World No.17 Roberto Bautista Agut believes that now is the best time for him to close in on his dream of becoming a top-10 player.
This year has already seen success for the 28-year-old with titles in Auckland, New Zealand and Sofia, Bulgaria. More recently his performance has been less spectacular with a third round loss to Roger Federer in Monte Carlo followed by a surprise second round exit to Karen Khachanov at the Barcelona Open.
The mixed results for Bautista Agut is a familiar scenario with some of the best players in the world. World No.2 Andy Murray suffered early losses in Indian Wells and Miami. Meanwhile, the invincibility of Novak Djokovic was broken after he suffered a shock loss to Jiri Vesely at the Monte Carlo Masters. The roller coaster performance produced by some players in the top-10 has made the men’s tour more even according to the world No.17.
“The Top-10 are losing more games than in recent years. Everything is more even and they do not always win. For me and the rest it helps us see players like Djokovic, Federer, Nadal or Murray lose games from time to time. You no longer see them as safe or as unbeatable as before,” he told Mundo Deportivo.
In light of his recent disappointment in Barcelona, Bautista Agut if eager to put his season back on track at the Madrid Open. The tournament brings back happy memories for the Spaniard after his breakthrough performance at the 2014 event. Unseeded in the tournament, he reached the semifinals before losing in three sets to Kei Nishikori.
“In Madrid I had the best result of my life (semifinalist 2014). I have very good memories of the players that I beat on the center court and how the week was. They are memories that stay in the memory because it was a week that helped me grow a lot professionally,” the 28-year-old reflected.
Closing in on his 2014 ranking best of 14th in the world, there are still areas of Bautista Agut’s game that needs improvement if he is to reach the top-10. One of these issues is his mentality on the court, which can at times hinder his performance.
“For me, my mental section is very important. When I am more tired or less calm, my game is affected,” He admitted.
Going into Madrid, the Spaniard currently has a win-loss this season of 20-8. The strong performance currently places Bautista Agut equal 9th in the race to the ATP Finals (eight players with the highest points tally will qualify for the end-of-year tournament). Strong performances at the two upcoming Masters tournaments in Madrid and Rome could see Bautista Agut return back into the top-15 for the first time since April 2015.
