Formation | 1990; 34 years ago (1990) |
---|---|
Founder | Antonio Martínez Cascales |
Purpose | Sport |
Location | |
Coordinates | 38°40′04″N 0°54′22″W / 38.6677°N 0.9060°W / 38.6677; -0.9060 |
Director | Juan Carlos Ferrero |
Website | ferreroacademy |
The Ferrero Tennis Academy is a tennis academy and training center in Villena, Alicante, Spain. It hosts the JC Ferrero Challenger Open on the ATP Challenger Tour.[1][2]
The Academy was founded in 1990 by Antonio Martínez Cascales, the future coach of Juan Carlos Ferrero.[3] Originally named the Equelite Academy, its name was later changed to the JC Ferrero Equelite Academy in honor of Ferrero. In 2023, it was renamed as the Ferrero Tennis Academy for simplification purposes.[4] It currently houses 20 courts.[5]
In 2018, the Academy held the inaugural JC Ferrero Challenger Open, the first Challenger tournament to be held in Alicante since 1996.[6] In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Academy held an exhibition tournament featuring Pablo Carreño Busta, Alex de Minaur, João Sousa, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and 17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz.[7] In 2023, its center court was named after Alcaraz, a longtime student of Ferrero and the Academy.[8]