When I saw it Marcelo Rios She gave another interview and this time we instinctively wondered who she took on. That’s because the former world No. 1, when he speaks, tends to throw out epithets against anyone who falls within range or for some reason comes to mind. Instead, he surprised us El ChinoFrom the pages of a Chilean newspaper pokes a hole in our preconceptions La Tercera He does not shoot arrows at anyone (let’s say shame) but instead, He flatters himself, he seems so motivated, inspired, in short, he feels feverish or calls an exorcist. All of this – and there’s no escaping it – is expressed in the usual colorful eloquence that comes in handy if you want to fight three thugs in a popular bar in Santiago’s port area (Santiago does, of course. Not having a port is a very stupid area). But what happened to Marcelo?
The real question is “who” and the answer Juncheng Shang, Rios’ guardian for a month. Born in Beijing in 2005 and topped the ITF junior rankings a year ago, Juncheng left the under-18 circuit, losing in the final at the 2021 US Open. ATP. . And he’s left-handed like his brand new coach, nay, test coach Awaiting formalization of contract. So let’s see what the 46-year-old from Santiago had to say about the new collaboration.
1, 2, 3, Test – “We started six days of training at IMG in Bradenton on Friday the 22nd. They were a test to decide whether to continue or not. They offered me a financing deal and Jeff [Schwartz], my agent, is negotiating with them. However, since he was going to play five challengers, I told him to do four and rest after the first two. We would have trained for a week and I would have gone with him for free for the others – he would have only paid me for the trip..
The “free” part seems to have been well received by the entourage of the young tennis player, who has been busy in Lexington this week. “I said if he gets to the semis I will see him“. Meanwhile, the day of the semifinals has arrived in Kentucky, where Shang is. “I should have closed the deal on Monday, but I said no, because I wanted to go with him to these challengers and understand how I would find it before I made a decision.“.
How do I change PUPO – “I only changed three things in these six days because I’m afraid to make too many changes” Marcelo explains. “He’s got a great left forearm that’s really heavy but very flat, like mine. So, I tried to bite it more like Nadal. They worked on it one day, and the boy immediately made it his own..
The second thing he got his hands on was the answer. “He always plays the same way, he’s got all the shots but he doesn’t know when to use them. Instead he’s backed off and the lead I’ve told him. Stay in line and move forward like I did. So he can hit the other person’s backside and doesn’t know how to do it. He learned it in a day and he does it right..
Finally, the service. “Technically, it’s like mine, but the release was much lower. Now hit the ball higher. I told him that too. After that a break is not a break if he fails to save the bar.”. Then it’s time to put them into practice in practice games. “He easily defeated Evans and the younger No. 1 6-1 6-1.”.
If you’re gentle, I’ll give you— “A bearded man learns quickly. But I think it’s pretty decent. He says ‘sorry, sorry’ after a tap, not daring to throw a punch when you’re at the net. So I did it: the ball through the tape, he didn’t move and me I hit his chest. He got the message. ‘It’s part of the game, there’s nothing wrong with it,’ I told him. ‘Sometimes you have no choice. Then, apologize.”. But there’s one thing Marcelo really can’t stand: “I told him if I saw him leaving a crowd, I’d leave. He laughed and I said, ‘What are you laughing at, Chichio?’ Another time I told him that If he makes me go to Egypt and throws a match, he will not see me. If you do it well you can play for 40 years and when you retire you can say I gave it my all because you never know what will happen.. From what Rios says, their moments together should be hilarious. “He tells me to speak Spanish because he wants to learn it, and I send it to him in Chile”. He then recognizes a certain merit in his student: “Unlike almost everyone else, he doesn’t pick up his phone during practice breaks.”. Not to mention the fact that her parents, a former soccer player and a former table tennis champion, don’t interfere with fieldwork.
The mirror of my ears – “Reminds Me” An observation that somehow encapsulates all the admiration for Jerry, as they call him in America. “I’ve never been so impressed by someone playing in my life. 17 years old, no regular coach, never done pre-season, already this n. 300, imagine where it could go. Technically he is valid, tactically he has a lot to learn, but he is doing it quickly, I would not be surprised if he reaches 150 now, not next year”. And he continues: “He was a great man. I tell him not to copy my pitches, but I want him to be a tough guy on the pitch, ‘I’m here, don’t break me…’.
He lends himself to comparisons that raise eyebrows: “He has a better backhand than Algarez, a heavier forehand too, and he serves better, but Algarez is a package of things, he has other characteristics.“. And he presses: “He has Djokovic’s flexibility on returns, But I don’t like it because it abuses its simplicity. I also wake up five times a night to go to the bathroom I started thinking about how to improve it. I want time to go fast to see how far it will go”.
What can I say, the spark struck between El Chino And … Chinese. It remains to be seen whether the future will be bright for both of them. And, yes, we’re also a bit in a rush to see it.
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