Tennis a Fondo January 2007
Translated by Sabrina
© Tennis a Fondo
NUMBER 7 OF THE ATP
“I continue dreaming bigger”
Tommy Robredo feels compensated. He assures us that to take part in a Masters Cup such as Shanghai, even if it is only once, gives meaning to a whole life. And he knows what he’s talking about. At 24, established in the top 10 and in good physical shape and with plenty of confidence in his capacities, the doors to a hopeful future seem to open.
The year that has marked your explosion on the circuit has ended. How would you summarise it?
The truth is that when you start a year you never dream that it’s going to be the year of your life. I began badly. I had a change of trainer and I was alone for a while but I always felt at the level of the best and I won my first Master Series and I think that from there on I changed my mentality and saw that I could be better. I’ve become stronger mentally and it’s that that has helped me maintain my level throughout the year.
You’ve been in the top ten practically the whole year and you could say that your actual rivals on the circuit have been deduced to a mere dozen or so. Do you see it this way?
No. I still have the same rivals that I had. They haven’t been reduced to just the top 10. What happens is that when they face me they perhaps see me differently now. And I for my part feel differently towards them. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t lose.
The ranking impresses people?
Until recent it felt that way when I played against a top ten player, because he is something that impresses me. You know that if you don’t play well, that if you’re not perfect you are going to lose to him. I believe that is what many feel now when they play against me and that is something that gives me some tranquillity. But I also feel that I’m playing better…
Better in what way?
I feel much more confident on the court, knowing that when I want to do something I can do it well. I’m calmer.
And your overall improvement in the game, do you focus on
a certain aspect?
I believe that when you reach my age, 24 and over you can change little. You
can always try to improve but it will be more directed towards tactics, mental
changes… but you are not going to change your drive or your backhand.
You can only give them a little more depth. It’s more valuable to understand
your rival. It’s more the way you do it than the technique itself.
Two Spanish players in the top 10 but very different ones. How would you analyse the two of you in comparative terms?
Rafa is a very solid tennis player. He uses a lot of force with each blow and, although it’s not obvious on TV, his balls bounce high in the field of his opponents. Physically he’s in great shape and he recovers very well. Of myself I can say that I know myself to be a solid player as well although perhaps not as much. Perhaps I can do more on the track, I have a more varied game. With Rafa his opponents have to force themselves much more, that’s why he is number two of the world.
It’s been two years since winning the Davis Cup in Sevilla, you commented then that you did not feel like a recognised sportsman. Has that changed?
My popularity has increased a little bit. Mostly because I’m the number seven of the world, because of being at Shanghai… but I also don’t consider myself a player who has much… I don’t know whether to call it charisma. Rafa for example is a player you see often on TV and perhaps there is the difference. In order to reach more people I would have to do more than just play tennis. The sport reaches the sports enthusiast but not the rest of the people. Rafa is supported by strong brands like Nike and Kia and this helps him a lot. Dunlop helps me like Babolat does him, but for example, for clothes I’m with Tacchini, which is an Italian firm… and they don’t have the same kind of large scale, strong commercials that Nike can give you. And above all… Rafa is a media phenomenon. And I, like the other players, not as much.
Are you and the rest of the Spanish tennis players at all discouraged by all the adoration for Rafa?
But isn’t this always the way it goes? It’s happened before. When Ferrero was number one all they talked about was Ferrero. Spain is like this. The journalists, the people… it always seems like they only want to see the number one. And not only with us. If Barcelona wins the league it seems as if Real Madrid is filth. Or if you like a Fernando Alonso, a De la Rosa is nobody. All this fame could be channelled in other ways, to help the others. Not just the seniors the juniors too…
And who is responsible for that?
It’s a mentality of the Spaniards. And it also goes in
function of the demand. Perhaps a little push from the mass media could help,
but when a sports paper of 50 pages dedicates 35 pages to football (soccer)
and only 15 pages to the rest of the disciplines of which, on top of that,
13 are publicity, you can’t talk about much.
This is how it goes with sports in this country. Ronaldino making a penalty
during a training session sells more than Rafael Nadal winning the title in
Estocoimo. Changing that is complicated.
Do you think that the Spanish television has involved itself little with tennis and don’t put in the same effort as, for example, for motorcycling or formula 1?
The problem is the contract the ATP has with ISL, who own all the television rights and they are very expensive. Therefore the stations will opt for other sports. Broadcasting tennis is going to cost a bit more. TVE is currently fighting to buy the Master Series and that would be very good. It would be a public station that would offer it and that not only subscribers to a certain platform would have access to tennis.
What would be gained by this and how would it help you?
There would be more talk about tennis, more people would play tennis and it would guarantee the continuation of the sport. For me, I would be more popular, I would gain more recognition on the street, I would have more photo contracts.
Lets move away from Spanish football and tennis and lets talk about holding a two week mixed tournament in Madrid before Roland Garros? How do you view this initiative, the possibility…?
These are things that are decided at much higher levels. Marketing,
tennis economics and the interests of the country, they have a lot to say
in these matters. Yes it is interesting to change Madrid like this and as
they are suggesting it, I don’t know what to say. What I do see is that
Madrid would leave an opening for a clay court tournament in the calendar.
This interests us? No? That Madrid is very powerful that interests us but
that we lose a clay court tournament perhaps not so much. I don’t know
how it could affect the tournament of Barcelona or Valencia, the clay court
calendar in general.
As a Catalan, are you sorry that the institutions in Barcelona have not
been betting strongly on tennis?
As a Catalan, I’m delighted with the Open Seat Godó. As a Spaniard, I’m delighted with Valencia and Madrid. The more tournaments there are in Spain the better. The ideal would be to have two Master Series: one in Barcelona and another in Madrid, and in Valencia we could hold a tournament on 1.000.000 dollars. The Godó is a tournament with a lot of charisma. It is very lovely the way it is. The RCTB, with its facilities, could also host a bigger one.
Without any doubt, to have participated in the Masters Cup marks a turning point in your career. How do you value the experience?
Uff!! To summarize, I can say that 24 years of effort were worth it only to be there once. To feel amongst the best in that very impressive stadium in Shanghai with everybody working for us. You have all the comforts. It makes up for all your efforts.
The tournament may move to Europe…
I don’t stop to think about it. Perhaps the only flaw in Shanghai was that the first days when we were scheduled to play there weren’t many people. There is talk of moving to London in the future. I don’t know… the important thing is that it is held in a place from where it’s possible to be seen anywhere in the world. Also, of course it has to be an attractive scenario, one that fills. China is bidding a lot for Tennis. It’s working well.
When was the moment that you finally felt that you were one of the best? What did you feel?
When I won against Grosjean in Paris and was practically certain
of my qualification.
Then arriving there, seeing the hotel, the treatment that everybody gives
you. You have to take advantage of it, enjoy it, to remember it for the rest
of your life.
The fight for classifying was very tight. You showed yourself that you know how to handle pressure.
They were hard months starting from the Davis Cup elimination. My defeat in Santander was perhaps the only black spot in this season. It was a pretty hard blow. From there on my life changed a little… I took the challenge of the Masters very seriously and it took a little while to recover my credibility. Week after week, going to all the sites… I had a high objective and in the end I reached it. I lost a lot of weight and I believe that I’ve mentally improved a lot as a tennis player.
After all that, do you dream even bigger?
Always dream bigger. Dreaming is free. If you are an actor you dream of going to Hollywood and being Brad Pit (smiles). If you are a tennis player you dream of winning a Grand Slam or being the number one of the world.
The third degree.
It’s interesting that you spent your best year practically without a trainer…
For years I worked well with Monachesi, and perhaps training so well put pressure on me during the matches. After parting ways with him, I continued to play well but without the pressure. I took my time to make my choice and that calmer period did me a lot of good.
During your brief holidays there are no exotic destinations. You choose to go canyoning in the Prepirineu…
Yes I had already done it once, jumping into a well with a five-meter cord. But now there were rappels of 20 or 30 meters, straight down, curving inwards. I have a friend who introduced me to it.
Who accompanied you to Shanghai?
My trainer, my father and a friend who is a student in physiotherapy and helped me out there.
In spite of your position you continue training in the CAR of Sant Cugat and not in a 100% tennis atmosphere. Why?
Because my friends are there, I’ve known them for a long time… after eating, for example, there are days that we play cards. It feels like home.
What does the connection with people from other disciplines have to offer to you?
It has a lot to offer to me. To see the suffering and perseverance of each sportsman, to know their goals, their efforts, the respect they have for this or that. It’s always good to be surrounded by a group of sportsmen.
With who do you connect the best?
Lately I’ve been playing cards with those of pole vault. But I have friends who are runners and at other times golfers… one of my best friends does Taekwondo.
There are scans of the article (in Spanish) in the gallery: page 1, page 2, page 3