17 years ago, Antonio Cordonnier arrived in Barranquilla. The Argentine landed under the inclement Currambero sun and settled down not to leave. Even, when tennis in the city was forgotten and the gaucho’s task would be utopian.
Cordonnier, technical director of the Atlantic League, spoke with EL HERALDO and referred to the recent promotion of the Junior Tennis World Cup in Barranquilla to the Grade A category; everything he experienced as a tournament organizer; and the challenges that the city will have, as a community, to host a tournament that has risen to an elite dimension in world tennis.
The Argentine, one of the heroes of tennis in Barranquilla, he answered the call with a laugh and repeatedly shouting: “What happiness!”
Cordonnier recalled an anecdote in 2003, when the World Cup almost received news inversely proportional to that of two days ago: the loss of the category.
“In 2003 when I arrived in the city, I arrived just when the World Cup was being played. One week before. The ITF supervisor was Argentine Jorge Mandl. When he finished he told me that the tournament was going down to ‘Grade 2’ because what was shown was of low quality. Imagine, my first week in Barranquilla and they were going to lower the level of the tournament. I begged him not to. I asked him for a year to improve things.
Before that he sent me a list of 12 requirements. Most were changed. The following year it got better and so on”, Said the director.
The Barranquilla World Cup maintained the ‘Grade 1’ level and, with work, took the next step.
“Now out of 45 ‘Grade 1’ tournaments, annually, they chose ours to move up”, Specified the gaucho. Cordonnier did not want to get excited and see his objective squandered. The austral has no qualms about accepting it, always amidst a pious laugh.
“I didn’t even have hope, I didn’t want to get excited about something so difficult. There are many who compete, with a lot of history, for that category, “he added.
The experienced in this sport did not minimize the importance of what had been the World Cup, which has 37 editions. What has been achieved is a resounding success for Colombian tennis but it was a work of years.
“History was built. It was not a tournament that appeared. In the world of tennis you go to a tournament in some country and meet coaches and players who upon hearing from Barranquilla remember having been to the World Cup ”, commented ‘Toño’, as they call him.
Colombia has its first ‘Grade A’ tennis tournament and South America its second. The change is total.
“Before, players came to qualify for the big tournaments. Now they will play to classify ours. The best youth players in the world will come, ”Cordonnier explained.
The organizer does not hide the challenges and calls on everyone to do a job that allows maintaining the category.
“You have to spend more money, more everything. If before there were 40% of South Americans, now it will be 10%. The whole logistics issue is different. We have to face it with two things: with a vision of a great tournament and with a lot of responsibility. This is not done with little money or with little work ”, he assured.
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