A Majorcan marvel

By Jason Moore CONGRATULATIONS to Majorca's new sporting hero, Rafael Nadal, who breezed through the French Open. Success for the Nadal family is nothing new; his uncle Miguel Angel Nadal was one of the youngest players ever to captain Real Mallorca before he moved to Barcelona where he won the Champions League and plenty of domestic title. I saw that Balearic President Jaume Matas was in the crowd and I sincerely hope that the islands will be using Nadal's success to their advantage. Can you imagine if Nadal had been wearing a T-shirt with promotional slogans for the islands in the final on Sunday? World-wide publicity. And let's not forget Nadal is from the Balearics, it's his home and his message is probably more powerful and more convincing than some foreign-born stars who are involved in promoting the islands at the moment. Luckily for the islands Nadal is only 19, so the local authorities have plenty of time to exploit our new hero. Next stop for the Manacor wonder-kid, is Wimbledon. Come-on Balearics get your thinking caps on. And it's not only Nadal, let's not forget that one Carlos Moya has also been quite successful and has won the same crown that the younger Majorcan took on Sunday. There is so much that can be done if a little imagination is used. The local authorities already lost a golden opportunity when Real Mallorca was flying high in Europe to promote the islands. Now, they have another great chance. Get Nadal signed up before someone else does Balearics, because otherwise someone else will, and it will be just another opportunity lost. Congratulations Nadal, I sincerely hope that the same drive and commitment that you showed at the French Open has rubbed off on the local authorities.