Perhaps in a few years we will have to coin the terms a. N. and d. N. to speak of clay court tennis. The era after Nadal is still unknown. “And what happened at the time before Nadal“, some curious people will surely ask. The truth is that there were real monsters on the orange surface: Guillermo Vilas or Björn Borg triumphed in the transition from black and white to color, before players like Ivan Lendl, Thomas Muster or Guga Kuerten took the witness.
“My goal was to be Guga,” says Guillermo Coria (Rufino, 1982) in an interview with Relevo. Nicknamed The Wizardnumber three in the ranking and champion of nine titles, The Argentine was the best tennis player in the world on land when the figure of Rafal Nadal emerged. In 2004 he squandered a two-set lead in the Roland Garros final and there his chances of reigning in Paris disappeared forever: the following year the Balearic dynasty began.
“He took the baton very well and not just one year or two, but millions of years. It is impossible to play 14 Roland Garros, imagine winning it. I suffered it and enjoyed it“adds the current Argentine Davis Cup captain, who remembers those Nadal battles and how the Spaniard commanded respect in the tournament locker rooms even when he was 18 years old.
There are only a few days left until the Davis Cup Finals, how are the preparations going?
Well, just now I was talking in the Davis Cup WhatsApp group, because in Manchester we nicknamed ourselves ‘The Falcons’. We had to give it a name… Here in Argentina the teams always have a nickname with an animal. Las Leonas, Los Pumas have their animal nickname and we find Los Halcones. And I just sent the boys the photo of the hat with the falcon (he wears it while he attends Relevo by video call from his house). We were all there talking to get our heads into Malaga a little. Very little is missing.
Are there nerves?
I am anxious, anxious because we want it to arrive now, we have a very difficult challenge against Italy. Luckily, what happened in September, what happened in Manchester, was very recent, and that’s also good because it’s not like you lose from February to September, that’s where it takes a long time, you lose that adrenaline, that expectation, and here it was very recent. Besides, we lived it with great intensity and we carried out a group that was truly one of the most difficult for me (with Canada, the United Kingdom and Finland). Anything could happen, in fact if Ruusuvuori went it would also be for Finland, it was going to be a tremendous series. It was given to us and we are happy. We are going to have revenge against Italy in 2022 there in Bologna when they beat us.
And why The Falcons?
Because it is an animal that all it means is what represents our players, the team. It is a good animal, with presence, with a lot of self-esteem, which is also scary, with a lot of personality. And when he has the prey there, he attacks. In February we had a very bad time here at home, in Rosario, with Seba Báez with two match points against him, he took 4-6 in the tie break of the third and won four points with great authority. And that gave us life and gave us confidence. That’s the falcon.
Málaga will be Nadal’s farewell, what does it mean for you, who were one of his great rivals in his beginnings?
I am privileged to be able to be present right in Malaga at Rafa’s farewell, which I suffered and enjoyed. I think that tennis gives me another gift in my life of being able to be present and accompany what Rafa means. It goes without saying what Rafa means. And being able to be there with him, for me that is very important, we shared very nice talks at the Olympics together with Alcaraz and also with David Ferrer, we talked about our finals in Rome, in Monte Carlo, the battles we also had with Ferrer and we talked about the number of Spanish and Argentine players that were on clay at that time…
There were many, but only two who have beaten Nadal 6-0 in a final on clay. Roger Federer in Hamburg 2007 and Guillermo Coria in Monte Carlo 2005. How do you explain it?
I would change it for a 7-5 and have beaten him. But yes, I had found a way to play him, I used his speed a lot.
A few weeks later he won a battle of more than five hours in the final in Rome, it was something anthological.
Buff, that final in Rome, those 5 hours, 14 minutes, that we didn’t even go to the bathroom. We didn’t even stop to go to the bathroom, we only stopped for a little while so Rafa could change the tape on his fingers. And more than the 6-0 in Monte Carlo, for me that Rafa remembers that final in Rome as one of the most difficult for him with everything he played… For me that is the most, it is like having won it. I think that if we are realistic, the best had to win that final and he was the best. He also demonstrated it over time. He was a fair winner and he got the best out of me, I think he got the most I could give and was defined by two points, 8-6 in the tie break of the fifth set. That was the difference.
What does it feel like when you are the best on clay and a guy like Nadal comes along and wins 14 Roland Garros?
It has been a privilege for me to have shared this with him. When I took my first step on clay, there was Guga, the one who dominated was Guga Kuerten, who won the Roland Garros in 1997, 2000 and 2001. In the 2001 edition he beat me in the first round. I was between 23 and 25 in the world and for one place I am not seeded, I go to the stock market and I have the first round with him. I was about 17 or 18 years old, I had just played in the semifinals in Monte Carlo and my goal was that, to be Guga. After Guga came Juan Carlos Ferrero, because then Ferrero began to dominate the entire brick dust surface. And well, then I had the possibility of, I don’t know if I led the clay, but well, I had gone thirty-odd games without losing until I lost the final in Hamburg 2004 with Federer. I already knew that 2004 was my Roland Garros, that I had to take advantage of it because Nadal was coming.
Has anyone already started talking about Nadal?
The truth is that we didn’t know that it was going to appear the following year, in 2005, already so strong. But I knew that the opportunity for me was 2004 or 2005, and that after that it would be difficult to have those chances in the tournaments. But let’s not forget everything we just talked about about the competition. There were a lot of Spanish players, there was Ferrero, Robredo, Corretja, Moyá… And also many Argentines who were tough. And on top of that was Nadal. Facing him in five sets, with that energy he had, was hard, but I enjoyed it. For me, the one who took command was him… He took it very well and not just one year or two, but millions of years. It is impossible to play 14 Roland Garros, imagine winning it. I think it’s going to be difficult to match that.
There is another record that impresses me a lot about Nadal, which is the 81 consecutive victories on land between 2005 and 2007. You played three finals in that period…
Guillermo Vilas was the one who had the previous record, imagine the years that passed…
How did you prepare for a match against that Nadal?
Saving the distance, obviously, what I felt was a little what the players felt with me. I knew I had to be 100% physically. The opponent knew that he could beat me in tennis, but he knew that it would be very difficult to beat me physically. And always, mentally, the first four or five games are when the first battles occur. And that’s when you have to be strong. And when you win that battle, your rival shows you respect. And Nadal was much physically stronger than me and had power… At that time you could find a gap in his backhand and maybe he didn’t do as much damage with the serve, so it gave you that possibility, but physically it didn’t give you no chance and he fought you from the first point to the last. That’s what the rival plays and he showed it to me and he made me feel it. At that time, I didn’t feel like I was facing players with that personality and presence.
What was that presence like?
We talked about it at the Olympics, which I told Charly Alcaraz on the bus from Roland Garros to the Olympic Village. For me, before a final, I liked to arrive at the club very early and when my rival arrived I would be ready in the locker room, having warmed up, already showered and waiting for the final. So, when Rafa beat Gasquet in that semi-final at Monte Carlo 2005, obviously I was praying for Gasquet to win because I knew it was going to be a much tougher final with Rafa, but oh well. For Rafa it was his first final in Monte Carlo and I said ‘Well, the final is at 12:00, at 9:00 I’m at the club so that he can see me already changed when he arrives at 9:30 or thereabouts’. And when I arrived at 9:00 he was already in the locker room, he was already prepared and I told him ‘Rafa, the whore who gave birth to you, I tried to impose respect on you.’ And he tells me ‘Well man, you gave me respect too.’ What I’m getting at is that I was 18 years old and that’s when it beats you. Whether you like it or not, it’s a top set for him. You don’t win games and respect in a match, you earn it off the field, in how they see you, in how you prepare, in how you are mentally focused when it comes to playing. I was able to enjoy my moment, having won those three tournaments in a row in Stuttgart, Kitzbühel and Sopot, with some finals that were best of five sets, and I had lost 14 games in one tournament, 15 in the other and 12 in the other. My goal was to lose as few games as possible and, whether you like it or not, the players felt it too. But well, Rafa appeared and it was 10 times worse than what was thought.
What would it mean if Nadal’s last match was against Argentina in the Davis Cup final?
It would be incredible, it would be an impressive ending for Rafa after so many battles he had with Del Potro, with Nalbandian, with Gaudio, with me… Spain deserves it, but so do we. We are federations that fight, we are brave and I wish it were on clay, it would be even better, it would be fantastic.
