The head of the Mataró Tennis Club’s tennis school spoke to Canal Tenis about the new ITF that will be held at his club. Lots of hope for this tournament that has great rackets in the men’s circuit and is looking to establish itself on the ITF circuit to try to go one step further and be an ATP Challenger in the future.
José Díaz Pérez lives for and for tennis. At the moment, he combines the position of director of the tennis school Mataró Tennis Club with the coach Albert Ramos, one of the best rackets on the Spanish tennis court. Mataró as a city and more specifically at Club de Tennis, Mataró will have its new ITF tournament and it hopes to be successful. The championship continues to grow and now they want to establish themselves as one of the best in the ITF and be a requirement for great tennis players, which our protagonist will largely take care of.
Mataró Tennis Club is I’m living one of the best moments in the last two decades. Great players have come from this club and its great representative today is Albert Ramos, who is just that Jose Diaz is training. A duo that has been on the track for years at the highest level and together with the male elite. In addition to traveling to tournaments with Albert, José Díaz will continue to be part of the ITF working group that will be played 22 and 27 May. In the previous tournament, which was played as a wild card in the ITF, Jordi Más won.
Is Mataró Tennis Club at its best?
The Tennis Mataró club is experiencing one of the sweetest moments both at the social level and at the level of the tennis school. I wouldn’t dare say it’s the best moment in its history, because clearly not, it had its moments of glory many years ago, but if we look back, I think so It’s definitely the best moment in the last 20 years. That is, at the level of the number of students, at the level of the school’s technical team and at the level of results. The club is living a very good social moment with a group of people returning to tennis, former students, and the truth is that it is a very beautiful moment for our club.
How did the idea of founding the ITF come about?
The idea of organizing the tournament comes from a group of partners and some board members, e.g. Anna Crisdirector and then well, high level veteran level players like Paul Lopez. The two of them meet with people, with great enthusiasm, with great desire, and then, as a school, we begin to help with everything necessary, but apparently the impulse and the first idea comes from the partner group.
We know that there is great work behind the organization. Tell us how you operate as a club.
The club has a very intense dedication and is led by its president, Carlos, along with some board members, such as the manager Anna Cris. Then from the maintenance team, as Javi is key in managing and keeping the facilities in optimal condition for that tournament. Also from school Nuria Garriga, Dani Navarro, Manel Cabello and me, although I have to admit that more from afar. We all put our enthusiasm and effort into making such an event happen to be as successful as the first edition and we hope to repeat it many times in the years to come.
What are your goals for the tournament? Could you upgrade it to Challenger class?
The truth is that we would like to be able to move up to the Challenger class, but there are a number of problems at the facility level that are making it difficult for us. Then clearly at the level of financial resources, because companies are what they are, and these resources are not easy to get, but it is an illusion where we look at the long term. He The main goal is to be able to stay where we are right now with 25,000 employees and to do so for many more years.. Then time will certainly put us in other scenarios.
Is it noticeable in Mataró that there is a tournament? Is it really a tennis town?
Well, having a noticed tournament in Mataró is one of our goals. The truth is that it was noticeable in the first edition, but clearly we want to improve. We want the biggest tennis fans in the city and region to enjoy this great level of tennis that we have. This applies to our entire history as a club, from Tomás Carbonell, David de Miguel, Jordi Burillo, Julián Alonso and currently Albert Ramos Well, they position us as a very leading club globally in terms of results for young lads who have left this school, previous schools, but this club. Because our club has a strong tennis tradition.
What is it like to travel all year round and be involved in this beautiful project? What are your personal duties?
For me it’s a stressful situation, not because of what I do, but because of what I would like to do. I’d like to be more involved in the tournament, be able to collaborate on more things, but the fact that I’m from here to there changes over time and the time it takes to be involved Albert Ramos (our player) because it partially blocks me. Not being able to help more gives me, as I say, a little sadness, but illusion in the coming years and the opportunity to participate more and more.
My task in the tournament is to pass on a little of my experiences or my experiences from other tournaments. Also do together with the spokesperson the task is to try to reach the advertising networks of the mentioned tournament to my contactsIn other words, it should be advertised in all media as effectively as possible.
Tell us about your work with Albert Ramos. It’s not easy to spend so much time with the same player. Is there a secret?
Working with Albert Ramos is a long job, it is a job covering the entire sports career both for him as a player and for me as a coach. We’ve grown together, we’ve learned together, we’ve changed and improved many aspects since we first started, there’s no doubt about it. Now we find ourselves in a good moment, where years have already passed and the experience and know-how for well-being makes us stay together and move forward enthusiastically and willingly.. The main secret is trust, loyalty on both sides and the desire to give the best both to him as a player and to me and the whole team as a coach. During these years, many teammates have passed from the team, who have given us a lot of work and this has also made the relationship between them more durable.
Do you usually change the work dynamic or do you have a routine that is very boring from the beginning?
Clearly, everything that is work routines, methodologies on a technical, tactical level as well as especially on a physical level, everything is developing. We have developed or tried to develop in parallel with tennis itself and the track itself. There is no doubt that the last 15 years have seen big changes and we have tried to adapt to them. Everything is in constant change, evolution and we try to adapt to it.
For you personally. How does it feel to travel to the best tournaments in the world for such a long time?
For me personally, it’s a dream come true. I had always dreamed of it as a player. When I was a child, the truth is that with great unconsciousness, after seeing that level, although that unconsciousness has also made me believe as a coach that you could get there. After achieving it and enduring it for so many years, I feel very happy and very satisfied. Living everything with such passion that sometimes, well, passion leads to tension, nerves and not very pleasant situations, but that’s part of the job. But I am very happy, very satisfied and above all very grateful to Albert and his whole family for giving me this great opportunity..
