Tommy Robredo already belongs to that privileged group of people who decide how, when and where; in his case, before his people, at home and once the circumstances have allowed the stands of the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona to be populated again. This is how it happened this Monday, the date of the final point as a professional for the Catalan, who was about to turn 40 – he will do so on May 1 – and after a final stretch of his career marked by injuries, he hung up his racket. He intended to do it, he says, before the pandemic landed; however, he did not want to leave amid the silence that has prevailed in the last two years and he waited: “There is no better way to end.”
Robredo leaves how, when and where he wants, before the eyes of Patricia (his wife) and Alexia (his two-year-old daughter). The Valencian Bernabé Zapata set the limit in the first round of the Godó (double 6-1, in 1h 02m) and Robredo went to the center of the track. “I grew up with my friends and I finished my career here with them, with my family and with all the fans that have followed me”, he expressed in the conference room, with emotion but without tears because he had more than assumed the end – “today I have I slept well, I was only nervous when I got to the track” – and for a long time, my body had been asking for something else: “During the pandemic, my mentality changed. I saw other things in life being at home.”
Robredo’s goodbye is that of one of the Praetorians of the most brilliant stage of Spanish tennis. Behind him, 1,226 matches, with 533 victories and 12 titles in the record; among them, the Godó of 2004. He leaves him as a respected and recognized tennis player who managed to stay a decade in the top-10 of the circuit and that ascended until the fifth step of the ranking (August 28, 2006); triumphs against Roger Federer (US Open 2013) and Novak Djokovic (Paris 2005 and Cincinnati 2014), only Rafael Nadal resisted him; and in the display cases, gleaming like no other trophy, three replicas of the Davis Cup Salad Bowl (2004, 2008 and 2009).
“My career could have been better, but also worse,” he said after losing to Zapata. “This sport is wonderful and I have been lucky enough to have very strong battles that have motivated me to continue playing,” he added. “I can’t pick one moment in my career to stick with. I will remember everything I have done and what has happened to me, whether good or bad”, continued the man from Hostalric (Girona), a direct witness of how a “more physical” sport has been renewed and with matches every time “ less tactical”, and in which, “luckily, today many more tennis players than before can earn a living with this”.
Injuries and ‘challengers’
In addition to the triumph in the Godó in 2004, his service record reflects another posh trophy such as the Masters 1000 in Hamburg (2006) and the quarterfinals as the top in the territory of the Grand Slams; he also entered the Masters Cup in 2006. In his thirties, injuries put a brake on him – surgery on his right elbow, two surgeries on his feet; he came to be inactive for more than a year– and in the last seasons of his track he fought in the challengersrealizing that he would not recover his best level.
“When you see the whole crowd cheering you on and chanting your name, it gives you great satisfaction. At that moment you know that you have done something good, ”she thanked. “I would like to take some time to rest. I want to continue in the world of tennis, but for now I’m going to stop a little, “she anticipated. “It has been a life lesson: I picked up the racket when I was 2 years old and left it when I was 40, so I can’t ask for more”, she sealed this Monday, the date of a beautiful closing; in fact, perfect for him: at home and in front of his family.
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