24 October 2018

Come play on clay says Carlos Moya!

 

 

Former World Number one Carlos Moya now coaches Rafa Nadal at Rafa's Academy and training centre in Manacor, Mallorca

 

If you go to the Rafa Nadal Academy, there is a good chance you may spot Carlos Moya having a cup of coffee in the café by the clay courts. It is probably a sign that Rafa Nadal, who he coaches, is on his way. A former world number one, Moya was, like Rafa, born in Mallorca.  Unlike Rafa, who is right-handed but plays with his left, Carlos was born left-handed but plays with his right. Mallorcan tennis players, it seems are uniquely gifted when it comes to hand eye co-ordination whichever hand is involved.

Moya won the French Open in 1998 and in 2004, was part of the team that won the Davis Cup for Spain.  When his opponent Nicolas Kiefer took an injury time out in the 2004 Tennis Masters Series event in Toronto, Moya won many a fan's heart when he hit with ball boy Sandeep Ponniah. Much to the crowd’s delight, Ponniah smashed a Moya lob, and earned himself a standing ovation.

Moya, who is 42, retired from professional tennis in 2010, following a long-standing foot injury.

Main pic, Carlos Moya at the French Open 2008: By Tim Schapker [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons