Lesson on the red clay in Mallorca

Majorca, Spain

Today was the day I had been dreaming of – my very first time to play tennis on the red clay of Mallorca! We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast that Susi prepared then found our way to Global Tennis for my 10am lesson with Vinicio (Joffre Porta, the head of the academy, was supposed to teach me, but he had a last-minute conflict) – what a great coach! The first thing he did was a quick test to determine which is my dominant eye. He explained that it affects the way he teaches various strokes and movement around the court. Turns out I’m left-handed and right-eyed, just like Rafa! We then did a volley drill at the net that took me a couple of minutes to get – I had to dribble the ball on my racquet then volley it to Vini – harder than it sounds, believe me! Next was some groundstroke and movement work at the baseline. I realized that I’m not as in shape as I thought! When I took a water break and went to sit on the bench, Vini said that only the top 100 players get to sit during water breaks, lol! Sliding into the ball then recovering back to the center of the court is a b*tch! Finally, we worked on my serve. Vini tried to get me to use more of my legs and really helped me with my toss and placement, too. At the end of the lesson, I had to drag the court – Vini told me all the players clean up after themselves when they play here. We finished up with a couple of photos then went inside to talk to Joffre’s gorgeous wife, Afiza, about how the academy works with junior players. Wouldn’t it be awesome to send our son here?!?!

We headed back to Susi’s for a shower, then she joined us for the rest of this amazing day. Susi led us on an expedition into the mountains and down to the beautiful beaches of Mallorca. We ate lunch at one of her favs and the chef, Manolo, treated us to some incredible food – grilled octopus and Galician beef among the offerings. We finished up the meal with some homemade Lemoncello, clear cana, and cana tostada – yum! After lunch, we walked on the beach for a bit then drove around the island to Formentor beach for a little sunbathing. We drove back to Susi’s along the cliffs and did a short hike for a view of the entire island from above – breath-taking!

When Susi realized we were tennis people, she made a call to a friend of hers to arrange for him to join us for dinner. Turns out that her friend is none other than Juan Bosch, former coach of Carlos Moya! Juan brought one of his young proteges along, an 18 year-old top-10 Spanish boy named Sergio. We met at an Irish pub, Hogan’s, in Palma. I was still so full from lunch that I just feasted on the conversation instead of burgers, but the food sure looked good. Juan was so charming and told lots of great stories about his time on the pro tour. What a great finish to an incredible day!