After successfully completing my second year at the Rafa Nadal Academy, I had a few days before meeting my grandparents in Paris for our summer trip.
I wasn’t quite sure how to spend those days when, by coincidence, I received a message from someone I hadn’t seen in a long time — Alban, a French coach who used to teach me tennis in Japan when I was in elementary school.

A few years ago, before I moved to the Rafa Nadal Academy, Alban returned to France with his family. I had heard that they were living in the south of France, but they are now in Normandy. I really wanted to see him again, so I asked if I could come and stay with his family for a few days. They kindly welcomed me into their home, and I’m truly grateful.

Alban’s children, who were still very young when I knew them in Japan, have grown so much and are now both working hard at football with their teams in France. His whole family welcomed me warmly, and Alban and I even got to play tennis together again after all these years.

There is something very special about a connection that began years ago in Japan and brought us together again, this time in France.
I’m grateful that tennis has given me connections like this, and I hope they will continue for many years to come.