[Blog] National Tennis Careers - Part Three: Spain

[El Dude]

Here's the latest installment in the series: Spain.

I apologize for the delay - I actually had this one finished a couple weeks ago but for whatever reason delayed on publishing it.

Still to come are Switzerland and Australia. Then I'll do a six piece talking about other nations.

 

[Kirijax]

Love this series! It's nice to see what's going on with Spain after Nadal. This had to takes hours in putting it together. Nice work! :clap

 

[Moxie]

Thanks for that, Dude. Toni Nadal said even a few years back that the future of Spanish tennis was looking fairly bleak, with no one really coming up to back the Armada that was Spanish tennis in the first decade and a half of the 21st C. It's worth mentioning that they were the winning-est country in Davis Cup since 2000 (5 times,) with their depth on the bench, and team cohesiveness, but they look to be going into a fallow period. I don't know what's going on with the Spanish Tennis Federation, except that there is loads of back-biting and drama. I'm a bit sorry that they didn't keep Moyà on another year as coach for DC. It would likely have saved a lot of embarrassment to give him more time.

 

[Riotbeard]

Great post dude. There seems like there could be further shake up in dominant tennis countries as time progresses.

 

[kskate2]

Wonderful Dude! I agree w/ Tim, really love this series. Already anticipating the next one. :clap

 

[El Dude]

Thanks, all. Australia will be up Saturday, then Switzerland early next week. They're both done but I want to spread them out a bit.

 

[Kieran]

Very good stuff, and I like the way you tackle these countries records as if they were a player. The most interesting things about your Spain one is firstly, the Honorable Mentions: there's some excellent players in there. I remember Berasategui, he had an outrageous grip, horrible spins, he was just below slam winning level in the 90's (the slam in question being Paris, natch).

The second thing is, the future of Spanish tennis looks non-existent at the moment, right? Where are all the Rafa-wannabes? And have none of the great Davis Cup wins caused a kid to get up and play? It looks fairly bleak for them...

 

[El Dude]

Very good stuff, and I like the way you tackle these countries records as if they were a player. The most interesting things about your Spain one is firstly, the Honorable Mentions: there's some excellent players in there. I remember Berasategui, he had an outrageous grip, horrible spins, he was just below slam winning level in the 90's (the slam in question being Paris, natch).

The second thing is, the future of Spanish tennis looks non-existent at the moment, right? Where are all the Rafa-wannabes? And have none of the great Davis Cup wins caused a kid to get up and play? It looks fairly bleak for them...

One hole in my research is that I didn't look at junior players, mainly because I don't feel confident "scouting" them as junior success doesn't always translate. So the next great Spanish tennis player could be 16 or 17 and just a couple years away from going pro. But this still gives us a "fading away" phase over the next 5+ years as the current Armada phases out. Just think that 2-3 years for now Bautista Agut and Carreno Busta could be the best Spaniards on tour.

 

[tented]

Very good stuff, and I like the way you tackle these countries records as if they were a player. The most interesting things about your Spain one is firstly, the Honorable Mentions: there's some excellent players in there. I remember Berasategui, he had an outrageous grip, horrible spins, he was just below slam winning level in the 90's (the slam in question being Paris, natch).

The second thing is, the future of Spanish tennis looks non-existent at the moment, right? Where are all the Rafa-wannabes? And have none of the great Davis Cup wins caused a kid to get up and play? It looks fairly bleak for them...

One hole in my research is that I didn't look at junior players, mainly because I don't feel confident "scouting" them as junior success doesn't always translate. So the next great Spanish tennis player could be 16 or 17 and just a couple years away from going pro. But this still gives us a "fading away" phase over the next 5+ years as the current Armada phases out. Just think that 2-3 years for now Bautista Agut and Carreno Busta could be the best Spaniards on tour.

Good point about the juniors (and understandable you didn't research them), but it is bizarre how dramatically Spain is set to fade. They still have 12 players in the Top 100 -- more than any other country -- however the average age is 29.5 years old.

I doubt even one year from now they'll have 12 players on that list, especially if you look beyond the Top 100. You have to go to No. 169, Roberto Carballes Baena, to find a Spaniard under 25 years old.

Hardly an armada anymore; more like a small sail boat.

 

[El Dude]

Well not quite, Tented, but they are definitely turning the other way. But Spanish tennis still reigns - Ferrer and Lopez are still within, or close to, late career peaks; Robredo isn't far from his top form; Nadal is slipping, but should improve somewhat; Bautista Agut and Carreno Busta are inching their way up (although the latter has been a bit disappointing, after being a young player to watch in 2013); Garcia-Lopez and Andujar are pretty much as good as they've ever been; Verdasco has faded quite a bit but is still a tough opponent. And so on.

The point being, the Armada is still strong. The problem is that the "ships" are old and there aren't many new ships "in production," and no potentially great ones within range. So if you're a fan of Spanish tennis, the next year or two will be the swansong and then we'll probably see a real sharp decline in 2016 or 2017.

 

[Moxie]

Thanks, all. Australia will be up Saturday, then Switzerland early next week. They're both done but I want to spread them out a bit.

It is good to spread it out a bit, so we can discuss. But it's timely, as DC is next week.