Roland Garros. Guillermo Coria returned to Paris after 14 years: “Having a good relationship and chatting with everyone is worth more than everything one won in a race”

PARIS.– He chose to follow everything from a corner in the stands, accompanied by Martín García, the sub-captain, with a low profile. William Coria I’m going through Roland Garrosin his role as captain of the Argentine Davis Cup team. With the mission of observing all the national players, talking with them, knowing their plans. There is a long way to go before the first stage of the Salad Bowl finals, which Argentina will play in Bologna, for group A, against Sweden (September 13), Italy (16) and Croatia (17). If they finish in the top two, they will advance to the quarterfinals, which will take place in Malaga at the end of November. For the rhythms and schedules of tennis, it is too much time ahead. But Coria wants to be close to the players, to the large delegation of 14 names that, between singles and doubles, starred in the first week of the French Open.

At the same time, Coria knows that it is not just another tournament. Roland Garros set it on fire: the brilliant victory over Andre Agassi, the semifinal in 2003, the final loss against Gastón Gaudio in 2004, and finally, the farewell in 2008, with a setback in the first round against Tommy Robredo. Since then, he had never returned to Paris. Until this season. And then some sensations come back, and there are new emotions. “He hadn’t been here for 14 years. And it is the first tournament I have traveled to, outside of the ATP in Buenos Aires and Córdoba. Look: when I played that match with Robredo, I left the court almost certain that it was going to be my last participation, and I thought «how nice it would be to come back one day with my children. Would be a dream”. And now, several years later, in the first tournament that I travel to outside of Argentina, I am here with my children. [Thiago y Delfina] and with my wife [Carla Francovigh]”, tells the Magician to THE NATIONduring a little free time in the middle of the games.

And Coria, who recently turned 40, reflects: “Everything happens very fast. It seems to me that it was yesterday that I was playing. I come here, and it doesn’t seem like it was that long ago. Besides, in many places the same people are working as in my time as a player; They treat me with the same affection, the same respect. I spent many years here as a junior, as a professional; very nice moments. I’m very happy to be here… And it scares me how quickly everything happens. And I realize that 15, 18 years have passed. And it can’t be, I can’t believe it. Next year there will be 20 of the match with Agassi, and it seems to me that it was… I don’t know, four or five years ago. But, 20 years, already? Is incredible”.

The former number 3 in the world walks around the Philippe Chatrier stadium, witness to several memorable days in which he was the protagonist. Of course, it is not the same scenario of those times. “The stadium is impressive. I tell you the truth: I feel like I came back home. The memories of junior, of professional. If I had come back when I was four or five years old, maybe I would even want to play. The courts are perfect, everything impeccable. They make you want to hit the ball for a little while”, he blurts out with a bit of nostalgia. “Tennis is breathed here, I met former players whom I had not seen for a thousand years. You can see the gray hair, the wrinkles, ha. But we share strong things and for a long time. Having a good relationship and chatting with everyone is worth more than everything one won in a race”, she maintains, almost in a declaration of principles.

What did you miss most about all this?

-When you’re a player, you have those tickles… Stress in a good way, worry about playing well, being focused. They are those sensations that, later, when he is no longer in tennis, he misses madly. Be careful, it’s not that I regret it or go crazy for feeling that adrenaline again, but they are sensations that tennis gives, these tournaments, that one does not feel again with anything else. I could arrive badly, without confidence, playing badly, but I came in here and transformed myself, changed my chip, and played well. And the good feelings returned, the energy, the desire. The same thing happened to me in Monte Carlo. That’s what I miss. It is something that I remember now of what one felt in these tournaments.

-And something that you like living here now?

-What I enjoy today is walking down the middle of the club’s street, calmly. Somebody out there who recognizes me asks me for an autograph, and nothing more. But I’m calm, that’s the most beautiful thing. When he was a player he couldn’t walk around here, he had to take shortcuts through the back, the sector next to the street, to get to the stadium quickly. So I really enjoy all this, seeing all these tennis fanatic people. Perhaps the one who plays is in a bubble and he does not see all the passion of the public that is walking here.

-You retired very young…

-Yes, but I always said that I was going to retire young to have children from a young age, because it was not going to be easy to have children and at the same time be a player, because of how I was, because of how worried I am about them. I see my children happy with life, enjoying themselves here, watching tennis, walking where I played. I enjoy it. They are happy. They don’t care about tennis, they accompany me, they take the opportunity to see the uncle [Federico, el hermano menor de Guillermo], and I see them grow without pressure. It’s not like they grew up with tennis, tennis, tennis on their minds all the time. I have to explain… Look: the boy asked me yesterday: “why did you give up tennis?”. So he said, “You quit.” “And you could be here, playing with Uncle Fede.” And I keep telling them and answering them. They know that this was my favorite place, so they watch everything every minute.

–I imagine that now your children are learning a little more about your stage as a player.

-Two years ago, during the pandemic, I made a showcase at home and put the trophies there. But the boys don’t mind, and that’s fine. They watch a little tennis only when Fede plays. They think I’m known for being Uncle Fede’s brother, ha. But I am happy. They do not grow up with the obligation to follow in one’s footsteps. They go to school, play sports, and everything freely. Let them do whatever they want.

-Now, as captain, you have to see many things from another perspective. Do you understand at this moment the captain who followed you twenty years ago?

Yes, that’s all new to me. It is an important tournament, and it is not about being on top of those who have been on the circuit for several years, like Peque [Schwartzman]Delbonis, Machi [González]Zebolla [Horacio Zeballos]… Being with Cachin, with [Rodríguez] Taverna, with Tomi Etcheverry, with Camilo Ugo… I see them win and I know that this match changes everything for them, and they don’t lose their humility, and they continue. And I tell them: “Enjoy this, because there are more difficult days than good ones, but without losing the objective. This has to help them realize that they can, that all those frustrations, the effort, have their reward at last. We emphasize them, giving them tools. They remind me of myself when I was taking my first steps and I had to start cooking, and I won matches and I didn’t get dizzy, because I had to keep going. We have that goal, to be close to everyone.

-At the time, the Legion had economic stability in the country to leave. It seems that this generation has made it more difficult with the currency change, the pandemic, few tournaments. Do you agree? Do they ask you for advice?

-It’s that they are shy, they don’t dare. I have to tell them to come closer, to ask me. For us it is important that they feel that we are next to them. And it is not something of now; we want to give room to those who are in the 300th, 400th position. One should not approach the boys after they have good results: you have to be there before. It went well for me, I had good results, I was a good player, but I also saw my teammates, those who were falling by the wayside, and how important it was to feel summoned, what they felt when they were not called. That’s why we focus a lot on the second, third, fourth platoons. We want them to feel part of it. They don’t always have to be or feel like the best, but if we’re close that can give them extra motivation. And what they achieved here, to enter from the qualy, to play it, is a message for all those who come after. 14 played here, plus those from the qualifiers who did not go to the main draw. There are many, huh? We have a litter, because they got Fran [Cerúndolo]Juanma [Cerúndolo]Tomi [Etcheverry]; is Baez. They are all kids who grew up together. And if one sees that the other can, he is encouraged. It is a bit of the contagion effect that happened to us. It may take a little longer, but we are on the right track. What Baez did is spectacular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojSF_-YuFC0

-The players also requested a little more dialogue, right?

-Well, but there was the pandemic. To Gaston [Gaudio, el anterior capitán] it was difficult for him to travel. Reconnecting with the players directly at Davis is a bit shocking, I know. Here I have the advantage that I know everyone; We have a lot of relationships and that helps on a day-to-day basis. And we haven’t been that long either. Then, when we took over, first the strong devaluation caught us, and then the pandemic hit us. Now we are doing these challengers, we are accompanying. From Gaby Sabatini on down, we are all pushing forward so that this grows. This is all effort, the Argentine tennis player is like that. We all come from lower-middle class, we are fighters. Winning a match here, getting to Roland Garros after being in the pandemic, not having a handle to pay for training… How can they not give up their lives, if everything costs them a lot? It makes me very happy what they are achieving. They can, they have what.