MALLORCA tennis star Rafa Nadal took centre stage to hand out awards in the second gala staged by his charity- The Rafa Nadal Foundation.
The event was held on Wednesday night at the Es Baluard museum of contemporary art in Palma.
It was attended by figures like the Telefonica chairman, Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallet, whose company is one of the backers of the foundation.
The five award winners received €15,000 each to continue their non-profit work in Spain and abroad covering areas like sport, health, education, and international development.
Rafa Nadal said: “With these awards we can do our bit to help social foundations with recognition and financial assistance.”
Nadal’s family – his mother, father, and sister, were at Wednesday’s ceremony – along with his wife Mary Perello who is a director of the Foundation.
Nadal didn’t talk much about tennis after injury forced him to pull out of the recent Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells.
“I’m training, well, I haven’t stopped, and I’m fine but I don’t say anything about my future anymore because for a while now it’s been difficult for me to make predictions about my future.”
The 22-time Grand Slam chamption said he was ‘neither optimistic nor pessimistic’ over his prospects in what is his last competitive season.
“I’m a realist. It’s been a year and a half or two since I’ve been trying to compete. If I had a negative mindset, I wouldn’t be trying.”
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