Spanish Armada

For a very long time tennis was dominated by two nations, the USA and Australia. Tournament after tournament was won by a player from one of those two nations. Men’s events, women’s events, the Grand Slams, Davis Cup, the Fed Cup, were being lifted high. But things started to change as the world became smaller, and other countries that had made some sporadic appearances started becoming regular features on the circuit.

The sport was seeing cycles. Germany dominated, France was hanging in and then Argentina’s rise was overwhelming, while Russia overwhelmed everyone and continues to be at the forefront.

One of the nations trying to make a name for itself was Spain. Early on in Spain, tennis was seen as an elitist sport played behind high walls or neatly trimmed hedges and gates. But then in 1966 the son of a groundsman at a country club in Spain won Wimbledon, he was Manolo Santana and from then on the tennis gates were thrown open in that country.

Gradually more top notch players began to emerge. In 1972 the French Open went to Andres Gimeno, and in 1975 the US Open was won by Manolo Orantes. But it was from the late 80’s on that things really started to explode, and now Spain is the most dominant nation in tennis.

This week there are a total of 16 players in the top 100, 12 men and four women, and of these players, five men and four women were originally in the respective main draws here at Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick.

To develop the sport in Spain, tennis had the added advantage of a climate that allowed outdoor play somewhere in the country year round. In addition, the availability of tournaments, which has been high, cannot be stressed too strongly. It helped create a large pool of local players and, in doing so, developed the kind of intense but friendly sporting rivalry that you get whenever young boys and girls are thrown into a competitive environment.

The ones who emerged onto the ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour found themselves benefitting in one very important way. The camaraderie that the players had with their fellow countrymen and women helped subdue the loneliness and occasional boredom of their nomadic life style. Tennis is often more mental than physical, and by having people around to raise your spirits is vital.

Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick is a perfect example, but one only has to walk into any tournament hotel on the circuit and there will be a table filled by Spaniards – Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro and anyone else who wishes to join in from their nation.

Tennis academies have sprung up all over the place in Spain, and some have major tennis names at the forefront. Probably the most notable ones are the Juan Carlos Ferrero Tennis Academy and the Casal-Sanchez Academy where Svetlana Kuznetsova spent so much time. In fact Spain has been instrumental in the careers of some of the Russian players, besides Kuzy there is Marat Safin as well.

Verdasco has been the biggest mover in Spanish tennis over the last twelve months. His story is a great one. It was about this time last year that he took a long hard look at his position in tennis and decided to do something about it.

His clothing company developed a new program that would help any of their players make use of people in tennis they had supported in the past, like trainers and coaches. With that, Verdasco came to use the services of Gil Reyes (Andre Agassi’s former trainer) and worked part time with Darren Cahill (Agassi’s former coach).

In a nutshell it turned the Spaniard’s career around and it cemented him a place in the top ten. Along the way he steered Spain to a Davis Cup victory and he reached his first Grand Slam semi final at this year’s Australian Open.

Coming back to New Haven is also a comfortable stop for him and it showed with his 6-0, 6-3 first round win against Paul Capdeville

“Feeling is always good playing here,” he said. “Sure I’ve had better matches than other ones and I hope this year with my experience of playing in New Haven, maybe it will help me and I will play better than the years before and reach more than the semi finals like last year.

“There are many good players here and it’s always good preparation to play here and get the most rhythm and be ready for the Open; it’s one of my favourite tournaments and I always feel good there and I will try here and next week in New York to do my best.”

So next time you are at the Pilot Pen, grab a drawsheet and look for a Spaniard, it probably won’t be too tough to find one!

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