Tennis ace

Emilio Sánchez Vicario just stepped off a plane from China, but he looks so fresh he could easily play a quick set of tennis despite the mid-day heat in Naples.

The lively Spaniard just spent 10 days in Nanjing, where he inked a deal to create the third campus of his tennis school, the Academia Sanchez-Casal, which gives students the opportunity to compete internationally. “The students can do intercontinental programs,” he says.

With campuses in Naples and Barcelona, Spain, Academia Sanchez-Casal has become one of the go-to training centers for aspiring tennis stars. Alumni include superstar players such as Andy Murray and Sveta Kuznetsova.

Sánchez Vicario is a tennis star in his own right. He won Grand Slam doubles titles at the U.S. and French Open and was ranked as high as seventh in the world as a singles player. He was Spain's team captain for the Davis Cup and the Olympic Games in 2008. His doubles partner is Sergio Casal, the school's co-founder, and his sister is Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, a former top-ranked Grand Slam singles champion.

Sanchez-Casal opened in Barcelona in 1998. The campus includes a high school as well as room and board for aspiring youngsters. The program got a boost in 2004 when student Sveta Kuznetsova won the U.S. Open that year and ranked as high as No. 2 in the world. “We started to get very good reviews,” says Sánchez, the CEO.

Despite its worldwide reputation as a top tennis school, few people in Naples know about the Academia. It's tucked away at the Naples Bath & Tennis Club, a development hit hard during the real estate recession.

Sánchez first came to Naples as a tennis consultant in 2007 at the club, but in 2010 it closed. “Then we never thought of coming back,” he says.

Then, in 2012, Spanish Bank Sabadell called Sánchez and asked him if he would consider buying the Naples Bath clubhouse and the 38 dilapidated tennis courts. “Only 10 of the tennis courts were in working condition,” he says. “The facility was in bad shape.”

With Sabadell financing, Sanchez-Casal purchased the facility and some residential condos for $3.3 million in 2012. It was a stroke of good timing as the area was just starting to emerge from the recession.

Still, Sánchez says it took additional investment to bring the clubhouse and tennis courts to top condition. What's more, Sánchez says it took more time to obtain the licenses to operate the high school in a building adjacent to the clubhouse for the 35 year-round students who pay $50,000 for tuition, room and board.

Most of the students who pass through the school are there for weeklong courses, which cost $1,600 in the summer including room and board. Sánchez says about 300 to 400 students pass through the school each year. He declines to share revenues, but says the Naples school is close to breakeven and the Barcelona school posted a profit.

Meanwhile, the Nanjing campus is starting this month. The Chinese have built the facilities at Nanjing University, so there is no capital expense, and Sánchez has partnered with The Samaranch Foundation to open the school. “We've been working on China for so long,” says Sánchez.

Follow Jean Gruss on Twitter @JeanGruss