Manuel Astorga shoots: “Marcelo Ríos is the most deplorable being; The worst mistake of my life was working with him.”

The relation between Manuel Astorga and Marcelo Ríos ended up completely destroyed. And keep it up. Together they rose to the elite of world tennis, in a process that led to the southpaw becoming number one on the planet in 1998, but over time the gaps proved insurmountable. The physical trainer does not hesitate whenever he can criticize the Chinese.

Nor now. And he does it in harsh terms. “It is the most deplorable being. And the worst mistake I made in my life was working with him “says the professional in an interview with Radio Touch.

Astorga doesn’t even soften his perception when asked about the professional exposure that allowed him to have worked with Ríos. “Yes, I remember that in 1996 and 1998, the Circle of Sports Journalists named me the best physical trainer on the circuit, in the world in this discipline, but I am not the best for having worked with Ríos. “, he argues, always keeping his distance. “I am normal, a good professional, but for having worked with (Nicolás) Massú or with those you do not know “, he insists. The list includes, for example, the German Tommy Haas.

“I can’t stand ingrates. I can’t stand vulgarity. I can’t stand the spicy. I can’t stand lying. I can’t stand the backlash or “vilification” because someone has stature to speak because they’ve managed to be the best in the world or because they have a lot of money or because they have a big title. For me, the biggest failure as a teacher and education graduate is Marcelo Rios “, deepens.

“Contrary to what Nicolás Massú is.” The sentence, which begins with a comparison with Ríos, ends up being the introduction of Astorga’s high regard for the Viñamarino. Then remember how the relationship with El Chino deteriorated. “He always kept himself under control until a puppet appeared in the system, Mr. Luis Lobo. Fucking and drunk. Simple. So short. Everything that it cost me to generate for eight years… this guy, Ríos, was rejected by IMG because he was so skinny. So I planned a whole job without cheating. In fact, there were federation leaders who said to me ‘why don’t we give him the substance to increase muscle mass’ “, he says. This initiative met with immediate opposition. “Forget it,” Astorga replied, according to the confession.

“In the end, this work, which was expensive, with excellent interdisciplinary staff, such as Dr. Fernando Yáñez, Roberto Yáñez, Luis Maya, Marcelo Vargas as a kinesiologist, my father as a kinesiologist, Enrique Aguayo as as a psychologist, later Laura Traverso as well as all the doctors and interdisciplinary organizations who have worked with me abroad… People say he fired Larry Stefanki. And no. Larry Stefanki quit because Jorge Ríos wouldn’t pay him a US$500,000 bonus. Because the contract was that if he played number 1, even for a week, they would pay Larry a bonus. They didn’t pay him. He filed a complaint in the United States. He had to pay it back in less than a month. sentence, regarding the events that ended the relationship.