Rafael Nadal Is Bringing His Tennis Academy to a Luxury Resort in Indonesia

Rafael Nadal may have hung up his racket, but the 22-time Grand Slam champion is still taking his game around the world. The Rafa Nadal Academy is expanding into Indonesia with a new Rafa Nadal Tennis Center in Lombok, marking the organization’s first outpost in Southeast Asia. Scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2028, the facility will form part of Samara Lombok, an ambitious new luxuryLuxuryA lifestyle defined by exceptional quality, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and sophistication, encompassing the finest products, services, and experiences that represent the highest standards of refinement and excellence.Go to Luxury Glossary resort taking shape along the island’s southern coast.

The center will comprise four tennis courts and four padel courts, with programs designed for everyone from beginners to experienced players. Coaching will draw from the training system Nadal and his team developed over more than two decades on the professional circuit, which is the same system underpinning the Rafa Nadal Academy in his hometown of Manacor, Mallorca.

Situated about 25 minutes from Lombok International Airport, Samara is being developed as a 150-hectare coastal playground combining hospitality, residences, restaurants, wellness, and sport. The master plan calls for three boutique hotels and 500 villas, with around 150 residences expected to be operational when the resort makes its full debut in 2028. It will also become the first Destination by Hyatt property in Southeast Asia.

Samara’s broader plans include watersports, wellness facilities, swimming pools, beach clubs, and more than 10 restaurants and bars. It’s envisioned to be a kind of self-contained resort where a morning backhand session can comfortably give way to an afternoon by the water.

For Nadal, the Lombok project represents another step in a second act already extending well beyond competition. The Spaniard retired from professional tennis in 2024 after a career that produced 92 tour-level titles, 22 majors, and a record 14 French Open crowns. His academy in Mallorca, inaugurated in 2016, has since become the centerpiece of a growing international training network.

His academy in Mallorca, inaugurated in 2016, has since become the centerpiece of a growing international training network and a proving ground for emerging talent. Among its most prominent graduates is the Philippines’ own Alex Eala, who joined the academy in 2018 and graduated in 2023 before establishing herself on the WTA Tour. Her rise has become one of the clearest advertisements for the Manacor system, taking her from junior Grand Slam success to historic results for Philippine tennis on the professional circuit.

That network now includes full academies in Mallorca and Kuwait, along with Rafa Nadal Tennis Centers in destinations including Costa Mujeres, Sani, Hong Kong, Marbella, and Punta Cana. There is also a training program in Egypt, while another center is scheduled to arrive in Brazil in 2028. Lombok will push that footprint into a part of the world where both destination resorts and racket sports are enjoying increasingly prominent roles in the luxury-travel landscape.

“We are very excited about the arrival of the first Rafa Nadal Tennis Center in Southeast Asia,” Maribel Nadal, the academy’s deputy general manager, says as she announces the project.

The pairing also feels particularly suited to Lombok. Long known for its beaches, surf breaks, and the volcanic slopes of Mount Rinjani, the Indonesian island has increasingly positioned itself as a quieter alternative to neighboring Bali. Samara is betting that the next generation of travelers will want more than a handsome villa and an infinity pool when they arrive. A Nadal-approved forehand, apparently, is part of the package.