Something more than a title for Roberto Bautista | Tennis | Sports

At 36 years old, Roberto Bautista celebrates it as if it were the first day. Among other things, because he knows very well what it has cost him to get here and what circumstance he was in just over a year ago, when he fractured his fibula while enjoying his horses, he entered into a spiral of pain and difficulties. and fell from top-100. “This is a very special victory. A year ago I broke my foot and I had to fight a lot and play a lot qualys (qualifying processes) during these months; Even so, I have always gone to train with a smile,” he says after winning the title in Antwerp (7-5 ​​and 6-1 against Jiri Lehecka in the final) and thus achieving the twelfth title of his career, with which he equals the record of Tommy Robredo and Albert Costa, now chasing Nicolás Almagro (13) in the list of most successful Spaniards.

Bautista is not one of those who lean easily, so at the moment he suffered the accident he began to focus on the way back without a lack of skeptical voices anticipating the beginning of a decline that has been confirmed to have failed. Perhaps it would have been the logical thing, taking into account the complexity of the injury and his age, the fact that his belly has not lacked good food – Davis Cup champion in 2019, a significant number of trophies and the semi-finals signed. at Wimbledon five years ago—and that today he enjoys the incentive of fatherhood beyond the courts. But it is not like that. “Getting up every day to go to training and continuing to acquire knowledge to continue improving is like poison,” he admitted to this newspaper in July. And the facts corroborate.

With the laurel achieved in Belgium, the Castellón native returns to a space much more in line with his level – 45th, when he was 122nd – and continues to confirm that he is one of the best national competitors of the last decade, with a demonstrated solvency over the three surfaces. He had not triumphed since 2022, in Kitzbühel, and as a result of injuries he had been losing range and competitive spark, not his inner fire. A lover of his profession and meticulous in his preparation, he undertook the climb to recover the lost ground and now appears as the third best Spanish representative, behind Carlos Alcaraz (2nd) and Pedro Martínez (39th). However, the promotion does not stop here. “I deserved a week like this. Work and perseverance always pay,” he wrote on Sunday.

A decade ago he won his first prize in the elite and since then he has served as a model and respected tennis player, following in the footsteps of Andy Murray. Your mirror. “He has been my example, a player with whom I have identified a lot,” he says. As a Scot, it will not be easy for him to give in or give up, and now that little by little the final phase of the Davis Cup is in sight, from November 19 to 24, his game gains shine and his name poses a real dilemma for the captain. . David Ferrer will have to choose, or rather, Bautista will abide by what Rafael Nadal decides. The second individual shift will be subject to the will of the Mallorcan, but there the Castellón native will be ready, always at service. Essential in the layout.

Bautista signed two vital points in the September group stage in Valencia – against the Czech Republic and France – and is running for next month’s resolution. “One of my goals after the injury was to return to the Davis team,” he points out. Meanwhile, the coach will wait to know Nadal’s final sensations knowing that in the bedroom he has a high-quality junior, who has now become the oldest player to triumph this season – except for Djokovic’s Olympic hiatus (37) – and He is the second oldest Spaniard to win an ATP trophy after Feliciano López, who conquered Queen’s in 2019 when he was 37 years old. “I’m very proud of myself. I have worked a lot, I did many things well,” he says, always there. No, Bautista does not give up.