Daniel Rincon threw a look of the baseline and suddenly froze. Leading 2-0 in his second round match at the ATP Challenger Tour event at Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, saw Spaniard Rafael Nadal looking from the stands.
“I saw him watching and I lost six games in a row,” Rincon said laughing, speaking with Atptour.com. “I got a little tight there.”
The nerves did not derail Rincon for long. The 22-year-old regrouped himself, won the competition and conquered the trophy where he trained and graduated in 2021.
While he participated in the final, Rincon again saw the former Nadal Nadal -looking at the world, although the game was almost halfway, so Rincon “didn’t have too much time to think about it”.
Rinon’s triumph on his pounding terrain with friends, family and other supporters (such as Rafa!) In presence-Voltooid a full-circle moment for him.
“It was by far the best week of my life. I really can’t compare it with something else,” said the number 209 player in the PIF ATP ranking list. “I thought about what it could be before the final, or the feelings of winning there, but it was even more than I thought. It was incredible.”
Both Challenger triumphs from Rincon have delivered memorable moments. When he won his first Challenger title last year in Tampere, Finland, his luggage was lost. He fought through the opening rounds with only three racquets, borrowed strings and handles.
“I went on the field with a small bag, I looked like an amateur player who would practice on a Sunday,” said Rincon at the time. “Just with three t-shirts and do the laundry every day.”
In Manacor, the 22-year-old from 2-5 gathered in the third set of his first two games and also needed a decision maker in his quarter-final and semi-final games.
The presence of Nadal contributed to the Storybook Week, although Rincon did not have the chance to speak with the 92-meal Tour level Titlist during the tournament.
“In the second round I knew he would come,” said Rincon. “I have a few people who are close to him and they knew he had to come and do some media and he would stay a bit before the competition, so I didn’t try to look, but at the same time looked like:” When is he coming? ” So the first day I was actually looking for him.
Rinon’s connection with the Rafa Nadal Academy is walking deep. He arrived for the first time in the state-of-the-art facility as a 16-year-old in September 2019. The Manacor Challenger final was played on his first day, so it is appropriate that one day he would claim a special victory during the same event.
Rincon thought about his journey: “Now that I played the final, who had thought when I was only 16 and with my two suitcases that I would play there?”
Credit: Alvaro Diaz/Rafa Nadal open by Movistar
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