‘Come Back to Mallorca To Play on Our Courts’ – Rafael Nadal’s Academy Drops a Message of Hope for 97-Year-Old Ukrainian Tennis Player

Rafael Nadal’s Academy in his hometown of Mallorca, the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, has been welcoming quite a few luminaries since its inception. One of the most recent guests there was Leonid Stanislavskyi, the 97-year-old tennis player from Ukraine, who has the Guinness World Record for being the oldest tennis player in the world, as recognized by the ITF.

The Academy’s page recently posted a message of support to Stanislavskyi, given the current geopolitical situation. Amidst rising tension, the statement hoped that they will be able to host Leonid once again, very soon.

“Dear Leonid, From the #RafaNadalAcademy by Movistar we send you all our strength and support in these difficult times. We hope that when all this is over you can come back to Mallorca to play on our courts,” was the caption to the post.

Stanislavskyi stays back in Ukraine

This is in response to Stanislavskyi’s recent statements about him choosing to stay back in the city of Kharkiv. “I hope I live to reach 100. I have to survive this frightening situation,” Leonid, who has lived through the Second World War, Spanish influenza, and now the COVID 19 pandemic, said.

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“The war started on (February) 24th. From the 24th till now I have practically not gone out.“I’ve stayed at home… I have supplies, the fridge is full. I’m sitting at home, not going anywhere,” he added.

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The super-senior category player, who still plays some international tournaments, pleaded for the war to end. “What is this? What good is it? In the 21st century there can’t be war… The war needs to be stopped, an agreement has to be reached,” he said.

Rafael Nadal played tennis with the oldest tennis player

It was during Leonid’s last visit to the Rafa Nadal Academy that the veteran wanted to play a shot against Rafael.

The academy’s social media profile posted about the heartwarming meeting. They also posted a video clip of Stanislavskyi and Nadal playing a point between them.