From Melbourne, the Chilean tennis player shares his feelings for 2024 which will have him with a new coach. He clarifies his goals and advances in the Davis Cup series against Peru.
The year 2024 for Christian Garin (88th ATP) starts with a Grand Slam. It wasn’t planned, but a shoulder injury just before he started qualifying for the Auckland 250 tournament left him in this situation. He clarifies that it’s not ideal, but he also maintains that he doesn’t think about it too much.
In fact, in Melbourne, we see him smiling. In conversation with La Tercera, behind the imposing Rod Laver Arena, the double ATP champion, discusses topics as diverse as his new stage with Paul Capdeville, the Davis Cup series against Peru, one of the latest books he read and details of your profession. “The tennis life is extremely unstable in terms of emotions, depressions,” he says.
Is the shoulder injury behind you?
Yes, it’s much better. I arrived in Auckland and in the second training session I hit myself. I was very, very irritated, I couldn’t go out for three or four days but it’s over. I’ve been working here for a week now and I’m ready to play. I was very nervous because I thought it was more serious, but luckily Cristian Madariaga, my physiotherapist, was there and he helped me a lot to get through it. Now I’m fine, I’m fit to play. It was a shame because I felt very good in Auckland, I wanted to play because adding matches before Australia was important.
Is it very complex to start a season in a grand slam with matches in five sets?
Obviously it’s not ideal for me, but it is what it is and I’m not going to analyze it more than necessary. I’m happy to be healthy, something I’m really looking forward to this season. Being healthy and injury-free is a goal for me. I take much better care of myself in all aspects, I travel with a kinesiologist, a physical trainer. I can’t wait to play it in its entirety this year, it’s been two or three years without being able to complete a full year and this year I definitely prefer it, it’s a goal. It’s not ideal to leave without a match in Australia, but I don’t think too much about it either.
You will also be alongside Paul Capdeville as a coach, what pushed you to ask him?
With Paul our relationship goes further. All these years we have been in constant contact, it has always been there, it is not something new. He knows perfectly well everything that happened to me, what I want to improve and what I don’t want to improve. Even when I was working with other coaches, he was always there. Now it happened in a certain way so that we could work and we worked well. He knows me a lot, I have a very good relationship with him. He’s been through a lot of what happened to me too and I think that’s important, it gives me peace of mind, it gives me order and that’s what I need right now. moment.
Will it be an alliance for just a few weeks or for the long term?
He will travel for half of the tournaments and for the rest we define who will join the team. Next week I guess I’ll have the name clearer. For now, Paul will cover the weeks until we find someone else, but he will stay with the team for the long term. We have set ourselves a two or three year objective and we will try to respect it 100%.
On your networks you shared a photo of “Four Accords”, do you like this type of book?
Yes, I like reading. I’m not a big reader, but I usually read on planes. I read a bit of everything, I don’t think I’m a reader (laughs), but I like reading other types of views on life. I think the tennis life is super unstable in terms of emotions and depressions and everything. I’ve been doing this for several years now and I feel like I’m finding a way to deal with this better. This season has helped me a lot to organize myself in every way, to heal my wounds again, to review what I really want. I don’t know when the results will come, hopefully soon, but it may take a while because it’s a process and processes are like that. For my part, I train very well, very professionally, I find my hunger to be at the top again because there was a time when my concentration went away. This sport is so competitive that you get away from it a little and you lose in the ease and I think that now I have recovered it and found the concentration and the objective that I want.
What are these objectives?
My immediate goal is to be healthy and to be able to participate in as many tournaments as possible in good condition.
I ask you a question about the Davis Cup, what do you think about the bet of playing on cement to face Peru?
Nico Massú is convinced that this tournament (Australian Open) will do good for all of us. Changing the surface isn’t as easy as you think, so let’s take it easy. Nico Jarry added games, Tabilo too. For my part, I started a little late because of my shoulder, but I feel like I’m playing well. I think the cement favors us, but we must respect all our rivals. We want to be in the World Group for another year, maybe it will be the third time in recent years. We were thinking about cement, thinking we would do well in Australia and wouldn’t have much time to change surfaces and that seems like a logical decision to me.
Has Massú discussed this with you?
Obviously, everything is discussed as a team. This is what is important in a team like ours, well-knit, which evaluates all situations. I think it’s not ideal for us, in the sense of what’s next, which is the South America tour, but we want to win and that’s what favors us. We believe that the cement will help us to have an advantage and that is how it was decided.
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
