Tommy Robredo from Olot resigned this Monday as a professional tennis player in the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell-Conde de Godó Trophy, falling in just over an hour against the Valencian Bernabé Zapata (6-1 and 6-1) in the first round of the Barcelona Open.
Zapata, number 119 in the world, will face off in the second round of the tournament with Pablo Carreño, number 8 seed and nineteenth in the world rankings, after winning a duel in which the Girona tennis player has been the main protagonist in the Rafa Nadal central track of the RCT Barcelona-1899 facilities.
Robredo, who will turn 40 on May 1, has not played in the main draw of an ATP tournament since July 2019 in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain and winner of twelve ATP titles, the former No. 5 in the world rankings, has been touring Challengers for six seasons, something unusual in a tennis player with his record.
The Girona native, who entered the table with an invitation from the organization to occupy the 362nd place in the ranking, has lost on the central court, the same one that in 2004 saw him lift the title against Gastón Gaudio and play the final on 2006 won by Rafael Nadal.
This time he fell in the first round against Zapata, but the result was the least as Robredo faced his participation as a reward for saying goodbye as a professional tennis player at home.
He has played his ‘last dance’ having played only two games all year, both in the Challenger in Monterrey (Mexico), but eager to finish with a good taste in his mouth a career that began in 1998.
In his 24 years on the ATP circuit, he has won 12 of the 23 finals he has competed in, including, in addition to the Godó of 2004, the Masters 1000 in Hamburg held in 2006.
A member of the Spanish team that won the Davis Cup in 2004, 2008 and 2009, Robredo was a four-time Roland Garros quarterfinalist, and also reached the penultimate round of the Australian Open (2007) and the United States Open (2013).
During the match against Zapata, the audience present on the court Rafa Nadal applauded the player from Hostalric (Selva), who experienced a very special ‘last dance’.
