Raphael’s Story
Raphael has been involved with tennis since he was 2 years old, which is when he started playing the game. At 13, he was No.2 at that time in Switzerland in his age group and chose tennis over football. He had quite a lot of success as a young tennis player in the juniors, but due to some problems with one of his former coach, he lost a lot of confidence, which led for him to make the decision to leave for the United States and continue his studies. He received a scholarship at Flagler College in Florida, where he stayed for 4 years, describing them the best years of his life. Raphael was strongly affected with this issue of confidence, but an important person and coach from his home club in Switzerland helped him to gain some confidence back to compete at the highest level in the U.S. Raphael ended his college years as a two-time All-American. He then started working as a tennis coach in South Carolina.
HOBBIES
TRAVEL
BARCELONA TENNIS ACADEMY
Searching for the best place to set up his own tennis academy, in 2010 Raphael decided on Spain.
BARCELONA TENNIS ACADEMY
The Barcelona Tennis Academy is a small, family-oriented academy located in the seaside town of Castelldefels, home of football star Lionel Messi, just 15 km from Barcelona, 10 minutes from the international airport and a 5-minute walk to the beach. Thanks to BTA’s small size, players are treated with personal attention, and the approach to their development can be individualised. There is a very close relationship between coaches, players and parents. Knowing the players so well enables BTA to create for them personalised training programmes, tailored to their needs and ability. The academy’s priority is to help the players reach their full potential. The coaching at BTA is run by Director Raphael Maurer (Switzerland) and Tennis Director Jordane Doble (France).
Raphael Maurer, BTA’s Director, was a top ranked junior in Switzerland, training, traveling and competing with players such as Roger Federer and Martina Hingis. He then played College Tennis in Florida, USA, where he was a 2-time All-American. Raphael coached some of the best junior players in America, Asia and Europe, initially setting up an academy in Asia and then in Spain. BTA’s Tennis Director Jordane Doble is extremely dedicated and passionate about the game. Jordane was one of the best junior players in France. He then competed on the ATP Tour, winning 7 Future tournaments, playing against players such as Nadal, Tsonga and Monfils, reaching his highest ATP ranking of 385 in singles and 302 in doubles.
The academy offers a warm family atmosphere and is a great place for young players to develop and grow, thanks to the commitment and dedication of the academy’s staff to help the children become better players and, most importantly, better individuals.
key values
We believe that as a tennis academy we need to create a family environment to all the tennis players who come to our academy, a place where players feel like they are a part of the family, a home away from home. We want our players to feel very comfortable with the academy staff so that they can trust us and feel our support in their daily life here with us.
Another key value is commitment deriving from our passion for the sport of tennis and the passion for helping players not only to grow their tennis game but also develop as individuals. Tennis is a beautiful sport, and we want our players to understand that the values that are involved in the practice of tennis, such as respect, fair play, effective communication, standing up for oneself, resilience, focus and perseverance can not only lift their game to another level but also develop them as persons and help them in their off-the-court lives.
