Carlos Alcaraz He is the last Spaniard in the Australian Open after the defeat of Paula Badosa before the American Amanda Anisimova (7-5, 6-4) in the third round of the first Grand Slam of the year. Of the 11 Spaniards who started the tournament, only the Murcian tennis player remains in the fight for the title. This Saturday he will seek his place in the round of 16 (not before 3:30 a.m., Eurosport) against the unknown Chinese tennis player Juncheng Shang (140 world). An unprecedented situation since 1990, when Javier Sánchez Vicario He was the last to fall in the third round, of the seven Spanish players who went to Melbourne that year.
Con Alcaraz in number 2 and Rafael Nadal, Fallen to 446th place due to the hip injury that has left him out of competition for a year, the Spanish gap in the ATP and WTA rankings is the worst in the last 20 years. The best classified in the ‘top 100’, apart from Alcaraz, is Alexander Davidovich (24th world). Behind the man from Malaga are Roberto Carballés (63), Roberto Bautista (72), Bernabe Zapata (78), James Munar (82) y Albert Ramos (85), while in the women’s classification the best Spanish is Sarah Smiles (52), followed by Cristina Bucsa (56), Rebeka Masarova (91) and the same Badosa (100).
An evil announced
In Australia none of that ‘top 100’ has been able to get past the second round. A pothole announced last year in which, apart from Alcaraz’s six titles, including Wimbledon, the only Spaniard to win a tournament was Carballés, in Morocco.
“Having Alcaraz hides the lack of Spanish players. Now we have an outstanding player in Carlos, Davidovich, who has a lot of potential, capable of anything, but then I think there is a lack of players behind and on the women’s side it is costing a little more,” he said. Badosa after losing in Melbourne.
“I think there is still a lack of good grassroots work of the federation or something like that. I think that in Spain this work could be done better,” criticized the former world number 2, who has returned to the circuit after seven months out due to a back injury.
The truth is that Spanish tennis faces a generational change without a clear replacement at the level of champions as in recent years, in the shadow of Nadal, they were David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Garbiñe MuguruzaCarla Suarez or others now close to retirement such as Roberto Bautista o Albert Ramosover 35 years of age.
“A unique pyramid”
“We have gotten used to it very badly. We have had great successes for more than 20 years, with a very high level of tennis players, with special talent. It’s not easy to always have players like Nadal o Alcaraz and many others in the ‘top5’, ‘top’ 10 or ‘top 20 every year,” he highlights. Javier Solersports director of the Spanish Tennis Federation.
The jump to the professional circuit and entry to the ‘top 100’ does not have the continuity of other times despite the fact that in recent years the federation has created a tournament circuit ranging from the base to the professional top. “We have a unique pyramid of tournaments that has never been seen before in the history of Spanish tennis,” he highlights. Soler of an ambitious program that ranges from the sub-10, sub-14 and sub-16 categories, and junior junior, with 90 ITF tournaments of 10,000, 15,000 and 25,000 euros in prizes, another 4 between 40,000 and 100,000, 15 Challengers and 3 WTA of 125,000 euros.
“Now A tennis player can enter the ‘top 100’ of the ATP or the WTA, without having to leave Spain, with what that means for the players of economic benefit. “Before that was impossible,” explains the sports director of the federation who, annually, and only in direct aid to these tournaments apart from scholarships to tennis players, invests 1,400,000 euros of the 8.5 million of its budget.
Question of talent
The economic investment of the FET is negligible compared to the multimillion-dollar resources of federations such as the Australian, the British, the American or the French, to name the four that the Grand Slams.
“Having money helps, without a doubt, but that does not guarantee you champions. Australia has been searching for it for 50 years and its current number 1, Alex DeMiñaur, is of Spanish origin. You can train and teach to play, but the talent of the great champions is innate. You either have it or you don’t,” he concludes. Soler.
2024-01-19 16:15:31
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