The LTA has returned a profit for the first time in four years – partly due to the financial success of last year’s Wimbledon.
British tennis’ governing body recorded an operating profit of £8.7m in 2019, having lost £6.3m the previous year.
The LTA has increased its reserves to more than £75m.
But the cancellation of this year’s Wimbledon, and all of the summer grass court events, means that money is very likely to be drawn upon in future.
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic presents a business risk,” the LTA says in its Finance and Governance Report.
“However the LTA maintains adequate cash balances and reserves to mitigate the potential short-term financial impact of this risk.”
The surplus the LTA receives from The All England Club is certain to fall next year, even though pandemic insurance will shelter the Club from the worst effects of cancellation.
The All England Club has agreed to pay the LTA 90% of its annual surplus until 2053.
The LTA has also put aside up to £20m in grants and interest free loans to help venues, coaches, players and officials through the crisis.
Staging Fed Cup ties at Bath University and London’s Copper Box Arena helped the LTA’s commercial revenue rise by just over 10% last year.
Spending on the performance budget, meanwhile, increased by a third. Academies have been opened in Loughborough and Stirling as the LTA aims to make Britain “one of the most respected nations in the world for player development.”
Resurfaced: ‘There Were Moments When I Didn’t See The Way Out’
May202020
In the newest installation of ATPTour.com’s My Point series, Croatian Ivo Karlovic, on his 40th birthday, details what it was like to grow up during the Croatian War of Independence, overcoming financial challenges to become a professional, dealing with challenging health setbacks and more.
Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 28 February 2019.
My right arm was tingling.
I was home in Miami in April 2013, when one morning I woke up at 8:00 am. At first, I thought I had slept in an awkward position. No big deal.
But then my wife asked me a question, and the corner of my lip started drooping. It only got worse from then on and as the hours went by, I lost feeling in my arm and my ability to speak. By the end of the day, I didn’t know my name or what year it was. When medical staff at the hospital asked me questions, I couldn’t respond.
There were days when I woke up and thought, ‘Okay, I’m still alive.’ But the headaches would get crazy. It reached a point where the pain was so unbearable, I almost wanted to die so it would stop. It turns out I had encephalitis, inflammation of the brain.
When I eventually left the hospital I was a different man, realising what was important in my life. Everything cleared up and I knew what I really loved to do: tennis.
Still, getting back on the court was difficult. I began by practising for five minutes. The next day it was eight minutes, then 10 minutes. It was not easy, and I was worried because I was still at risk of the encephalitis returning. I had always been scared of dying, but after this experience I thought that if it happened, it happened.
I was most scared when I had to get on an airplane for the first time since I got sick. There were so many thoughts going through my head: What if the pain came back during the flight? Would anyone understand what was happening to me? Would anyone be able to help?
As I sat on the plane, I noticed that I was completely wet, drenched with sweat. You would have thought that I had walked through a torrential rainstorm to get on the plane.
But as the days went on, things would gradually become more bearable. I was positive about one thing: I was 34 years old and while I understood it would take time to fully recover, there was no way I would finish my career on those terms. I wouldn’t let the disease take away my lifelong passion. Not after everything I’d been through.
I started playing tennis when I was six years old, and to be honest, I didn’t really like it at first. I was young and I didn’t understand the game. Growing up in Croatia in the 1980s, everything was about soccer. That was all that was on TV, so of course I was more into that. Tennis? Barely anyone in my country knew the rules.
I remember watching Boris Becker win his first Wimbledon in 1985 when I was six, and I thought his all-silver Puma racquet was the coolest thing. It was expensive and almost impossible to find at home. A few years later he switched to a red-and-blue racquet, so in 1990 I was able to find a cheap, used version of the all-silver one that I had once looked upon in awe on my TV. I took it everywhere I went.
While living in Croatia at the time meant living in Communism, the one benefit was that sports clubs were basically free for kids. I could go there and practise every day and I didn’t have to pay anything. That was important, because my parents couldn’t afford much.
When I was 11 years old, the Croatian War of Independence started and that’s when everything changed. For the next three years, there were very few possibilities to play. It was a dangerous time, as there were airplanes flying above our city while we were all underground in shelters.
Even as it became safer outside towards the end of the war, tennis became very expensive. So I would always wait until the evenings when the courts were empty, because that’s the only time I was able to practise. There was nobody to play with, so all I was able to do was serve for hours and hours. I guess that explains some things.
When I became a professional tennis player, life didn’t get easier. I didn’t break into the Top 100 until I was 24 and there were moments when I didn’t see the way out. It was difficult to survive, so I played a lot of club matches in places like Croatia, Slovenia and Germany between tournaments to earn the cash I needed to travel to more events.
I was okay without having a lot of money and it was fine if I didn’t stay in the official tournament hotel. I was okay hustling because I did what I had to do to climb the ATP Rankings. I would do whatever it took to make a living as a professional tennis player.
But throughout almost all of last season, I lost the desire to train and compete. It was the worst at Roland Garros, where all I wanted to do was go home. It felt disgusting to even hold the racquet in my hand, and losing did not sting like it used to.
I was 39 and I have two kids at home. When I left them, it was difficult, and I didn’t have enough love for the sport to make it worth it. That is why my Ranking dropped to No. 138 in September. Overcoming encephalitis was one thing. Battling myself was another.
But then I set a goal: I wanted to get into the Australian Open. If I didn’t, I would retire. So I decided to play five ATP Challenger Tour events to try to make the main draw in Melbourne. I knew I had very little room for error and that gave me the will to fight again, because I had something to strive for. I ended up getting into the Australian Open and making the final in Pune, which has put me in good position to play many of the big ATP Tour events in the coming months.
* * * * *
Today I turn 40 and I think I’m still doing pretty well. I’m just happy I’m still able to play tennis at a high level. Every time I have a good result I get mentioned with guys like Jimmy Connors and Ken Rosewall and even though it’s only while we’re talking about age, I still think that’s pretty cool. I don’t feel any weaker or any slower than when I was 38, so why not keep going?
I have worked hard all my life: I’ve served on a war-torn court, overcome financial challenges and health setbacks, yet I’m still swinging.
I’ve learned that it’s easier to go through tough moments if you really like what you’re doing. If you really want something, you will find a way. When there is desire, everything becomes easier. It is easier to train. It is easier to travel. It is easier to fight on the court. You just have to want it, and I still want this sport. I’m not done yet.
ATP Announces New Partnerships To Ramp Up Mental Health Provision For Players & Staff
May202020
The ATP has partnered with Sporting Chance and Headspace to support the mental health and wellbeing of its players and staff
The ATP has announced new partnerships with Sporting Chance and Headspace to support the mental health and wellbeing of its player members and staff.
Founded by former Arsenal F.C. and England football captain Tony Adams MBE, Sporting Chance is a leading mental health provider working exclusively with professional and elite sports participants to give them a safe and confidential space to discuss emotional wellbeing and mental health.
The partnership between the ATP and Sporting Chance means ATP Player members will be able to contact a 24/7 helpline providing access to a triage team of therapists. Players will then be referred onto Sporting Chance’s network of therapists, all experienced at working with elite sportspeople. They will help the players deal with any issue they may be struggling with, from the psychological effects caused by COVID-19 and not playing tennis, to dealing with anxiety and depression or the effects of a sporting injury.
The ATP has also announced a new partnership with Headspace, a global leader in mindfulness, meditation and mental fitness through its app and online content offerings. This partnership will provide free Headspace Plus subscriptions to all ATP player members and employees, giving them access to all 1200+ hours of meditation and mindfulness content including sleep, kids, and mindful movement exercises. This also includes access to a new specially curated collection of content to support people’s mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic called “Weathering the storm.”
Today’s announcement highlights ATP’s increased focus on supporting the mental health of its players and staff. Last month, the ATP announced it was offering players a way to develop new skills during the pandemic through a partnership with Coursera, an online education platform, where players will be able to choose from more than 4,200 different courses of study to keep themselves mentally sharp.
“Being mentally strong is just as important as physical strength in tennis and looking after the mental health of our players and staff is a key priority for us,” said ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.
“Everyone has been adapting to periods of self-isolation and decreased physical activity during the pandemic, but this can have a particularly detrimental effect on professional athletes who are used to particular training structure and playing day in day out. We want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to support our players and staff during this time and I’m proud of the partnerships we’ve been able to announce in recent weeks and months which allow us to do this.”
“We are delighted to be working with the ATP in supporting their players at this difficult time,” said Tony Adams, MBE. “The challenges that all sports and sports professionals are experiencing in the light of this pandemic will be affecting all of us in different ways. I started Sporting Chance twenty years ago with the vision of creating a safe place for professional and elite athletes to discuss their emotional and mental health in confidence. Holding out our hand to those in need at this time is important to me and working with organisations like the ATP is a pleasure – well done Tennis!”
“As a company dedicated to improving the health and happiness of the world, we take our responsibility to help support people’s mental health very seriously. That’s why we’re so delighted to be partnering with the ATP in supporting tennis professionals across the world during such an extraordinary moment,” said Renate Nyburg, general manager for Headspace Europe. “The focus in sports training has often been exclusively on physical health and conditioning, but as the top athletes at all levels have increasingly learned, mental health and fitness is also critical in supporting wellbeing and performance on and off the court.”
About Sporting Chance
Sporting Chance was founded by former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams MBE who, as a recovering alcoholic, saw the need for a safe, dedicated environment where male and female athletes could receive support and counselling for the kinds of destructive behaviour patterns that exist in the world of competitive sport.
Since its creation in the year 2000, Sporting Chance has developed into one of the world’s most innovative centres for the treatment of emotional and behavioural problems among current and former professional sportspeople. The charity operates a 24-hour helpline, a network of over 200 trained therapists across the UK, and a residential treatment centre located in Hampshire – the only one of its kind built specifically to treat professional and elite-level athletes suffering with an addictive disorder.
Today, in addition to its recent partnership with the ATP Tour, the charity works with a number of stakeholders across the professional sporting landscape in the UK and beyond including the PFA, the Premier League, the FA and the LFE (in Football), RL Cares (Rugby League), the PCA (Cricket), both the PJA and the Injured Jockeys Fund (Horse Racing) as well player unions representing the sports of Snooker, Darts and Squash.
About Headspace
Headspace was created with one mission in mind: to improve the health and happiness of the world. Reaching more than 65 million users in 190 countries, Headspace was one of the first meditation apps in the world and remains a leader in mindfulness and mental training. Headspace is committed to advancing the field of mindfulness through clinically validated research, with one of the largest research pipelines of any digital health and wellness company. Headspace operates a B2B business (Headspace for Work) to offer its mindfulness products and services to more than 700 companies, such as Starbucks, Adobe, GE, Hyatt and Unilever, to help them build healthier, more productive cultures and higher performing organizations.
Headspace supports government entities like New York State and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to offer digital mental health tools. Headspace partners with many of the world’s most-recognizable brands, including Apple and Amazon, as well as with Nike, NBA and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team to offer sport and movement content. Headspace Health is Headspace’s digital health subsidiary pioneering new ways to incorporate the Headspace mindfulness experience into digital medicine.
Headspace has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, Apple’s Best of 2018, Samsung’s Best of 2019 and one of CB Insights’ top digital health companies, along with being selected for five Webby Awards in health and fitness between 2018 and 2019. For more information please visit us at www.headspace.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Rafael Nadal: The Legendary Lefty Who’s Best Against His Own Kind
May202020
The ATP Performance Zone reveals who is best against lefties
Rafael Nadal has the best winning percentage in the Open Era at 83.2 per cent, leading legends like Novak Djokovic (83%), Bjorn Borg (82.7%), Roger Federer (82.1%) and Jimmy Connors (81.8%). But according to the ATP Performance Zone, the Spaniard is even deadlier against lefties.
Nadal has won more than 87 per cent of his matches against fellow lefties, holding a 104-15 record. The 85-time tour-level titlist has won 14 consecutive matches against lefties, with his last loss against one coming at the 2017 Coupe Rogers in Montreal, where Denis Shapovalov upset him.
What’s the secret to his success against his own kind? Perhaps it’s that he doesn’t think too deeply about it.
“It’s not a question of lefty or righty,” Nadal said after beating another lefty, Gilles Muller, at the 2016 BNP Paribas Open. “I played against a tough player with tough conditions. In Australia [earlier in 2016] I played against a player who played a great match like [Fernando] Verdasco, and you can lose. I lost. That’s it.”
Best Winning Percentage vs. Lefties (Active)
Player
Record
Winning Percentage
1. Rafael Nadal
104-15
87.4%
2. Roger Federer
129-37
77.7%
3. Andy Murray
85-25
77.3%
4. Novak Djokovic
118-36
76.6%
5. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
65-22
74.7%
Not only is Nadal the best in the world against lefties, but the next active player on the Open Era list is Federer, who has won 77.7 per cent of his matches against lefties. That puts nearly 10 percentage points between them. Of course it doesn’t hurt Nadal’s numbers that he’s never had to face the greatest left-hander of his era!
“I’ve played a few other lefties in the past, as well. I always thought it was hard to play left-handed servers because their strength goes into your weakness… It just doesn’t work properly against the lefties,” Federer said in Dubai last year. “For a one-handed backhand player, I have a great record against left-handed players. Obviously Rafa has caused me the most problems throughout. That’s because of the level of play he’s able to achieve.”
On a recent Instagram Live, Federer asked Nadal why he plays left-handed when the Spaniard is naturally a righty.
“I cannot play righty. That’s just a legend!” Nadal said. “My basketball skills are with the right [hand], everything else is with the right, but not with football or tennis. I started playing with a two-handed backhand and forehand. The people I was working with probably didn’t know if I was righty or lefty.”
Interestingly, Nadal has only lost in straight sets against a lefty twice, and both of those matches came against Feliciano Lopez. The first occasion was at 2010 Queen’s Club, and the second was at 2014 Shanghai.
Best Winning Percentage vs. Lefties (Open Era)
Player
Record
Winning Percentage
1. Rafael Nadal
104-15
87.4%
2. Pete Sampras
143-27
84.1%
3. Andy Roddick
73-17
81.1%
4. Boris Becker
135-33
80.4%
5. Jimmy Connors
179-46
79.6%
The top 12 players on the Open Era list for winning percentage against lefties have all reached No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Pete Sampras comes in second, at 84.1 per cent, with Andy Roddick third at 81.1 per cent.
Following Nadal and Federer on the active list are Andy Murray (77.3%), Novak Djokovic (76.6%) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (74.7%). Unlike Nadal, no other member of the Big Four has a better winning percentage against lefties than they do overall.
Schwartzman’s Brutal Workout: Tennis At Home Roundup
May202020
ATPTour.com looks at what your favourite players have been up to
Your favourite players are all at home, but they’re finding plenty of ways to pass the time. From Diego Schwartzman’s fitness session to Alexander Zverev’s football celebration, find out how the world’s best players are keeping busy.
Schwartzman led fans through one of his workouts at home in Buenos Aires.
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Toda esta semana les voy a subir los entrenamientos en casa. Mucha gente anduvo preguntando cómo resolvemos en cuarentena, así que les voy a ir mostrando un poco. Hoy toco zona media y tren superior. ???♂️
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Zverev made it a point to watch the Bundesliga football games in Germany.
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Football is back. We are ready??! #miasanmia @fcbayern
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Daniil Medvedev held an Instagram Live with fellow Russian Karen Khachanov.
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Fabio Fognini celebrated the third birthday of his son, Federico.
Why Lyon Was Pivotal In Thiem’s Biggest Clay Breakthrough
May192020
Relive Thiem’s victory at the 2018 Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon
Dominic Thiem arrived in France for the 2018 Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon having lost back-to-back matches on clay for the first time since 2016. Little did he know the ATP 250 tournament would serve as a launching pad to his biggest breakthrough on the surface.
After cruising through his opening match against Roberto Carballes Baena in 71 minutes, Thiem appeared poised to turn his fortunes around. But the Austrian was made to work hard.
On Thursday evening, Thiem’s quarter-final against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was suspended at one set apiece due to darkness. There were no guarantees for the top seed; not only did he need to find a way to battle past the Spaniard, but he’d have to quickly recover for a semi-final later Friday.
Luckily for Thiem, he navigated through his third set against Garcia-Lopez without many complications, finishing off a 6-7(4), 7-6(0), 6-4 victory to set a clash in the last four against Dusan Lajovic. Although that match only lasted one hour and 58 minutes, Thiem was again under pressure, needing three sets to win. He triumphed 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
“I was just staying focussed,” Thiem said of his mindset after losing the second set. “I had the big goal in front of me: to reach the final. That was the key. That’s why I stayed very calm.”
In about 24 hours, Thiem played four hours and 55 minutes of tennis, and he still had to face home favourite Gilles Simon, the former World No. 6, in the final. But again, it was his mindset that proved key. He wasn’t thinking about the past, but remaining in the present.
“It’s my dream to win the title here,” Thiem said after beating Lajovic. “I’m one step away.”
All of the tennis appeared to have taken its toll on Thiem when Simon cruised to a set-and-a-break lead in Saturday’s championship match. The Austrian faced two break points to fall behind even further, but Thiem dug into the clay and battled. Once he turned the tide, the big-swinging baseliner had all the momentum.
After two hours and 25 minutes, Thiem captured his 10th ATP Tour trophy, defeating the Frenchman 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-1.
“I’m super happy. I fought really, really hard for this title,” Thiem said. “I’m really happy that I won the title. It’s always something very special. It’s my tenth title, which is a great number.”
That wasn’t the only milestone for Thiem, as the Austrian also claimed his 200th tour-level match win by defeating Simon. The triumph marked Thiem’s eighth tour-level clay-court title, and it came just weeks after ending Rafael Nadal’s 50-set clay-court winning streak — a record on a single surface — in Rome.
“I really enjoyed being here,” Thiem said. “France has a very special place in my heart. I’ve always played great tennis here and I hope I will always play great tennis here… it was a great atmosphere even though I played against a home guy. Still, it was really nice, and I really enjoyed it.”
On paper, it might seem like a lot of tennis to play in the days leading into a Grand Slam, but Thiem did not see it that way.
“I feel physically completely fine,” Thiem said upon his arrival in Paris. “The victory of the tournament helped for sure. I’m feeling great with a lot of confidence. Physically great, mentally great. It was the right decision to go there.”
Thiem went on to reach his first Grand Slam final, where he fell short against Rafael Nadal, who won his 11th Roland Garros title.
Fans will remember Thiem’s Paris run from his 2018 clay season, but it is safe to say the confidence he earned in Lyon paid dividends.
Geneva: Where Stan Is The Man & Zverev Stands Tall
May192020
Learn more about the Geneva Open, an ATP 250 event
Staged at the Tennis Club de Genève at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, the oldest and largest tennis club in Switzerland, the Geneva Open is one of three Swiss events on the ATP Tour.
The tournament would have been held this week if not for the Tour suspension due to coronavirus.
ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the ATP 250-level tournament.
1) A Star Studded Honour Roll Alexander Zverev is the latest star to add his name to an impressive honour roll at the ATP 250 event. Previous champions include Bjorn Borg (1981), Mats Wilander (1982-’83), Henri Leconte (1986), Thomas Muster (1991) and Stan Wawrinka (2016-’17).
Wilander also features in the list of doubles champions. Other doubles titlists include Sergio Casal/Emilio Sanchez (1985), Sergi Bruguera/Marc Rosset (1991), Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (2015), Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau (2017) and Oliver Marach/Mate Pavic (2018-’19).
2) Swiss Success Since the tournament began in 1980, four editions of the event have been won by Swiss players. Claudio Mezzadri became the first home champion in 1987, capturing the only ATP Tour singles title of his career with a straight-sets victory against Tomas Smid. Two years later, Marc Rosset joined the club, beating Guillermo Perez-Roldan to capture his maiden ATP Tour trophy.
In 2016, Wawrinka beat Marin Cilic to become the third Swiss player to take the title in Geneva. The three-time Grand Slam champion returned the following year to become only the second player in tournament history to win back-to-back titles in the city, following in the footsteps of 1982-’83 champion Wilander.
3) 2015 Return After a 14-year absence, Geneva returned to the ATP Tour in 2015. The event featured Top 10 stars Wawrinka and Marin Cilic.
Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci ended a three-year title drought, beating Marcos Baghdatis, Denis Istomin, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Santiago Giraldo and Joao Sousa to take the trophy. It is the most recent ATP Tour trophy of four-time tour-level titlist Bellucci’s career.
4) An Epic 2019 Final From match point saves to rain delays, last year’s final was packed with drama.
One month after failing to convert match point against Nicolas Jarry at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Zverev saved two match points against the Chilean to take the Geneva trophy 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8).
Zverev arrived in Geneva with a 6-8 record in his previous eight tournaments, searching for form. The top seed also survived three-set matches against Hugo Dellien and Federico Delbonis en route to his first title since the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals.
5) Final Preparation For Roland Garros Held the week before Roland Garros, alongside the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, the Geneva Open provides ATP Tour stars with a final opportunity to prepare for the clay-court Grand Slam championship.
Since the tournament returned to the ATP Tour in 2015, Geneva winners have followed their title runs with quarter-final or better performances at Roland Garros on three occasions. Two-time winner Wawrinka reached the semi-finals in 2016 and finished as runner-up in 2017, while 2019 champion Zverev reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year.
Spaniard talks exclusively about the highs and lows of his life
It says much for the character of Roberto Bautista Agut that some of his greatest moments in recent years accompanied an inner turmoil that enveloped his family for too long. There was resilience when his mother, Ester, a manager of a clothing store in Castellón de la Plana, passed away in May 2018, shortly prior to Roland Garros, which the Spaniard contested. Then, there was another glimmer of his spirit, when he returned to national colours for the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, one day after the funeral of his father, Joaquin, who suffered an accident at home four years earlier and, subsequently, needed a great deal of care. He not only beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in Madrid, three days after his father’s death, but his unexpected return set the tone for Spain’s sixth triumph in the international team competition.
“I felt stressed 24 hours per day for four years,” Bautista Agut told ATPTour.com. “It was very difficult. Many times, when I was by my father’s side, I found that it was difficult and stressful, and I needed to stay away for a while. I’d seen my father in intensive care for six months and a further five months at the Institut Guttmann in Barcelona, witnessing tetraplegic babies and 15-year-old kids, who were in motorbike accidents, and were in the same situation as my father. But, whenever I left home to go to tournaments, I felt that my father needed me. Both of us wanted to support each other, it was a reciprocal feeling. I was fortunate to be able to say goodbye in the last minutes of my father’s life.”
The emotional finale, in November last year, capped the best season of his career, that included six of his friends flying from his pre-planned stag-do — booked six months earlier — in Ibiza to sit on Centre Court and watch him play in the semi-finals of The Championships. Bautista Agut may be straight-faced on the court, belying emotion, but you know it’s there in his mind, accompanied by occasional fist pumps and screams of ‘¡Vamos!’. To beat him, as Novak Djokovic did in the Wimbledon semi-finals, is often a grind: a quest of patience and determination, as his demeanour is so controlled that there’s little chance an opponent can get a mental edge. His strokes are compact, so little can go wrong.
“I’ve been through very difficult times, it’s been a really tough experience,” says Bautista Agut, who has maintained his place in the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for much of the past four years. “They have taught me a lot about life. Tennis helped me to have a free mind, as I was very focused on my job as much as I could, so to not be thinking all the time about the problems I had back home. Tennis has been my escape, my help to deal with everything that happened in the best possible way.”
Ana, whom he married five months ago, his dogs and horses have all provided the softly spoken Bautista Agut much-needed support to recovery. “Ana has helped me a lot,” says the 31-year-old. “Right after starting our relationship my dad had his accident. Ana has always been by my side and supported me. She gave me a bigger perspective and our wedding day was incredible. I’d never imagined how a wedding could be; but being together with all the people we love made it very special. It was an unforgettable moment and one of the best parties of my life.
“We have some animals: dogs, horses and all live together… We love them. Maybe I love them more, but Ana has to accept it! We live in calm, together at home. I have been traveling for a long time [Bautista Agut turned pro in 2005] and I’ve spent a lot of time in hotels, so when I’m at home I relax.”
In the space of 10 days in November 2019, when Bautista Agut rose to a career-high World No. 9, he experienced the very best and lowest moments of his life: the passing of his father, helping Spain capture the Davis Cup and, six days later, his wedding to Ana. For all of the Spaniard’s steely on-court resilience, those three chapters provided an intimate snapshot of a player who is held in very high esteem on the ATP Tour.
The highlight this year has been Bautista Agut going 6-0 at the inaugural ATP Cup and helping his beloved country reach the final (l. to Team Serbia). And for all of his nine ATP Tour titles, with a high-point being the ATP 500-level Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in March 2018, and his 11 victories over Top 10 opponents, what he needs now is an element of good fortune.
Having served as an alternate at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, Bautista Agut has his sights set on competing at the season finale, the 50-year anniversary this year at The O2 in London, or, once the tournament moves to Turin in 2021. “It is one of the goals I would like to achieve before retiring,” he says. “I know how difficult it is, I know that I have been very close some seasons. It’s not something I’m obsessed about, but it remains a goal I’d like to achieve some day.
“What keeps me motivated is my competitiveness. I’m very competitive both as an athlete and person. I’m always trying to improve and win, adding minor details to my game, because it’s a feeling I love. I’m also aware of my main strengths and the foundations of my game, one should never lose them. I fought all my life to play in a Davis Cup final, so to return after a few days away and have the support of [captain] Sergi Bruguera and the whole team, made my decision easy. I work a lot at home, I keep a very healthy lifestyle. I give my all for the sport, working hard and keeping healthy to compete at a very high level and live the best moments of my career.”
Learn about the Swiss’ breakthrough in his home country
Stan Wawrinka was borne in Lausanne, Switzerland, about an hour’s drive from Geneva. So, it’s only fitting that the Swiss star has enjoyed a love affair with the city’s ATP 250 tennis tournament.
Wawrinka made his first ATP Tour final at home in 2005, when he advanced to the Gstaad final. But it took him 11 years to make another championship match in Switzerland, and that came at the 2016 Geneva Open.
Then 31, Wawrinka arrived in Geneva searching for form. He had lost three of his previous four matches entering the tournament.
But the home favourite, who was World No. 4, lost only six games in his first two matches against strong clay-court players Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Carreno Busta, respectively, and he didn’t look back. After outlasting Lukas Rosol in a three-set semi-final, Wawrinka defeated then-World No. 11 Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6(11) to capture his first ATP Tour trophy in Switzerland.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to win a title in Switzerland, after all these tournaments,” Wawrinka said. “To be able to do it here in Geneva, in the event’s second year, is something special. The fans were great. They made a lot of noise today.”
The stands at the Tennis Club de Geneve Eaux-Vives were completely packed. When Cilic missed a final backhand long, everyone rose to their feet in celebration after their man won a hard-fought final.
“Marin is a great player,” Wawrinka said. “He really ramped up the pressure toward the end, with those set points, so it was nice to be able to finish off the match.”
Wawrinka wasted little time winning another tour-level title in Switzerland, retaining his trophy the following year in Geneva.
Once again, the Swiss arrived at the tournament having lost three of his previous four matches. But Wawrinka was inspired by his home fans and one extremely special fan: his daughter, Alexia. He beat Mischa Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
“I’m extremely happy to win my second title in Switzerland. It means a lot to me,” Wawrinka said. “This is the first time that my daughter is in the stadium when I won a title, and that makes it even more special.”
Did You Know? Wawrinka also enjoyed success in Geneva on the ATP Challenger Tour. He earned two of his six titles at that level in Geneva, triumphing in 2003 and 2004.
Pressure? Murray & Rashford Explain There Is A Difference Between Tennis & Football
May182020
Learn more about Murray and Rashford’s recent conversation
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford excel at tennis and football, respectively, and both men compete on the world’s biggest stages. But according to the two stars, the pressure they face isn’t quite the same.
“One of the nice things about an individual sport is that the outcome of the match is solely reliant on you, so if you go out and have a great performance, the chances are that you win,” Murray told Rashford. “In a team sport, you might play badly and the rest of your team plays great, and you still win. That’s where I feel like in the individual sport it puts quite a lot of pressure on. You put quite a lot of pressure on yourself to perform. But I guess in a team sport as well, you don’t want to let your fans down, you don’t want to let your teammates down as well.”
Growing up, Murray greatly enjoyed playing team sports, including football. The Scot enjoyed the camaraderie of competing with his friends, and he remains a massive football fan.
“I did love that and I still just love the team competitions in tennis a lot, but it is quite different because the losses as well that you have are maybe tougher because you don’t have really a group of people around you that are dealing with the same thing,” Murray said. “There are pros and cons I think to both, but I love the fact that in tennis if you put in the work yourself you solely can influence the outcome of the match. You don’t need to rely on other players as well.”
With that said, there are moments for Rashford on the pitch when all the pressure falls squarely on him, or another individual on the club.
“I think the moment of a penalty is the one time where a footballer’s mindset is in the similar mindset to what you just spoke about,” Rashford said. “It’s just you against the keeper, and if you take a good penalty, you’re going to score and ultimately win the game for your team.
“With tennis, you’re doing that all the time against one opponent. I’d probably say you’re in more of a rhythm of doing that, so I’d probably say the penalty is more difficult, purely because there aren’t that many of them that come about in games.”
Murray is used to the pressure of trying to serve out a match, or save break points. But when a football player has to take a crucial penalty, it is a completely different pace compared to the rest of the match.
“I think as well [that is] one of the things that I would imagine… is unbelievably difficult. Because if you got a penalty at the end of a Champions League final, there would be a good few minutes before you’d actually take it,” Murray said. “There’s a really big build up to it, like the suspense to it which is probably a lot of what creates that pressure and drama. If someone got fouled and immediately ten seconds later you just went up and took the penalty, it would probably be a lot easier. But you have a lot of time to think as well when you have the penalties and that’s one of the things that must be very tough.”
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