“There is no heir to Nadal at Roland Garros, nor do I think there ever will be”

What is the first memory that comes to mind? E

The last point of the final with Courier. I have seen and relived it many times. It was an intense and long exchange of blows that ended with a volley that went wide while I fell backwards on the ground.

What did it mean to win Roland Garros?

The ultimate happiness. Winning Roland Garros was the obsession of my life. There was no other more important tournament for me. A wish I had from a very young age.

Didn’t have it easy?

I was in a great moment and the conditions were perfect for me. The weather was good, the ball bounced and I ran as I liked. I beat Sampras in the quarterfinals, Medvedev, who had always beaten me, in the semifinals, and then Courier, who was number 1 and had won the previous two years in Paris and Rome.

He also achieved a special record that year

YEAH. I beat Champion 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0 but I also had a streak of 31 games in a row without losing. I think it’s a record in tennis history. In the first round I won the last 12 games against Leconte, then 18 against Champion and one more, in the third, against Larson.

After 30 years, how do you see tennis today?

It is very different. Now it is played almost the same on grass, hard or ‘indoor’. Before when you played on a fast court you could hardly pass even two balls. It was unthinkable for me to win any other Grand Slam than Roland Garros. We Spaniards were trained on land. I played my first hard tournament at the age of 18 at the US Open.

And the players?

In my time there were more specialists depending on the surface of the slopes. Sampras, Becker or Edberg could never win Roland Garros, and for me and others like Courier or Muster the same thing happened at Wimbledon. Now almost everyone has the same game pattern. Players who could play without having much strength have disappeared. The balls look like basketballs. Either you have a lot of strength or you don’t move them.

With your experience now, what would you change in your career?

I would do a few different things, for sure. To say something, I would have focused much more on the serve, which before we Spaniards did not give so much importance to and was capital. Then I would also try to be braver, risk more, dare to try new things, work to prevent injuries. I think I was too conservative when things were going well.

What was the worst moment of your career?

The shoulder injury I had in 1998. It prevented me from playing by extending my arm, using it as a lever as was my style. They operated on me to file the bones but I have not recovered. After a year and a half I had to quit.

He won Roland Garros in 1993 and 1994, was a semifinalist in 1995 and a finalist in 1997. He marked an era and since then Roland Garros has been Spanish territory

Well, I think that in that domain a certain Nadal has helped us a bit. [Risas]. When I started we didn’t go past the fourth. After me, Moyà, Costa and Ferrero were champions and Berasategui and Corretja were finalists. We broke a barrier that seemed impossible.

What changed?

In my case, believing in me and working to achieve it. I had my father by my side to always help me and we formed a good team with Fernando Luna [extenista] and Salva Sosa [preparador físico]. When you see someone next to you win, that you see him train every day, that you play against him, you also believe that you can achieve it.

Nadal will no longer be there this year and has announced his retirement by 2024

What Nadal has done is very great, unimaginable. Winning 14 Roland Garros, 22 Grand Slams and being up there for so many years. There is no definition to qualify it. It’s time for all of us to say goodbye. I hope and want Nadal to finish as he likes. He deserves it.

What impresses you most about Nadal?

All. He is a 10 in all aspects, he has no weaknesses, but if I highlight something special it is his mentality. He, Federer and Djokovic are science fiction players. They are in another dimension at all levels. For 20 years only Murray or Wawrinka have managed to break their dominance in the Grand Slams. Not much more to say.

He had Nadal as a player when he won the Davis Cup as captain in 2019

It was spectacular. She won it all. Individual, doubles and on its worst surface which is the ‘indoor’, on a track like Madrid, much faster due to the height. He did not lose any serves in the entire tournament.

He has coached Gasquet, Tsonga and until recently Zverev. Do you like being a coach?

I enjoy doing it. Being a coach is a bit like playing again. It is as if you were playing in a video with the Play. You live a lot but nothing compared to being down there on the track. I like to plan the matches, help the player and contribute my experience.

Roland Garros without Nadal is going to be strange, isn’t it?

The strange thing is that Nadal has always been there and at the level that he has. It’s very open. With Nadal the question was who could beat him at Roland Garros, now it’s about who will win without him.

Does Alcaraz aim to be the heir?

Talking about an heir when Alcaraz has not yet won any Roland Garros and Nadal is 14 seems reckless to me. There is no heir, nor do I think there ever will be.

And how do you see Alcaraz?

He is a phenomenon that has an incredible projection, it amuses me to watch him play because he has a lot of variety in his game. He is capable of doing many things and all well. He is the one who is playing the best on clay this year and is a clear favorite to win at Roland Garros.