Former world No.14 Roberto Bautista Agut has pledged to make his game style more aggressive as he bids to capitalize on a successful end to 2015.
Since October the Spaniard had reached back-to-back finals in Moscow and Valencia before ending his season with a second round loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the BNP Paribas Open. His performance rounded off a substantially more successful second part of 2015 for Bautista Agut, who also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the US Open. Reflecting on his season, the 27-year-old described his year on the tour as ‘intense’.
“It’s been an intense year in which I managed to be steady and I managed to perform very good in the second part. I am happy with the result. I think that for the game, it has not been an incredible season, but the balance is positive”. Bautista Agut said during an interview with Marca.
Looking ahead to 2016, Bautista Agut hopes to re-enter the top 20 and once again edge closer to the top 20. He has noted that in order for him to achieve this, he needs to adapt a more aggressive game. It is for this reason that he has chosen to change his racket strings to ‘Gut Strings’ (animal intestine used to make tennis strings). The type of string is also reported to be one of the best for players with arm problems. Despite Bautista Agut not making any link between his arm and the change of string, he has delayed his mountain biking training during the off season due to a ‘sore arm’.
The world No.25 has also made a new addition to his team with the recruitment of trainer Jorge Simo. The addition of Simo is an intriguing tactic considering he has worked intensely with training football players. Simo has worked for Villarreal FC and Valencia in his career. Bautista Agut also confirmed that he will still keep working with his current coach.
“I look forward to working once again with Pepe Vendrell and add to the team to Jorge, who bring his experience, ideas and methodology to gain ground”. He said.
The slow start to the 2015 season could be a blessing in disguise for Bautista Agut, who will only have 780 points to defend from January until the Wimbledon championships. This makes his target to climbing up the rankings easier. Looking ahead to 2016, he also has his eyes set on Olympic and Davis Cup duties.
“The main goal for 2016 is to get as close as possible to the ‘Top Ten’ and I know I have a good chance in the first half of the season.I also like to go to the Olympics, it is the dream of every athlete. And finally, I would like to help Spain to return to the Davis Cup World Group, it is the place where they deserve to be”. The world No.27 said.
Bautista Agut will start his 2016 campaign at the Chennai Open in India on January 4th. He reached the final of the tournament in 2013 and will be the fourth seed in the 2016 edition.
