Gonzalo Lama announces his retirement from tennis: “My body and my mind told me it was time for me to stop”

Gonzalo Lama (Santiago, April 27, 1993) recently added a nomination to the Davis Cup team, which this week will try to return to the final against Peru at the National Stadium. However, for León it will be a very special moment, because he will experience it differently after making a radical decision. In this interview with Sporty bids farewell to tennis after tearing the meniscus in his right knee, which will require him to undergo surgery. Thus, he ends a career in which he won two challengers (Cali 2014 and Sao Paulo 2016), was a pillar of the Davis Cup team in difficult times and managed to reach 160th place in the world , all this in the midst of the fight against evil. Crohn’s disease, a complex autoimmune disease.

How was your night?

Very peaceful. The truth is that I’m really enjoying this moment, like I haven’t in a long time. I appreciate that, if you can say that one way or another, something that has always cost me dearly.

Why do you say you’re enjoying the moment? Does this have to do with the decision you made?

Yes, the truth is that after the last tournament that I played after a fairly long pre-season, doing things very well meticulously, I had the misfortune to suffer a relapse of an injury that I had scope and it turned out to lead to an operation and, with all the exhaustion that implies of the mental, the physical, the uncertainty, things that I have been dealing with for a long time. For the first time, I decided to prioritize my mental health and I know that this is the straw that broke the camel’s back and I don’t want to make the effort it takes to do to return after an operation to a level that motivates me.

So he retires from tennis…

Yes, as a professional anyway. I think it’s a very visceral decision. I don’t think I can blame myself for the way I did things, maybe for one decision or another, but it was very natural from the moment I knew I had to have surgery. My body and mind told me it was time to stop. Yes, it’s a phase of my life that’s coming to an end, but I’m looking forward to what’s to come. Over time, I will miss it, I am still young. Maybe I could have extended the run a little longer, but at this point in my life I’m not mentally ready to continue.

How did your family experience it?

Good, because when you do all the things with the effort and passion that I did, the moment when you say enough is not so difficult, because you have nothing left inside. And I think that’s how I experience it now and, because my family and friends saw me so calm, I think they took it the same way I did.

Speaking of them, tell me a little about the support you received.

My whole family supported me, but if I have to name anyone, I would say my father. My dad and my mom, obviously, but my dad was the one who was most emotionally and romantically involved in my career. When I was two years old, I picked up the racket for the first time and never put it down. My parents never pressured me to take this path as a professional, but rather they were motivated more by my passion than what they wanted me to do and they were always supportive. I always felt very important emotional support from them and especially from my father.

What did Nicolás Massú tell you when he discovered it?

He was one of the first people to know, I went to tell him so he could make the decision to move me from the team and the second thing I told him was that I wasn’t playing anymore. because of this physical problem that I have. had. He told me I looked calm; that I looked happy; that if I didn’t have the desire to keep trying with the mental strength you need to have to recover from an injury like that, it didn’t matter.

When did you make the decision?

It was just in the last game. My knee felt like it was very tight and the next day my knee was like a potato, with a lot of fluid.

But he still played doubles with Marco Trungelliti…

I could move in everything, I didn’t want to spoil my partner and I knew that it was already my last match, because when I saw my knee like dad, I knew that the operation was coming, with all that which I had spoken about with the doctor and everything. Obviously, it was an immediate decision.

Then, in the United States, he realized he had to make the decision…

It was a wise decision and that’s why I think it was so easy to make. There is nothing more to give than what I had to give. The final straw seems a bit pessimistic, but I had nothing left to give up mentally, and I think that’s something I need to start taking care of from now on. When you are a tennis professional, you are willing to pay a mental price and you are aware of it. Almost every tennis player faces loneliness, results, the pressure to be in shape every week, to demand the maximum from their physique, and I was not ready to continue paying that price, and This is the summary of my decision. There are no other factors.

And what is the best thing that tennis has left you with?

I would tell you the learning it left me with, more than the results. If you ask me right away what is the best thing that left me as an experience, I would tell you that it is the fact of having participated in all the grand slams and the performance that I had in the Davis Cup . I had the privilege of experiencing these kinds of moments. Not many people get to experience it and I was one of them and I am still grateful for everything I experienced.

How would you define your career?

It was very much defined by the ability I had to overcome obstacles. I think at the best time of my career, in terms of rankings, I was the favorite. I won many matches because of the same experience I had overcoming obstacles and that’s also what ended up leaving me, but I’m honestly grateful for the career I had. I could have had a better ranking, yes; I’m completely convinced that I could have done it, but like I told you at the beginning, I don’t blame myself at all, zero. It was what it needed to be, I’m grateful. For my peace of mind, I realized things that seemed distant to me when I was a child. I was never one of the best in my category or anything and at one point I was number one in Chile, winning the Davis Cup, and that’s something I have to be grateful. That’s how I feel and it’s not a cliché.

What were you missing to be in the top 100?

I think the short answer is luck, but if you analyze it coldly, I didn’t make decisions that I could have made in a better way, and that interrupted my dream a little bit, but I was in the top 200. I played all the time. qualys Grand Slam, I played the Davis Cup and I prefer to stay with what I was rather than what I didn’t do.

Which coach had the most impact on you in your career?

They all had a big impact on me. I think of Wally Grinovero and Martín Rodríguez, who were the first with whom I made my first major achievements, then Nico and Chino. At the time in Davis Cup, they were coaches who really emphasized the personality that I should have on the field… And all the coaches who came through me… Marcos Colignon, my coach; Peli, my young coach… Guille Gómez, who accompanied me throughout this process. These are people who will always stay with me, not only because of my tennis career, but also because I have built a very good relationship with them.

Does the rest of the team know your decision?

I think Jarry doesn’t know it yet, but I preferred to leave it more relaxed so as not to have too much impact on the important part of the series. I didn’t want to overshadow what’s coming this week, which is very important.

Did you imagine that after the latest attack of Crohn’s disease I was going to spend two qualys of the ATP and be nominated for the Davis Cup final?

Everything that had to be given was given at the end of my career. It was an award that had never been given to me before, when I was perhaps at my best. I spent two qualys of ATP after a giant attack of my illness. All those weeks I was hospitalized, then I spent a few months hospitalized at home. It was something I could only dream of and after what happened to me, I consider it a gift.

Do you feel like an example or a reference in terms of resilience?

Honestly, I feel uncomfortable as a reference or example of resilience. I feel more comfortable passing on my experience to other people. We are only an example when we pass it on to others. Maybe yes, continuing to play when I shouldn’t have continued, but I prefer to pass it on by talking about it to others.

Will you continue as an assistant this week?

The team, especially Nico and Jorge, asked me to be here this week. I’m very passionate about the Davis Cup, I was ready to do what Nico and Jorge asked me to do, so I’m happy to contribute to the side I need to contribute to.

And then, what do you plan to do?

It’s still very new. I would love to continue to be connected to tennis in some way. The short answer is to tell you that I would like to continue as a high-level competition coach, which motivates me the most, and to continue to bring all the experience that I have had through another path and to pass on my experience to other tennis players.

How do you see the series against Peru?

I can see the boys very well. They are all at their best. Maybe Christian is not 17th in the world, but no one doubts his level. We must not hide, we are favorites, we play on the surface that suits everyone best, everyone asked for it, we play in Chile. We must not hide that we are favorites and we must take responsibility for it.