—How are you doing these last few days?

—Well, calm down, looking forward to Christmas, which is a stunning time to be at home. And calmly in my final stretch of pregnancy, with patience.

—Patience, but co-director of the Mutua Madrid Open. It sounds strong.

-It’s true. It sounds great. I am super happy with this opportunity. It has been a great appointment. and it will not be symbolic, but strategic. I am very happy to be part of the tournament, which is of enormous magnitude, very critically important, and, moreover, the only women’s tournament in Spain, which gives it even more importance.

—What is your role going to be?

—It is indeed a combined tournament and I want that to be reflected in the sports structure. I want to bring that credibility, and that feminine touch to the management of the tournament. It is not going to be that Feliciano López is in charge of the male team and I am in charge of the female team; we will complement each other; It will be mixed management and shared leadership. I am proud to be part of the team and I want to give everything I can from my experience in the world of tennis and with my connection with the players on the circuit.

—Will you try to promote and enhance the women’s circuit within the tournament? there have always been some differences with the schedules, with the public…

—I will try to be there to help, to give my point of view, with the WTA, to see what changes are needed, what details we can improve. I have not yet begun to immerse myself in the project as I want, that is what I am doing, gathering facts to see the most critically important points in which I can contribute my point of view, and that can definitely help. Little by little I will go deeper. This complement of having two directors will greatly alleviate the workload and this shared leadership with Feli. [López] It will make the tournament what it is indeed, innovative, committed.

—It is a very different role from all of them, and with a great weight on you.

—It is indeed a lot of responsibility; and I’m going to face it, without a doubt, with a lot of perfectionism, like when I played. It is a very big tournament and you have to keep everyone happy. But I feel like it’s going to be something natural for me, because I’m surrounded by my habitat, from a more corporate level than before. But these couple of years have helped me a lot to train myself to know what to expect. Even though the WTA Finals is a smaller tournament than the MMO, whose magnitude is much greater. But I want to lead the vision of the tournament a little, how to take care of the players, see what they need, how they behave. And that comes naturally to me as I experienced it as a player not so long ago. And also, of course, I want to talk a lot with my co-director, who has a lot of experience, and for him to also guide me so I can run the tournament better and move forward with the three-week event.

—Now that you experience it from the outside,what is it like trying to improve the conditions of the tennis players? Have you encountered many rivals,many walls?

—So far I haven’t had to fight. And precisely the fact that I enter this position is to improve, to give another point of view. And from the beginning,everything has been easy,with a very good welcome at an event in which,I would say,is a pioneer in this step towards equality. Neither before nor now have I encountered any situation in which I have not been able to give my opinion.

—You recently left the circuit, but since you started, have you noticed a real evolution?

-I think so. I do notice more interest. The show only gets better, and the connection with the audience and sponsors is constantly growing. I do feel that women’s tennis leads women’s sports in general. This year, Forbes has found that the athletes who have won the most have been tennis players. The women’s show is becoming super engaging and getting better every year.

—Sometimes everything seems to turn into a battle of boys against girls.

—There is no need to label or compare. It is the same sport, but each one has their journey, their interest, their spectacle. And both women and men should enjoy both because they are interesting in their own right. I don’t see the point in comparing.

—He retired from tennis, but he’s still there. What is it about this sport that you can’t take off?

—When I retired two years ago it was a beautiful and sad moment. A new stage began that I looked forward to with great enthusiasm. And with the uncertainty of knowing what this new Garbiñe will be like. But quickly, tennis brought me back to the circuit in another way. I feel like it’s in my DNA. I love tennis and I love competition. And the world of sports has always seemed very beautiful and honest to me. And I’m superimposed in the world of tennis. In some ways it’s like they haven’t let me leave. And it is an honor for me that they continue to love me in the world of tennis, to continue being part of it. And that they want me for important positions, such as the responsibility of being a double director… It is an honor with which I want to give my best version. Little by little, steps are being taken and I hope this is just one step, and that we begin to see more women in critically important positions.

—Is there anything that you still miss today?

—There are things,yes. In general,I don’t miss the life of an elite athlete; She is very self-sacrificing and disciplined,which does not allow you to do other things or be with your family. And that ends up wearing you down.But I miss the competition,the adrenaline; I miss pumping my fist,being with the fans,playing in front of a live audience like when I played games at the Caja Mágica. Those sensations are very difficult to replicate and find in life outside of sport.

—With all the bad, the good, the average and the great that you have experienced in tennis, would you want this life for your children?

—If I would like him to be a tennis player? Clear. I want him to play sports and the sport I like the most is tennis. And little by little it would be seen, but yes, I would love for him to play sports and tennis.But the life of the professional is not decided after 5 years. Those are steps, if you meet the requirements of personality, talent, sacrifice… there are those who have it more naturally and others who don’t. What I like about sport is, from what I noticed as a child, how focused it can make you, because it is like having a mission: training, resting, the competition, going to this championship.You enter a life of eating healthy, doing your homework, going to bed early; I think it is indeed a very good system as an education. Then, if you want to be the best at something, tennis player or lawyer, it is indeed sacrificed and it will be hard. It has its pros and cons. But it also gives you a lot of physical and mental benefits… Yes,sport is a good career.

—And in recent times there has been almost a master’s degree in events between the WTA Finals and now the Madrid tournament.

—It has been a constant learning. It was always a part that I liked, since I was a player. I was never shy about doing acts, events, dealing with sponsors. Actually, I found it refreshing to do so. And now I’m learning to fit it all in; At least they are very intense jobs,but not so long. Monitoring must be done annually, but not every minute or day. I’m making a strategic calendar and with the family. I’m learning to manage everything.

—There has always been controversy with those WTA Finals in Arabia. You who have been there working on the tournament, how do you see it from the inside?

—I have received this question a lot, there is that curiosity. During the year I go quite a few times to do different activities: talk with children, with parents; hold clinics, events in schools, in universities. we have done a lot of things recently, and they have always treated me very well. What I have noticed is how happy the women were that we were there with them doing that event and doing social and community work. They have always treated me very well. From the messages you receive from outside, the first time you go it was ‘let’s see what I find’; but I have always felt very good. And the players too. They are evolving very quickly and changing many things.

—I have to ask you about the breakup between carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero. How did you experience it?

—Well,surprised,like everyone else.News that we did not expect after how well they had worked together. As he has had an unbeatable year. We must congratulate Juan Carlos for the great work he has done, and Carlos, as he has been a magnificent student.

—How intricate is this relationship between a player who pays another person to give him orders?