A promising Indian tennis player Maya Rajeshwaran has joined the renowned Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. 

Maaya’s personal coach and mentor Manoj Kumar said that it was the Balearic Islands-based academy that gave them the offer for the training after they conducted a screening session in a period spanning between a week and 10 days.

The 15-year-old Maaya hails from Tamil Nadu, will travel in January to begin her year-long stint at the Academy. Her coach for the last 5 years, Manoj Kumar, spoke to Times of India regarding the opportunity this presents to her.

“We wanted her to train in Europe as it is one of the best places. The offer came directly from the Rafa Nadal Academy. They conducted a screening process for about a week or 10 days. After the screening, they offered her a contract for one year,” explained Kumar regarding the process of entering the running of practicing at the Nadal Academy.

After rising to the number one in under-18 tennis in India, and achieving notable international success, including five ITF junior singles titles, Maaya drew the attention of the Rafa Nadal Academy, getting the opportunity to appear before the selection trials. Rafael Nadal’s academy chooses a select group of players to travel to the recently-retired tennis legend's home on the island of Mallorca, where they gain access to some of the best coaches in the business.

“Maaya has been assigned a dedicated coach. She will also have a coach who could travel with her for tournaments. Maaya had visited a couple of other academies and in the end, we (her coach and family) decided to take up the offer from Nadal’s academy,” continued Kumar