Indonesia is set to become home to Southeast Asia’s first Rafa Nadal Tennis Center, with the facility scheduled to open as part of the Samara Lombok resort development in the first quarter of 2028. The project marks the latest step in the international expansion of the Rafa Nadal Academy and is expected to strengthen Lombok’s position as an emerging luxury tourism and sports destination.
The tennis centre will form part of the 150-hectare Samara Lombok development on the island’s southern coast, around 25 minutes from Lombok International Airport. The resort is also set to become the first Destination by Hyatt property in Southeast Asia. At launch, the development will include three boutique hotels and 150 villas, forming the first phase of a wider masterplan comprising 500 residential villas.
The Rafa Nadal Tennis Center will feature four tennis courts and four padel courts, offering programmes for players of all ages and abilities. Training will follow the methodology developed by Rafael Nadal and his technical team through more than two decades on the professional tour, the academy said.
Maribel Nadal, deputy general manager of the Rafa Nadal Academy, said the opening represents an important milestone for the organisation’s global growth.
“We’re very excited about the arrival of the first Rafa Nadal Tennis Center in Southeast Asia. Lombok is a destination with enormous international potential and we believe that this project will help bring our methodology and our passion for sport to new generations of players and families from all over the world.”
Samara Lombok co-founder Steve Ebsworth said sport lies at the centre of the resort’s concept.
“Samara is built to be a playground in the truest sense – a place where guests can be as active as they wish, for as long as they wish, then come back together over a shared story,” he said, adding that tennis and padel sit “right at its heart” of the development.
Beyond the sports facilities, Samara Lombok will include 12 dining concepts curated by chef Will Meyrick and children’s cookery author Annabel Karmel, a marine biology and watersports centre operated by Rascal Voyages, and a football training centre backed by an unnamed club partner. Villas will be offered on 90-year leaseholds, significantly longer than the lease terms commonly available in Bali and much of Indonesia.
The new centre will join the Rafa Nadal Academy’s growing international network, which already includes academies in Mallorca and Kuwait, Rafa Nadal Tennis Centers in Costa Mujeres, Sani, Hong Kong, Marbella and Punta Cana, as well as the Rafa Nadal Tennis Programme in Egypt. A further Rafa Nadal Tennis Center is also planned for Brazil in 2028.
The announcement comes as Lombok continues to attract investment from international hospitality brands seeking alternatives to neighbouring Bali. Alongside Samara Lombok, the island has welcomed several high-end hotel developments in recent years, including The Sira, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa and Gran Meliá Lombok. Improved accessibility is supporting that growth, with Scoot recently expanding its Singapore–Lombok service from 4 to 10 weekly flights.
