TENNIS IS TOO MUCH
The big day had arrived. The dream final: Rafa against his archrival. Rafa spent months changing his game to be more aggressive and had created great expectations. The whole world of tennis predicted a great battle, even I thought it would be another epic final that would ultimately depend exclusively on the mental pillar.
Sánchez-Casal Pyramid®, the path to success
At Sánchez-Casal Academy, the development of our long-stay players is very important to us. That is why we created the ASC Player Development and Competition Plan, summarized in the Sánchez-Casal Pyramid©, which shows players the path to success in the professional world of tennis. Do you want to follow the same path as Murray, Kuznetsova, Sanchez V, Dimitrov or Monaco?
CASPER’S LEGACY, THE CASPER TOUR
I accompanied Verdasco to the Rome Masters in May 2017 and when he lost, I got the urge to stop by Madrid to visit Casper, something within me pushed me to visit him instead of going to Barcelona to see my mother.
“OUR BIGGEST ASSET IS THAT WE BUILD CHARACTER”
“When students come to ASC, they don’t have a lot of experience, but when they leave, they know they have learned something that will help them for any life match they play in their future. Values build character, and the right attitude can multiply the outcome, so parents often congratulate us and thank us for helping their children work on those values and develop their character.” Interview with Emilio Sánchez Vicario.
A COACH THAT CARES IS A COACH YOU CAN TRUST
At first glance he seems shy, or maybe he is, but as soon as he speaks, his low tone captivates you. His arguments are very strong, and he knows how to put himself in your place. Víctor Hugo Camargo puts effort into what he does, he is always available, and the ASC values are his DNA. He is involved with attention, his greatest virtue is that he cares about others and gives everything for them.
EXCELLENCE AND VIRTUES OF AN ASC COACH
I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to Vovodymyr “Vova” Nikolenko, another great traveling coach who has been on the Sanchez Casal team for many years. He started playing tennis early on at the age of 7 in his home country, Ukraine and arrived in Barcelona as a student-athlete in 2003. After high school, he decided he wanted to continue being a part of ASC and started coaching in 2006.
THE SPANISH PLAYER ROBERTO CARBALLÉS, I CHALLENGER SÁNCHEZ-CASAL MAPFRE CHAMPION
The nº 1 seed, Roberto Carballés, was proclaimed champion of the Challenger Sánchez-Casal Mapfre, by defeating another Spanish player, Pedro Martínez, by 1/6, 6/3, 6/0. Carballés commented that “I felt at home during this week, which culminated with this important triumph, and I encourage more tournaments of this level to be organized in Spain.”
THE 1st SÁNCHEZ-CASAL MAPFRE CHALLENGER IS BORN, THE TOURNAMENT OF DREAMS
From the 7th to the 14th of October, the Sánchez-Casal Academy will host the Sánchez-Casal Mapfre tournament, from the ATP Challenger Tour. This tournament will bring together international professional tennis players for the second most important tournament in the region.
QUALITIES OF A GREAT COACH
This week I want to share a story about a special person on the Sanchez-Casal team, Alvaro Pino. Alvaro is the son of Antonio Pino, a former tennis player, and coach who has worked with us since the Academy was founded in Barcelona.
JERRY SHANG’S FIRST GOLD BALL
The week in Mobile, Alabama went by fast and was solely concentrated on the tournament. It hit me at the trophy presentation when the announcer asked Jerry which places he liked most during his stay in Mobile, and Jerry answered, “the club was very nice”. We spent eight days in Mobile with very little time to go around and explore the town, but Jerry was cooperative and willing to sacrifice his free time because he knew he was there to win. This is the type of sacrifice a tennis player must make in order to achieve solid steps in his formation, even at thirteen years old. For anyone involved in helping young players, finding balance is an everyday dynamic. A kid is a kid, but in a competitive sport and environment like this, they need to develop professional skills from the beginning without losing their playful essence and “spark” that makes them fun individuals to be around.
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