Just when a decade is about to pass since his farewell to the slopes, Dominik Hrbaty enjoys retirement on the tropical coast of West Palm Beacha city attached to Miami where, at 45 years old, he enjoys a tranquility that allows him to watch all the tennis he wants while projecting a few hopes on his daughter Ella, a rising promise in international golf at only 12 years old.
Well-deserved rest, those who know him will think. Hrbaty, a calm, hard-working and polite guy It was always consistent and regular, but never managed to reach the top-10 of the ATP rankings. However, he is the only tennis player in history who He has beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras at least once.. Almost nothing.
But there is more. The Slovak, hold on, can boast of being the only player of all time who has not lost a face-to-face match with any of the big four. In fact, He has a positive balance in direct confrontations against Nadal (3-1), Federer (2-1) and Murray (1-0). Djokovic, the ‘other’ of the Big-Four and current tennis monarch with 24 Grand Slams in his cabinets, was also unable to tip the balance in his favor against the tough tennis player from Bratislava (1-1).
“It is a spectacular fact, it is true, but it is part of historyand the past is the past,” Hrbaty assures Relevo from the other side of the Atlantic. “There is no doubt that something would be good, because Things like this make me remember me as a good tennis player.“.
Beyond myths and legends, the Slovak He was a persevering tennis player, with very powerful blows and always uncomfortable. for his opponents. Not for nothing was just one point away from entering the select club of the ten best rackets on the planet. It was in 2001, in Dubai, against Juan Carlos Ferrero. After winning the first set, Hrbaty wasted a match point in the tie-break of the second set, lost the match and cleared the way to the final for the Spaniard, who won the tournament after Marat Safin retired in the final.
The Slovakian, 23 years old at the time, still with his entire career ahead of him, He was never able to reach the top of the ATP again.. “It’s something that doesn’t bother me today,” she says more than two decades later. “I think all the rivals from that time remember me as a world top-10 player.regardless of what my position on the table said.
China in the shoes of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic
Raised in the deepest Central Europe, where “communism was pressing”, Hrbaty made a name for himself in a sport that didn’t expect him. “When I was young, professional sports were not conceived as an option for the future for young people. The boys could be engineers, doctors or mechanics in a workshop, but never tennis players.. He was almost banned from leaving the country! “He remembers, along the same lines as Novak Djokovic.
“I understand you perfectly“, he says regarding the Serb’s complaints about his lack of significance outside the Balkans. “Look, I can’t forget a day when, at school, we had to write down what we wanted to be when we grew up. I said that I wanted to be a tennis player and the teacher told me that that was not possible, that I had to redo my text and write something else.. That afternoon I returned home crying, I remember it with deep sadness, but at the same time it was the turning point in my life. From that day on, it was clear to me that I wanted to be a tennis player. And I really wanted it.”
Far from shrinking because of his roots, Hrbaty worked hard and increased the hours of training until reaching such unsuspected efforts that reaching professionalism was inevitable. So, cAt just 18 years old he made his debut on the circuit and very soon became the youngest tennis player in the ATP top-100.. Shortly after, with almost no time to look back, the Slovakian had already beaten the best tennis players in history.
“Playing against Rafa Nadal was very easy for me“, surprises the one from Bratislava on the other side of the screen. “His game was the perfect fit for mine.” He is right. Of the four games in which they faced each other, the Balearic player could only win one. It was the last one, in Barcelona and, of course, on clay.
“Rafa always played his forehand to my backhand, something that helped me take control of the match, because it never failed. Then, when he imposed my right hand, flat and deep, it hurt him a lot; and with his serve he didn’t punish me excessively,” points out the one from Bratislava, eight years older than Nadal. “Actually, he was the perfect opponent for me, because he was left-handedwhich I always preferred over facing a right-hander, and on top of that spanish, which I was also very good at. I remember victories against Félix Mantilla, Álex Corretja, Carlos and Albert Costa… The Spanish tennis player really likes to lift the ball. And that suited me perfectly.”
Even with everything, Hrbaty keeps an indelible memory of his duels with the manacorí. “I really enjoyed playing against him“, he assures. “I respect Rafa a lot as a person. Every time we cross paths, he greets me with great affection and stops to talk for a few minutes.. He is a very educated guy despite being a superstar, and that makes him an example for any athlete.”
With Federer, the Balearic’s nemesis for so many years, Hrbaty also has a positive record in direct confrontations (2-1). Of course, as with Nadal, he never thought that the Swiss’s ceiling would be so high. “Roger and I have been friends since we were very young,” he notes. “I remember that as kids we went to train in Los Angeles for a whole week.. Alone. He and I. We were going to watch NHL games [liga nacional de hockey sobre hielo] and we played a lot of doubles together.
“He was special with the racket“, he asserts about the Swiss. “He did things that cannot be coached, and that is something that, even today, many coaches do not fully understand. You can’t play tennis like Roger. You can’t even think like him, you don’t have his vision, nor his hitting. You already know. “He’s Roger and we’re not.”
Even so, the one from Basel retired with the battle lost with Nadal and Djokovic, something that does not surprise Hrbaty. “If Roger had his day, there was no option. His blows were from another universe. Now, if he was under pressure, there were options, however minimal. When he was against the ropes, Roger failed“, Explain.
“Rafa, on the other hand, was like a pitbull, he bit and wouldn’t let go until he suffocated you.. He never gave up and if you wanted to win a point you had to earn it. Novak also had that consistency, but also I added a game very similar to mine, of hard hits, patience and long points“says Hrbaty, convinced that the duel between the three, even today, continues “very, very even.”
A new life… and a new star
Now, nine years after hanging up his racket with six titles and almost 700 matches in the elite, the Slovakian follows from a distance a circuit that has welcomed with open arms a new star willing to reach, one day, the Olympus of those already mentioned. “Carlos Alcaraz is a fantastic player,” he says. “But I think he still doesn’t have ‘that’ that Nadal, Federer or Djokovic had“.
Our mistake, says Hrbaty, is to compare the Murcian with the three best tennis players in history. “He is going to be a very great player, I have no doubt, but he will be even more so when Novak retires.“he says.”I think Alcaraz is missing some of the weapons that these three beasts had. And I’m not referring to the right or the other way around, but to other types of less tangible things. Even so, he is very young and when Roger or Rafa were his age I never thought they could reach what they later reached.”
However, the young tennis player from El Palmar Hrbaty highlights an aptitude that is not very common on the circuit. “It doesn’t cost him anything to admit the reasons for a defeat,” he comments on the other side of the screen. “He says, look, yes, I haven’t known how to manage my nerves, I’ve put a lot of pressure on my shoulders or arguments like that. Doesn’t look for excuses. He reminds me a lot of Rafa in that sense. That sincerity with oneself is a gift. And he has it.”
Hrbaty, coach for eight seasons, lives now without direct contact with tennis. Although that, as he himself acknowledges, does not always guarantee playing a game with someone you least expect. “By coincidences in life I met Jon Bon Jovi on the dance floor., who is the idol of my wife and my daughter. We went to one of his concerts and I have to tell you that I am completely musically illiterate, I only listen to what they play on the radio,” she admits between laughs.
“I told the story to Jon and he laughed his head off.“, he recalls. “In those days he had just had surgery that prevented him from singing, but since he did not want to lose shape he had turned to tennis as a training method. Play four or five times a week! And that, in Palm Beach, where we all know each other, brought us together on the tennis court.”
It is not surprising, of course, knowing the life and work of the Slovak, dedicated to the racket like few tennis players remember. “Hrbaty and tennis are two elements that were destined to fit together“, sentence.”If I didn’t have a family, I would continue traveling the world, whether playing or training. “Never in my life, not for a single second, did I think about doing anything else.”
From the northern mountains of Madrid, Daniel studied Journalism and Audiovisual Communication at the Rey Juan Carlos University and now covers sports information at Relevo. Shortly after landing he traveled to the Davis Cup finals and has specialized in issues and reports on doping in sport. In addition, he writes about motorsport, athletics, tennis, cycling (he has covered a Vuelta a España on the road) and many other Olympic sports. Before Relevo, he spent time at El País, El Mundo, Ogilvy and the Libertad FM antenna. …
2023-09-29 15:00:08
#Playing #Rafa #easy #Relief
