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Girona is devotedly involved with top-level tennis

A Gironafootball is from First. And basketball, of course, the sport par excellence. And hockey. So is tennis this week. “We are working a lot of hours”, he explains Txell Deulofeuone of the many volunteers who can be seen, notebook and phone in hand, up and down the facilities of the CT Girona within the framework ofATP Challenger Eurofirms Girona-Costa Brava. “He doesn’t sleep much, but it’s satisfying to see how it pays off,” he reasons Nose For, tournament manager. “We are working hard and suffering so that everything goes well, but we have been surprised by the way everything is going. We have an incredible turnout and everything is working better than expected,” he says Jordi Samper, its director. The sum of the collective is making it possible for the first edition to be a great success. It will end tomorrow, with the final at 11 am. The semifinals are played today, starting at 10:30 a.m. (GakhovThe Young i MartínezElias); and finally, the doubles final (Roca/CervantesBhambri/Myneni). Like the other days, entry is free. “We hope to break it,” emphasizes Samper. They are already doing it.

People involved

Back to the volunteers, though, because what would any event be without them? The ATP Challenger has collected balls from all the clubs in the demarcation. About seventy boys and girls approach each day; to which must be added about fifty people plus the members of CT Girona. Deulofeu, who “until the age of nineteen I played tennis, but now I’m better at padel” – she explains, revealing herself with a laugh -, studied biomedicine and is a researcher in a research group. As long as there isn’t a racket (or paddle) in front, clear. “We do everything we can and organize ourselves according to everyone’s availability. But there is a lot, a lot of work. From hotel management, the issue of transport, to distributing the training tracks. I can assure you that I am enjoying it and if I said yes, it was because I wanted it to go well. And I want it to be done again next year. In fact, we all row to one because we want it to be repeated”, he says.

The team of volunteers takes care of every detail and the facilities, with a village in which a shop and places to eat stand out, apart from the terrace, they provide an optimal climate to get closer to enjoying the best tennis available in the Girona regions.

Txell Deulofeu, from the volunteer team, in a meeting ANIOL CLOSED


Nothing defines the feeling of belonging better than the word ‘involvement’: «It is the key to everything, everything. We all do the project. We have proven to be a fantastic and wonderful team and that where one does not come, the other comes. And that’s what it’s all about. Because we saw it born”, comments Pou, also grateful for the support of the authorities (patronage, Deputation, town hall), the sponsors, the CT Girona board and the Catalan Federations i spanish. For the first time, Girona can boast a five-star tennis event. “It is clear that in this sense we are rookiesbut everyone is falling over themselves in the tournament”, confesses Samper.

It is difficult to be neutral for the spectators, eager to find some point of reference to be able to take sides. It makes less sense to watch sports without opting for a winner. In fact, it goes with our competitive gene that we all have inside of us. Could it be the lack of this mirror in the Girona area that makes it difficult to stick to tennis? «Tommy Robredo it caused everyone to get used to it too well”, analyzes the tournament director. “I think they are working very well, but the results will still take a while to be seen. Club Tennis Girona has been doing things the right way for years, but this is for the long term. This tournament is also for everyone’s motivation: to be able to see such a level so close and for free is amazing. So we hope that it serves to generate stimuli for which they are coming from behind and that in a short time we will have the level that Girona deserves».

What the ATP Challenger is achieving, on its own merits, is linking Girona’s name abroad through tennis. “The impact is positive. Linking to the Challenger de Girona brand is a good idea. Because we only get nice words and congratulations. The inputs they are fabulous”, adds Samper. “This tournament is important for the demarcation because Girona sport is on the rise, but Girona tennis lacked a push”, explains Pou.

Stability for the future

“We want this tournament to stay in Girona, of course. And that future editions go even further, of course”, he says. “Surely we don’t realize what it means. For someone who is passionate about tennis, as I am, you follow them Masters 1000the Open’s and with that you hallucinate. This is a very classy Challenger. But you’re also not aware of what it entails and the work behind it so that everything can go ahead, until you’re there, because it’s beastly. Now, we are delighted”, Deulofeu makes clear, always with one eye on the job. Perhaps, deep down, this is the secret for people in Girona to start enjoying tennis with a bib.

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