![\"Tennis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5361ed39-d8a3-4ad4-a4b4-3c55db396d34_3e7874db.jpg\" "\\"Tennis")
Tennis legend Rafa Nadal has partnered with Hong Kong-based WEMP Foundation, which focuses on youth mental wellness. Photo: Eugene Lee<\/p>\nRafael Nadal could easily have chosen a quiet life after one of the greatest sporting careers the world has ever known, leaving his grand slams and inspiration to the next generation as his legacy.<\/p>\n
But a gentle retirement was never likely to be the Spaniard\u2019s way, with a range of business interests, tennis academies and a foundation bearing his name, his second act may, in its own way, prove even more influential than the first.<\/p>\n
There are, as Nadal told the Post in an exclusive interview, \u201cplenty of projects, plenty of things to do\u201d, coupled with a drive to create opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n
In the city for the first time last week, Nadal already has an established relationship in Hong Kong with his tennis academy in Sai Kung. A gala ball this weekend marked the start of his foundation\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI achieved my dream because I had the opportunity to achieve my dream,\u201d Nadal said. \u201cBecause I was born in a good family and they were able to give me the right education, the right bases and platform to develop myself.<\/p>\n
Tennis legend Rafa Nadal has partnered with Hong Kong-based WEMP Foundation, which focuses on youth mental wellness. Photo: Eugene Lee<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we [his foundation] have the goal to try to create places where the kids can see a different world. We try to take them out from the street, from this negative atmosphere. Bring them to a positive atmosphere, with a healthy community, with teachers, with all the kids, and through sport and education we believe we can change futures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal could easily have chosen a quiet life after one of the greatest sporting careers the world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,145300,10340,41238,145302,145301,6570,145304,145298,964,85,747,145299,145303],"class_list":["post-243819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dr-adrian-cheng-chi-kong","tag-hong-kong","tag-mallorca","tag-mental-disorder","tag-mental-health-issue","tag-nadal","tag-nadals-base","tag-olympic-gold","tag-rafael-nadal","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-academies","tag-wemp-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}