On many occasions professional athletes aren’t rewarded for the sacrifices they make throughout their lives. Weeks that go by on a tennis court, gym and airport with no guarantees at the end of the month, but that make sense in the pursuit of a dream. Jose Checa Calvo knows better than anyone the frustrations of a career marred by injuries but, far from throwing in the towel, he’s always marched on with optimism. Now he’s looking to transmit that experience and positivity to Santiago Giraldo, for whom he hung up his racket and embarked on a new adventure as a coach.
Jose spoke to us on the phone to assess the first weeks of this new relationship which he hopes can continue to grow on the Latin American swing.
Last season you were still active. At which moment did you take the decision to hang up your racket and become a coach?
It was a combination of everything. Last year I suffered a lot of injuries, the last one to my elbow which kept me sidelined since June. I worked very hard on my fitness to play this year but it was impossible and I was looking for an alternative but nothing convinced me. I tried to recover to play tennis until Alex Corretja (who represents Giraldo) presented his project to me, we sat down to chat and he convinced me to definitively hang up my racket.
How did the possibility of coaching Santi Giraldo come about?
It was all through Alex (Corretja). He’s got an agency with Enric Molina called Big Match Player and one of the players they represent is Santi. Santi was on his own after parting ways with his coach and Alex, who acts as his consultant, was looking for a full-time coach to travel with him. We bumped into each other at the Valencia Open and I had the chance to talk calmly with Santi. They phoned me three days later and we sat down to talk.
You’re of a similar age to Santi. Does this make it a daunting task because you don’t have the experience of an older coach or, on the contrary, does it work in your favour to be on a similar wavelength to him?
This is like everything in sport, everything entails certain risks and it’s a double-edged sword. We’ve got a lot in common and that’s important in a day-to-day relationship. We’re of a similar age and therefore he knows me from the tour. The experience of facing a lot of matches helps you become a good coach but I’ve played at a level that enables me to contribute to him.
Obviously at this stage a coach isn’t going to show a professional how to play but, how would you define a coach’s role? In your case, what are you looking to contribute to Santi?
My role will be to give a fresh touch. I’m starting from scratch as a coach and I’m going to try and instil my hunger and desire into him. He’s already a brilliant player and has tremendous potential, and my job will be to help him grow each day as a player and to reach the goals we’ve set ourselves.
What’s your assessment of this first swing of tournaments in India and Australia?
Very positive. From a results point of view it could have gone better but the two matches he lost were against Rosol, who goes for every ball and had his day, and then in the second round of the Australian Open against Joao Sousa, who won the last event of last season and is playing with a lot of confidence. But the match against Joao was decided by very few points and therefore the assessment is a positive one. Santi is more than prepared to beat players of any standard this year. We’re both sure of that and that’s very important.
Santi reached number 28 in the ATP rankings a couple of years ago and is currently down at 70. What has he lacked to maintain his ranking?
In top level sport things don’t always go as you wish. Tennis is a bit unfair because there are days when you play well but your opponent plays twice as good. He hasn’t changed from when he had that ranking to now, it’s just that sometimes you go through bad spells, and he’s lacked some consistency and that makes you drop down the rankings because everyone below you is biting and hungry to rise up the rankings.
What are your objectives in this first season as a coach?
It’s very complicated to set yourself targets because you never know what might happen. My target, above all, is to be able to help him, for him to grow a little bit more and for me to have been a part of that. For the year to finish and all of us see that he has evolved. I’m not going to set any targets or limits ranking-wise because Santi has no limits in terms of ranking because of his potential.
Finally, looking back, do you feel frustrated thinking where your career could have reached had it not been for all of those injuries or do you accept it as part and parcel of this profession?
That’s been a part of my life. At times it’s been like a mountain I couldn’t climb and it’s affected me at certain times but, like with everything, you have to take away the positives, and now as a coach those experiences help me to face tough moments, which unfortunately I’ve had plenty of, and I can use is to help guide Santi.
