Tommy Robredo ends his 17th season on the tour at 41st in the world after experiencing a roller-coaster year on the tour.
This year the 33-year-old has reached one ATP Final at the Swedish Open where he lost to France’s Benoit Paire. Robredo also reached the semifinals of the Shenzhen Open before losing to top seed Tomas Berdych. With the exception of these two tournaments, the Spinard has failed to reach the last four in any other competition this year as he ends his season with a win-loss of 24-21.
During a recent interview Robredo spoke about his decision to end his season early due to a left foot injury. His last match was at the Shanghai Masters where he lost in the first round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He also admitted that he has been experiencing issues with his elbow.
“The truth is I brought my season to an early end to try and recover. My elbow and foot were slightly injured and this week I’ve started training. I can still feel it, but it seems like it’s improving and I’ve got two months ahead to try and get 100% ready physically. I think that’s what I need and what I’ve been missing this year.” He said.
It is not the first time that the former world No.5 has been forced to end his season early. In 2013 he was forced to stop the season at an almost identical time as this year due to a wrist injury. Also at the start of 2015 Robredo missed the first tournament of the year due to an abductor injury. Despite the series of injury woes for the 33-year-old, he believes that he will ready for the start of the 2016 season.
“We’ve always got a bit of time in November and December and now my objective is to start in Sydney and then play the Australian Open. So I’ve got a bit of time ahead to try and get into shape and recover from all my injuries”. The 33-year-old said.
Discussing the prospect of retiring, Robredo has dismissed any speculation by saying that he has not considered retiring. He said that overall in his career he hasn’t been plagued by ‘many injuries’. Robredo also said that he has the desire to continue playing.
“I want to try and recover and be 100% fit to fight with everyone”. Robredo said.
Throughout his career Robredo has played in 23 ATP finals, winning titles in 12 of them including the 2006 Hamburg Masters. He has also reached the quarterfinal at seven Grand Slam tournaments between 2003-2013. The gutsy play and determination by the Spaniard in one explanation as to how he managed to last so long on the tour, 14 years after winning his first ATP title.
“I’m a person that fights a lot. The people that know me on a daily basis know that I’m very methodical, that I like to always train, I like to see what I can do to improve. I write down my notes and I see that this year I’ve done one thing and the previous year another thing. Sometimes this is good and sometimes it’s not so good. Sometimes you dwell on things for too long and you can’t find some calm, but I’m very professional”.
The professionalism from Robredo is highly admirable as he looks ahead to 2016.The 33-year-old doesn’t have any ranking targets, instead he said that his focus is on ‘enjoying the match and fighting against every player’. 2016 will be an unpredictable year for Robredo, who is the 11th oldest player in the top 100. Irregardless of the outcome of his results, as long Robredo is following his passion, he will still be a regular feature on the tour.
“We’ll see if I win or lose but for now I really enjoy what I do, it’s my passion and until that passion dies out I will give everything to be there.” He concluded.
Interview conducted by Bruno Bergareche Sans (Ubitennis and Bein Sports journalist)
