Emilio Sánchez Vicarioformer tennis player and international tennis reference, has made a analysis of the situation of tennis in Spain with which it aims to expose, based on data, the challenges that our country must assume to recover the throne as a reference and cradle of elite professional players before the overtaking and rise of the United States.
In an article published on the Emilio Sánchez Academy blog, the coach also notes that Spain has lost steam in the top 100 of the ATP ranking, a reality that he began to observe in 2016, when he wrote an article comparing Spanish and American tennis. Today, Spain has passed from 14 players to six in the top 100placing itself in fifth position in the ranking, while the United States has increased its number of players from 6 to 12, placing itself at number one.
“Practically all the Spaniards who were at the top are now retired and we have not been able to replace them,” reflects Sánchez Vicario. In his opinion, The most worrying fact is at the base of the pyramidwhere if the ages and number of players are analyzed, it is found that Spain has gone from having about 140 players in the ranking in 2005 to 90 today, compared to the United States, which has gone from 120 to 210.
However, in his analysis, the former tennis player details the challenges to recover lost ground. He remembers that Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) It began to change its strategy three years ago and created the pyramid of Spanish tennis tournaments, following the system that the United States applied more than a decade ago, going from Futures to Challengers tournaments.
“This work can take five to seven years to bear fruit. And for Spain to once again have more opportunities, as in its golden era, players must also be promoted from the youth stages and once again have more competition groups that want to make the transition to professionalism; we must fill that lower part of the pyramid,” highlights Sánchez Vicario.
Clubs and academies
The one who was the greatest exponent of Spanish tennis in the mid-80s and 90s considers that the network of Spanish clubs are key to continue pushing and become part of the tennis pyramid by training in their clubs, competing and above all improving the level to make the competition grow.
“For the most part, these clubs are an engine that drives players and creates professional tennis players, and that is where we must continue to make a differencemanaging to place more young people in the transition from the youth to the professional field,” he recalls.
Sánchez Vicario leads the Emilio Sánchez Academy, an internationally renowned school with headquarters in Barcelona that celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2024. Precisely, the extensionist and technician makes another reflection from the institution itself. “We should all, together with the federation be an active part of the pyramidparticipate by betting on some Spanish players and that renowned coaches who have managed to teach the Spanish model to so many champions can be part of that pyramid that we sell so much,” he writes.
His analysis concludes with a question: If for 40 years, Spain produced more than 100 players in the top 100, where are they now? “Luckily many are in the tennis driving clubs, the academies; for me, the same change that has begun with the tournaments must be done with the coaches who are known to be valuable, to implement that culture of the tennis player, and that return to enjoying the transition from junior to professional,” he concludes.
2024-03-28 17:04:37
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