I have also visited Equelite, Juan Carlos Ferrero's academy in Valencia in the last month.
Fly to Alicante and it’s a 40-minute car ride from there. The Academy arranges airport transfers and can cater for individuals or groups of all levels and can be booked on a daily, weekly, monthly or longer basis. It's a question of calling in - ask for Pedro - telling them what you want and they will set it up for you. They even have an English representative, Patsy Gomez, based over here and she can set this up for you.
This is a stand alone academy and is probably the nicest one I have been to. It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere; so peaceful with a great mountainous backdrop.
Equelite has clay courts, hard courts, one indoor court (the only one in the region apparently), beach tennis, an artificial grass pitch, a floodlit grass football pitch, outdoor pools, paddle tennis, table tennis, volleyball, basketball and a gym which is in-between the main clay courts - perfect for jumping straight on or off court! Wow!
There are about 40 players in full-time training there and a top team of international coaches led by Antonio Martínez Cascales, who is the long time coach of Juan Carlos. When I visited there were also many visitors of all levels; club juniors from England as well as an adult group, Magnus Norman and Thomas Enquist were there with 4 of Sweden’s top 14 & Under players, and there was a Dutch coach with a group of players. All were preparing for 14 & Under Tennis Europe events on clay.
Accommodation on site is in the form of 2-bed chalets. They have a separate accommodation area for kids’ groups and another for adults, so you can get peace and quiet! And the full-time players have their own area too, along with a laundry room. A big screen and internet stations are available in the open lounge. Food was self service and very healthy; lots of it too! Fruit and cereal 24/7 so nobody ever has to feel hungry!
There was a really nice feel about this place; everyone was very relaxed and friendly. The training was tough but good quality. It reminded me that there is no substitute for hard work on court if you want to become a top player. So, if you are looking for a training base to prepare for clay or just a week of quality tennis coaching whatever your level, take a look at this camp.
More information on the academy
Amongst all of this I took a week to go to Bressuire with some of our best 11 & Under and 12 & Under players. It was like going back in time!
The tournament was perfect for the kids, with several European Federations sending players to make it a good international event. Very few parents were there; all the French regions travelled as teams with their coaches, as did the foreign players. It’s so good for the kids to learn a bit of independence at this early age, it stands them in really good stead should they go on to play full-time.
As a generalisation, I would say that the foreign players were better match-players than our kids. They seemed to be better equipped to find a way out of trouble and knew how to trouble an opponent. This may be down to having so many more sparring partners. Particularly in France, the numbers of juniors competing is about 10 times more than we have in Great Britain. Our kids are doing a pretty good job hitting the ball solidly but we need to help them become smarter match players if we are going to produce winners.
The worst thing about the tourney was the accommodation. It was based at an agricultural college which was shut for the Easter holidays. Hospital beds with sausage-shaped pillows, communal toilets and showers and soggy pasta morning, noon and night. Great for the kids, but I’ve never been so glad to see my own bed and my own fridge!
After that it was home for a night then off to Lisbon to watch Jamie in the doubles final at the Estoril Open. It was weird pitching up at the end of the event as there was literally nobody around bar the finalists, the player lounge was deserted.
Whistle-stop overnight, then off to Nice after the final with Jamie to join Andy at the Monte Carlo Masters Series. This is the best tennis venue in the world! The club overlooks the Mediterranean and the hotel is about 300m from the courts. Perfect! It was a treat to be there and to watch the boys playing; the Bressuire trip reminded me how far they have come to get to this stage. It was only about 10 years ago that they were doing those events - time flies when you’re having fun!
See you!