The Norman Brookes Cup recently made its official entry into the Rafa Nadal Academy Museum in Manacor, Mallorca. It now sits among the 20 other Grand Slam trophies and multiple cups won by Rafael Nadal.
On February 4, the Spanish champion Rafael Nadal himself deposited the Australian Open trophy in the windows of his “personal” museum housed in the academy that bears his name, in his hometown of Manacor. Dedicated to teaching tennis to young people, this sports complex was inaugurated in 2016.
Baptized “Rafa Nadal Museum Xperience”, this museum space exhibits all the trophies, cups, prizes, Olympic medals… won by the famous Spanish tennis player throughout his career.
“You don’t know how happy I am to be able to put this trophy in the display case, it has a very special meaning for me. That’s why I leave it here so that the public can admire it when they come to visit the museum,” Rafael Nadal told Reuters news agency.
A showcase of dreams: 21 Grand Slam trophies
Grouped in chronological order in a special showcase, the 21 cups of the Grand Slam tournaments follow one another. The first place in this long succession of iconic trophies is occupied by the Coupe des Mousquetaires won in 2005 at Roland Garros by Rafael Nadal, only 19 years old.
As for the last place in this showcase of dreams, we now find the Australian Open trophy won by the Majorcan, at the end of the final which opposed him to the Russian Daniil Medvedev, on January 30, 2022 in Melbourne. It represents the Spaniard’s 21st Grand Slam title, a record that puts him ahead of arch-rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.