Sad news affects the world of tennis by confirming the death of William “Pato” Álvarez, a Colombian coach who has been based in Barcelona for decades. Throughout his career, he worked with numerous Spanish tennis players and other top players.
William Álvarez passed away this past January 23 at the age of 87, at his home in Barcelona, the city where he had been living since the 1970s. “El Pato” was born on December 15, 1934 in Medellín, dedicating himself to his career in professional tennis in the first instance, and then as a coach in Spain.
His playing career
At the beginning of his professional career, Álvarez became national champion eight times, and was part of the Colombian team that debuted in the Davis Cup in 1959, along with his partner Hernando Salas. Throughout the 1960s, he regularly played Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the third round of Roland Garros 1961 as the best result. In those years of career, William achieved triumphs against legends such as Roy Emerson, Nicola Pietrangeli and Manolo Santana. In 1972 he made the decision to retire at the age of 38.
a great coach
Once retired, Álvarez settled in Spain and began to work as a coach of great players of “La Armada”, such as the brothers Javier Y Emilio Sanchez Vicario, Sergio Casal Y Thomas Carbonell, among many others. Carbonell himself publicly fired the Colombian. “Goodbye William Duck Alvarez. The most important coach in the history of Spanish tennis. 3 years at your command marked my destiny. Today I will remember all the good, the bad we will discuss in heaven, panther”.
For its part, the Colombian Tennis Federation published a statement lamenting the death of who also trained players of the stature of Andy Murray, Juan Mónaco or Grigor Dimitrov. “One of the most important tennis players in the history of sport in our country, a pioneer of Colombian professional tennis and who later became a famous coach of great world stars.”
