Well done, Rafa

Congratulations to Rafael Nadal, the 20-year-old from Mallorca, who has won the 2006 French Open at Roland Garros. Today has been a great day for Spanish sport, as Fernando Alonso continued his winning streak in Formula One by winning the British Grand Prix.

Tennis is a huge sport in Spain and Rafael Nadal is a hero both in his home of Mallorca and on mainland Spain. In a former life, when I was an English teacher in Madrid, a disproportionately high number of my students had professional tennis coaching in the evenings. The clay courts in particular are excellent in Spain, which goes some way to explain why Nadal is so dominant on that surface.

Tennis coaching holidays are a great way to enjoy the Spanish sun while doing something active. One of the best academies is Academia Sanchez-Casal, where a number of current international tennis stars trained, including 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Britain's rising star Andy Murray. Most tennis academies do more than just tennis - they are holiday resorts in themselves, with all the mod cons associated with luxury vacations. You don't even need to play tennis, as there are swimming pools and other sports facilities near by. So, if you have a son or daughter that you think is the next Andre Agassi or Venus Williams but you wouldn't know which end of the racket to hold, they can normally accommodate both of you.