal Academy facility) to 14 seeded Kuzey Cekirge with 1: 6, 3: 6. Cekirge is currently number 1312 in the ATP ranking.
For Joan Nadal Vives, 16 years old, it was only the second "official" tournament appearance: A year ago he had taken part in an ITF youth tournament, also in Manacor. Here too, qualifying round 1 ended after a 1: 6, 3: 6 (against Alejandro Sanchez Gonzalez).
Rafa Nadal with only two ITF Juniors appearances
That doesn't mean much under Toni Nadal: Rafael Nadal only played two official ITF tournaments in the Juniors area, one of them at Wimbledon, where he reached the semifinals (2002). Instead, he entered early on in the then Futures and Challenger tournaments.
The fact that the Nadals are extremely talented in sports is nothing new: before Rafael Nadal, Muguel Angel Nadal (uncle of Rafael, brother of father Sebastian and Toni Nadal) made a name for himself as a footballer at FC Barcelona - and as a 62-time national player for Spain .
Toni Nadal, who trained Rafael Nadal from an early age and accompanied him on the tour, had withdrawn from the coaching team of the now 20-time major champion at the end of 2017 in order to devote himself to the youth work at the Rafa Nadal Academy.