Like many white sports couples, Juan Ignacio Chela met his wife, Verónica Alonso, playing tennis on the clay courts of the Bartolomé Miter club. As she abandoned sports activity, they stopped seeing each other until a chance reunion in 2002, more than two decades ago. Since then, they have never been apart.
The young man born on August 30, 1979 in Ciudad Evita had been playing tennis since he was 6. In 1997 he won his first junior tournament in Brazil and made his professional debut in the Santa Cruz de la Sierra challenger. The following year he won his first senior tournaments in Argentina and Paraguay.
By then he had lost track of Verónica Alonso, who also played tennis for the Migueletes club, but had left the sport to study. They met again in 2002 and fell in love immediately.
Juan Ignacio Chela, Verónica Alonso and an unforgettable wedding
Juan Ignacio Chela and Verónica Alonso were married in November 2008 in the Santa Teresita de Pilar Parish, covered in white rose petals. That same night they organized a big party at Espacio Pilar, where there were as many family members as there were tennis players.
Juan Chela and Verónica Alonso met as teenagers. Photo: Instagram @juanichela
Although Vero accompanied him on many trips, and they spent the holidays together playing cards or on planes, the tennis player’s professional retirement meant starting to live the family differently.
Since then, the trips are not to play tournaments, but to enjoy. And in the photos on the couple’s Instagram there are images of the last vacation in Greece, but also in Ibiza, Indian Wells, New York or Miami.
Also read: Chela spoke of the brain aneurysm operation she suffered a year ago: “It was a difficult decision.”
“We are very calm. Enjoying life more than ever. Vero is very humble, sensitive and, above all, a great companion. It is not easy to be by the side of a tennis player and, in that sense, she always supported me in all decisions. She is a ten, ”said the tennis player in a note in La Nación.
“We are still on vacation, but we are going to adapt. In that sense, Juan was always going forward. He is super optimistic and always finds the positive side of things. So I know we’re going to be okay. On the other hand, we are really good friends and we have a lot of fun,” added Vero.
The tennis farewell
A little over a decade ago, the tennis player said goodbye to the circuit professionally. It all started in February 2012, when he injured his right foot in the Acapulco tournament. And while he did everything possible to recover, he ended his 15-year career with a Twitter post in December of that same year.
Juan Chela is 44 years old. Photo: Instagram @juanichela
“After many years, the time has come to move on to another stage of my life. I am retiring from professional tennis”, wrote El Flaco, who won six singles tournaments, three doubles and reached 15th place in the ATP ranking in August 2004.
However, he could not get off the courts and has been linked to the circuit since 2015, when he began to train “Little” Diego Schwartzman. With his usual humor, in the latest Instagram photo of him at Wimbledon, dressed in white, he says: “I only have lemon torpedo left.”
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Since then, Juan Ignacio Chela continued the path that he had started some time before on television. Not only as a sports journalist in Tenis Pro and Concentrados en red, but also as a host in the programs En el set con Chela and ESPN Redes. And also as an actor, a guest on Las estrellas, along with Marcela Kloosterboer, Natalie Pérez, Celeste Cid, Violeta Urtizberea and Justina Bustos on eltrece.
2023-08-31 00:35:00
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