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Alexander Garcia Cenzano He is a sparring partner and started playing tennis when he was only six years old, in a small club in the Ventas neighborhood (Madrid). Then they signed him at Chamartín, where he competed until he was 18. This tennis player has focused his professional career on training and traveling as an ‘Official Hitting Partner’ or sparring partner; that is, the players who make the tournaments available to the participating tennis players, if they so wish. This young man narrates for ABC Daily how he came to a job that has allowed him to share the track with the greatest of the ATP and the WTA, such as Rafa Nadal, Garbiñe Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka, Dominic Thiem or Carlos Alcaraz: «It is difficult and you have to have a high level, but it has helped me to gain insights from great WTA coaches.
There are weeks that I work with some players privately, like Garbiñe Muguruza; and I have prepared the preseason with Tamara Zidansek». The man from Madrid has alternated being a sparring partner with training full time: «When I stopped competing I decided to train. I have worked ‘full time’ four years with a tennis player. I have also traveled to almost all the tournaments as a sparring partner: Indian Wells, Cincinnati, Miami or Madrid».
He recognizes that his secret to being one of the most regular sparring partners in the tournament is to adapt well to what each player asks for and needs. «A tennis player who, for example, regularly uses the cut backhand is not the same as another who does not, or those who have more effect on the second serve. a sparring partner he must imitate the opponents of the tennis player with whom he trainsand also, adapt to it”, explains the player at the Mutua Madrid Open.
A rally partner, as some know this figure, must not only adapt and imitate the opponents, but also the environment and circumstances of those who train: «You have to blend in with the environment. The pressure is high the days before the match, is when you have to compete and there are nerves ». It also depends on the character of each player. «You have to adapt, some are less relaxed and others who take it easy. But as a sparring partner you have to get away and focus on your work”, says García Cenzano.
The sparring partners share time, court and sometimes friendship with the most successful tennis players in the world. Although they feel a lot of pressure at times, they are usually enriching experiences. «Playing with Nadal was one of the best moments that tennis has left me. His game was incredible and he is what he looks like off the court, he always asks me how he is when I see him. He is kind and humble. A ten as a person », he relates proudly. He has also trained with emerging Spanish figures in the tournament such as Paula Badosa and Carlos Alcaraz: «Paula is number two, she has displayed incredible tennis for a few years. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to train with Carlos in Indian Wells and I see him as very focused and methodical. He is very young but he has his feet on the ground and he is very humble, at this rate he will continue to be in the top ten for a long time ».
There are trainers who started out as ‘Hitting Partners’ like Serena Williams’ trainer Jarmere Jenkins. Cenzano wants to follow in his footsteps: «In the future, of course, I want to try to be a WTA coach. I have already traveled for four years to train, now I have the opportunity to continue traveling for a few weeks and that gives you a great learning experience».
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