Roberto Bautista won seven of his nine ATP titles between 2016 and 2019 and reached a career-high number 9 a the end of last year.
Just days before Roberto was due to represent Spain at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Joaquin became a quadriplegic after suffering a fall while he was cleaning the family’s house stables. He could no longer move from the neck down and required an artificial breathing machine. Roberto won the Davis Cup at the Caja Magica in Madrid last November just a few days after his father passed away as a consequence of a tragic accident.
One year earlier Roberto’s mother Esther unexpectedly died in her sleep at the age of 52. Roberto started playing tennis at the age of five when his mother singed him up to play on the weekends.
“My mother passed away in 2018. I was at the club to train at, when I got a call after practice. I found out my mother went to sleep and did not wake up. It was 100% unexpected. She was very young, only 52 years old, but she was suffering a lot of stress from taking care of my father. My father fell while he was cleaning our horse stables and became paralyzed. It was days before the Rio Olympics, which I almost decided to skip, but I ended up going in the end. My father was in the bed in the next room when my mother passed away. It was an incredibly tough four years. My father became quadriplegic and could not move move from the neck down. He used an artificial breathing machine since he could not do it himself. We had two people, plus my mother, who took care of my father 24 hours a day”
The Spanish star honoured his parents in his upload to Behind the Raquet, that tennis player Noah Rubin started to give players the players a platform to share their stories.
“My parents wanted me to make my dreams come true no matter the situation. I kept playing and fought harder than I ever did. That was my way of making it worth it. I played some of my best tennis during this horrible time. I was there for my family as much as I could, but I could not throw away what I have worked all my life for. I wanted to keep working, and harded than ever”.
During 2019 Bautista Agut advanced to his first Grand Slam quarter final at the Australian Open and his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon (losing to Novak Djokovic). The Spaniard earned the second win of his career over Novak Djokovic en route to his ninth ATP Tour title in Doha. He beat Djokovic for the third time to reach the quarter finals in Miami. He advanced to two consecutive Masters 1000 quarter finals in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Bautista was in Madrid for the Davis Cup, when his father died. He returned home to Castellon to assist his ailing father. After his father’s funeral Roberto returned to Madrid to help his team against Canada the following day.
“These tough moments made me stronger and more powerful. It gave me a strength others did not have. Through all the tough times I had at home and did not want to travel because I was so tired, it made me more focused and motivated. I did everything I could to fight hard on the court to show my mother and father that the hard work was worth it”.
Nadal paid tribute to Bautista Agut’s resilience during tough times.
“What Roberto did today is something out of this planet. Roberto has been an inspiration to all of us”, said Nadal.
Bautista Agut played football for Villareal until he was 14 before focusing on his tennis career.
“Soccer has always been a passion of mine. When I was younger I played for Villareal until I was 14. It was not an easy decision but I am very happy that I am playing tennis. I miss playing for a team a lot but looking back I am lucky I chose tennis. It was difficult to leave all my friends on the team and to lose a dream of yours. It is not easy to make a life decision like that at 14. I don’t regret it but after a couple of years of tennis practice I could never have imagined the sacrifices you needed to make to become a pro tennis player”.