If you’re not lucky enough to win a holiday to the island (see the post below), how about some tennis lessons?

The News of the World’s travel section has just reported on it.

I’ve played regularly since I was a teenager but I’ve never had any lessons - that’s my excuse anyway!

The one thing I’ve always wanted to do though is try a holiday abroad with some proper instruction.

And what better place to pick than No 2 seed Nadal’s home turf on the beautiful island of Majorca.

He grew up playing tournaments here so I hoped maybe a little bit of his magic might rub off on me.

I picked a Jonathan Markson Tennis holiday and stayed in the four-star Hotel Villamil in the pretty Mediterranean town of Paguera. The other option was the cheaper Hotel Reina Paguera which has a huge pool and offers half board.

The location was perfect for both hotels - just 20 minutes drive or taxi from Palma Airport and a few minutes’ stroll to the tennis centre. The good thing was that it doesn’t matter what standard you are as the coaches sort out the right hitting partners for you.

It’s not for the faint-hearted though. Prepare for three solid hours of instruction, games and drills every morning for five days!

Our friendly group of 10 was made up of students, teenagers and mums and dads all wanting to hone their skills and play that bit better.

Fun

The programme has been devised by former Davis Cup player and top coach Ali Yenilmez who has had 30 years of coaching adults and children at all levels.

And each day the coaching team - we had ex-British county players Anthony McNairney and Suzanne McNaughton-Brown - focus on a different shot.

It was tough but fun and very rewarding, and I admit I had a few aches and pains after the third day but I felt much fitter and lost a few pounds in the process by the end of the week.

The popular club has 15 courts and a cosy rooftop bar and restaurant - a nice place to relax and make friends after a gruelling morning session on the courts.

If you want to arrange a game or extra tuition privately afterwards you can also book a court or an individual lesson with one of the pros. Expect to pay around 13 per hour (about £11) for the court or 39 an hour (£32) for a lesson.

The courts are in good shape and former Wimbledon champions like Nadal, Boris Becker and Steffi Graff have all played and practised there over the past few years.

And if you really are fit and sporty and you’ve got some energy left, Majorca is also a wonderful place to play golf.

One of the nicest courses - just a 10-minute drive from the hotel - is Golf de Poniente near Cala Figuera.

I played it twice - expect to pay at least 80 (£65) - and enjoyed the challenging par 72 course.

The fairways and greens are superb and the scenery amazing - as long as you don’t hook the ball into the trees.

If this all sounds too exhausting don’t panic because the hotel will help you unwind.

There’s a spa with sauna and steam room, indoor pool and hot tubs to soothe those aching muscles.

Beauty therapy and massage treatments can also be booked.

And outside there’s a sunbathing terrace and pool with a panoramic view of the whole bay to enjoy after a game.

Almost all the rooms in the Hotel Villamil have stunning sea views and are elegantly furnished with a private bathroom, terrace, mini bar, air conditioning and satellite TV.

There are two restaurants serving superb international and local cuisine and outside sun loungers and towels are provided. If you prefer, you can walk directly out of the hotel on to the beach where there are plenty of restaurants for lunch or dinner.

Paguera town itself is crammed with superb eateries which have a choice of menus - from tasty pizzas, paellas to five-course gourmet feasts.

Some of the bars put on free entertainment like flamenco dancing and there are also two nightclubs a few minutes’ stroll from the hotel, which also hosts live entertainment in the main bar every evening.

If you walk along the seafront you can pick up a fantastic glass- bottomed boat trip which costs around 13 (£11) for two hours and the kids will love it.

Delights

If you have a hire car, you can reach beautiful Port Andratx in the south west of the island in 20 minutes and enjoy a coffee or a lovely meal in the harbour.

Off course, Palma and all its delights such as the cathedral and shopping is not far away if you fancy a super day out, and there’s a bus stop just a few metres from the hotel if you are on a budget.

It’s also worth pointing out that non-tennis players don’t miss out either - they receive a £200 discount off the booking price in the brochure.

And prices for tennis players vary depending on where you go for your coaching. To read the rest of the article click though here

More details about Majorca are at yourmajorca.net and included is the Majorca weather

For the neighbouring island of Menorca visit yourmenorca.net for the current Menorca weather.

With Wimbledon underway, The Daily Telegraph has reported that Rafa Nadal feels quite at home as he prepares for this year’s Championships:

If Rafael Nadal gets his wish at the All England Club, he will not bump into Roger Federer at the practice courts or in the locker room over the weekend. In fact, he hopes he will not see him at all.

That is not because of any tension between them on Nadal’s return to Wimbledon, a tournament he won in 2008 by beating Federer in that hugely entertaining final, and which he missed last year because of his sore knees: it is a consequence of Spain’s defeat to Switzerland at the World Cup. “I haven’t seen Roger yet,” Nadal laughed, “and I don’t want to see him.”

Sit across a table from the world No?1 and there are a couple of things you cannot help but notice. One is the loud ticking from his wrist, from the ultra-lightweight, ultra-expensive Swiss watch which costs £350,000 and which he will keep on for his matches during the Wimbledon fortnight.

The other is his pleasure at being back among the petunias and the ivy-covered walls, a place he describes as “the nicest club in the world”. Nadal adores Wimbledon, loves this green bit of south-west London. Though he also has five French Open trophies, one Australian Open prize and other silverware and pieces of crystal, it is his golden replica Wimbledon cup that takes centre stage in his family home in Majorca – on top of the television.

“Next to my bedroom, there is another room with a sofa and a big TV, and my Wimbledon trophy is in there, on top of the TV,” Nadal said. “The Wimbledon trophy is right in the middle, and it’s in perfect condition. The Roland Garros trophies, after a year, after two years, they go dark, and you have to polish them. The Wimbledon one, it’s perfect.”

The other day on the practice courts, it was noticeable that Nadal was the only player who was dressed from head to toe in white. There are no rules about having to wear predominantly white clothes at Aorangi Park, yet even the reversed baseball cap he had on was white.

Between his quarter-final defeat at Queen’s Club last week and reacquainting himself with the practice courts at Wimbledon, Nadal spent a few days back in the Balearics with his replica trophy, with his friends, family and golf clubs. After all the energies and emotions of the clay-court season, it was just what he needed.

“I had a very good time. I played golf for two days, I went to a party on Saturday night with some friends, I spent time with my family and I went to the beach. My golf was terrible, though. This time of the season is terrible for my golf, as I haven’t played for many months. I think I was 12 over par, maybe 13 over. My official handicap is eight.

“I go to Majorca and I have a completely normal life. I’m at home and I have all my family there, my friends. When I go to practise in the morning there are normally some tourists or some local people watching, but for the rest of the day life is completely normal. There’s nobody taking pictures, no tourists, nothing.”

It was not just relaxation for Nadal in Majorca. “This last weekend was a bit of a holiday for me, but I was practising on Monday or Tuesday for two hours, maybe more, and afterwards I did some physical work. We don’t have any grass courts in Majorca, just artificial grass. I have to try to win this tournament and then I can rest a little bit after that.

“I’m not tired physically but mentally for me the clay season was emotional, with some very happy moments and a lot of intensity. For me, it was a very important clay season. I did very well. After winning in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid, finally you win at Roland Garros and it’s like: You did it. You go down a little bit afterwards but I hope I’ll be ready for Wimbledon,” said Nadal, who opens against Kei Nishikori, a Japanese wild card.

Last summer, Nadal watched only one match from Wimbledon, Federer’s victory over Andy Roddick in the final. At the time, he was also dealing with his parents’ divorce. “That moment wasn’t an easy moment for me – with the knee, with a little bit of the problems at home too. I was away from everything. I was working a lot with the knees to try to recover and enjoying the summer and doing different things other than tennis. That was the lowest point of the year for me,” he said.

Nadal’s 2008 victory, which took five sets and almost five hours, and which was the longest and greatest Wimbledon final in history, confounded anyone who had had him down as a ‘dirt-baller’, someone who could win only on the red clay. “It was a dream for me to win here, more than a dream. Spanish players in the past saw Wimbledon as something that was impossible to win, a different sport. But I always had my dream of doing well on this surface. I love this surface.

“When I won here in 2008, if it wasn’t the most emotional day of my career, it was one of the most emotional,” he said, and he has taken encouragement from watching highlights. “It was an amazing match. I think there were a lot of very good points, a lot of very good rallies, amazing shots from both of us. When you see that you think: ‘I can do it another time. I can play at this level on grass’. It seems like it’s impossible, but it’s not.”

To read the full article at The Daily Telegraph click here

Majorca’s favourite sporting son Rafa Nadal has won the French Open - again.

To read a news report and for photos click here

Majorca’s favourite tennis player Rafa Nadal returned to serious competitive tennis after an injury laid him off for several months at the U.S. Open, but he could only reach the semi-final stages.

But considering he was out of the game and missed this yer’s Wimbledon, it was a good preformance that islanders hope will see Rafa return to his winning ways before too long.

The surprise winner was Juan Martin del Potro.

In the final it was the fourth set where the Argentine showed his strengths and focused concentration. With this set tied 4-4, Roger Federer took the lead with a strong backhand. He then got del Potro in a position wher he only needed two points to win the Championship.

Del Potro didn’t crumble under the pressure. He served an ace and a forehand shot down the line as well. He battled Federer and forced the fourth set into a tiebreaker. Federer then committed two forehand errors in the tiebreak, which cost him the set.

With momentum in del Potro’s favor, the fifth set was less difficult for him. He broke Federer’s serve early in this set. This was through a blistering forehand passing shot that went cross-court. This gave del Potro a 2-0 lead. He subsequently fought Federer harder and another impressive forehand gave del Potro the set and the title.

The loss was the first one in 41 matches at Flushing Meadows for Roger Federer. This year, Federer won the French Open and Wimbledon Championship. He has the distinction of holding the all-time record for men’s singles with 15 Grand Slam titles.

Juan Martin del Potro began playing tennis when he was six-years old. This was in Tandil, located outside of Buenos Aires in Argentina. By the time he was 17, he was the youngest player on the tour to finish the season in the Top 200. The next year, he was the youngest player on the tour to finish the season in the Top 100.

With his U.S. Open showing, del Potro is the first player to beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer back-to-back at a major. One of his strengths is his return shots of great force. The challenge now for del Potro is to build on this and his other strengths for consistent performance, and to break the dominace of Roger Federer and of course Rafael Nadal.

Congratulations to Majorca’s Rafa Nadal for winning the Australian Open at the weekend, one of tennis’ five Grand Slam events.

In one of the best Grand Slam finals ever, Rafa Nadal triumphed over Roger Federer from Switzerland in an ultra-competitive five-set match. The duo traded set wins for the first four sets. However, Nadal came out victorious, 6-2, in the final set. This was not without a lot of hand wringing and nail biting for fans. In the end, it was worth it for the enthusiastic crowd at the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park.

Rafael Nadal’s momentum from the semi-finals carried over into the final. In the semi-final, he played a hard-fought match against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

The largest island of Spain, Majorca is in the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Balearic Islands, it’s favoured by British and German holidaymakers and holiday companies like Thomas Cook holidays - Nadal is the first Spaniard to win in Melbourne.

Nadal had a marathon semi-final match against Verdasco that lasted more than five hours. You would think exhaustion would have been a factor for him in the ensuing final. However fatigue was more a nuisance than a hindrance to Nadal’s efforts. He knew what he was in for against the always tough Federer. He rose to the challenge.

The crowd witnessed two men at the epitome of tennis excellence. Their final match was over four hours long. It was high-intensity all the way. The 22-year-old Nadal had some amazing forehand shots (on the run) that dug him out of dangerous situations. In addition, he made beelines for Federer’s drop shots and caught up to them consistently.

Federer played excellent throughout the final match as well. In fact, he had numerous opportunities to win the Australian Men’s Final. Federer volleyed back many powerful overhead shots that gave Nadal trouble. With these and his other strategies Federer won set two, 6-3, and set four by the same score.

Rafael Nadal countered with consistent backhand efforts. He definitely needed these accurate shots. He was facing an opponent who won the Men’s Australian Tennis Final in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Nadal was a semi-finalist in the 2008 Australian Men’s Tennis Final. The world’s current third-ranked men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovic won this event in 2008.

The fourth set of this year’s final was particularly dramatic. Nadal chased a lob down that was over his head. He chased it down with his back to the net and connected. He also exhibited in-air body twists to connect with Federer’s powerful overhead shots. Truly, the crowd was witnessing years of training and perseverance on the open court.

At one point in the fourth set, the score was 2-2. A rally from all areas of the court was in progress. It ended with a Nadal forehand that hugged the line. This was a significant shot. Even though he lost this set, the shot inspired Nadal. It gave him the momentum to secure his victory in the fifth set.

This victory gave Rafael Nadal his first hard-court Grand Slam title. He is the number one ranked men’s player, with Federer ranked second. Federer is now 2-5 versus Nadal in Grand Slam finals. The two men have a great, friendly rivalry going. Nadal has victories now against Federer on clay, grass and the aforementioned hard-court. This is Nadal’s sixth major title win. It is also his fifth straight victory over Roger Federer.

While still excellent tennis, the Women’s Australian Tennis Final was less dramatic. Serena Williams of the United States defeated Russian Dinara Safina. The final score was 6-0, 6-3, in Williams’ favor. Serena is the number one ranked female player. Safina is second. Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro is third.

Serena Williams won this final in under one hour. It was the first evening women’s final in Australia. For the 27 year-old tennis star, it was her 10th Grand Slam victory.

There will certainly be more dramatic and close women’s finals coming down the pike. As far as men’s finals go, they will have to raise their games to new heights to top this match Down Under. It most definitely can happen. It will be well worth it when a match of this caliber comes around again, hopefully for Wimbledon in the summer.