Arthur Rinderknech, current number 58 in the world and one of the French tennis players with the greatest projection, has expressed his opinion about the young players on the ATP circuit and how going through university can help them. In an interview for Tennis Reporters, the Frenchman assured that his time at the university in the United States was a great choice and has helped him to establish some bases and play without pressure, since, as he himself affirms, his future is assured by his time by the University. In addition, he advises future great tennis players: “Unless you are Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, or you are among the best players in the junior category, you should go to university in the United States”.
a wise start
“I didn’t have to start on tour at 18, when I wasn’t good enough or mature enough – professionally speaking – to play on tour. But I had the maturity to think about it and decided to go to the United States, which was a very good choice. This gave me some time and now I have a diploma which is a security for my future. I can play relaxed, knowing what I have. I started when I was 22 years old and not when I was 18, this helps me to take the steps more easily because I have experienced many other things besides professional tennis”.
“In my opinion, any player who isn’t top-10 in juniors should go to college. If you’re not there, there are a lot of uncertainties about your future on the pro circuit. Even players who were 10, 13 or even 8 years old have disappeared from professional tennis after that. Others just get lost playing Futures for years, so I would advise them to go to the US But everyone has their own goals and they have to decide on their future. They must take control of their lives and not depend only on their father or mother and the coach. So it is a clear opinion, but of course you have to have good advice from people who know what they are talking about so that they can give you good advice to choose your university”.
Young people seize power
Rinderknech, who started the season on the right foot but has been diluted with the passing of the tournaments, believes that young tennis players like Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev or Stefanos Tsitsipas have within their reach to achieve everything they set out to do. “Rublev has won eleven titles, but he hasn’t gotten into those top-tier events yet. Last year he reached the finals in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati, but now it’s time to make a push in Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros. For his part, now Tsitsipas won Monte Carlo in some very tough matches, and he played spectacularly, but he decided to go to Barcelona, that was too tough.”
The Frenchman could not avoid comparisons and recalled Nadal’s feat at the age of 19, but warns that Alcaraz has some aspects of the game to continue working on and improving: “Now we have the phenomenon Alcaraz, who at 18 years old, occupies the position number 9 in the ranking, which is very unusual. Rafael Nadal was already playing great at the age of 19, winning his first Roland Garros. It is certainly possible with Alcaraz, but he has to keep improving more, since there are times when he doesn’t work on the points. It should be amazing to see him go up in Madrid”.
