by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Many people in Spain have called Lluis Bruguera the father of modern Spanish tennis.
Bruguera coached his son Sergi, who won back-to-back French Open titles in 1993 and 1994 and, with Sergi, founded a tennis academy in Barcelona that has sprouted the latest tennis Spanish sensation – Garbine Muguruza.
Muguruza trained at Bruguera Academy in Barcelona under Lluis’ guidance from age seven to 18, while her coach Alejo Mancisidor also trained at the Academy, according to Chris Lewit, author of the book “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis.”
“She is a paragon of the Bruguera development system,” saidthe New York City-based Lewit of Muguruza. “She first came to the academy at age 7 with her older brothers and her father asked Lluis if he could train her too. Lluis said that Garbine showed a rare competitive spirit, work ethic, and determination at a young age. She instantly reminded Lluis of his son, Sergi, in terms of character and spirit and athletic ability.”
Lewit, who spoke with Bruguera Friday, said that he said Muguruza was very small in stature in the early years, and trained primarily on slow red clay. This is where, Bruguera told Lewit, she “learned to fight and win with heart.”
“She learned tactics, consistency, movement and footwork, patience, stamina and sacrifice, all hallmarks of the Spanish training system,” said Lewit.
When Muguruza got older, Bruguera transitioned her more to hard court training at the academy (that has nine hard courts versus seven clay courts) so she could develop weapons and become a better fast court player.
“This is something that helped her to feel comfortable at Wimbledon,” Lewit said.
At age 14, Bruguera said that he was convinced that Garbine could be a Top 5 player and relayed this to her parents. Even as Muguruza lost matches as a junior, causing some concern among her parents, Bruguera said he was steadfast in his belief. Bruguera said that he told Muguruza’s parents, “Don’t worry. Make sure you simply show your belief in her. It’s important that everyone around her shows her that they believe that she can be a champion. The rest will fall into place.”
Bruguera told Lewit that he did not coach her for the money, but for the satisfaction of one day looking on the television to see her winning at the biggest tournaments in the world against the best players in the world.
This is exactly what Bruguera has been doing throughout Wimbledon in 2015.
“After the semifinal match, Garbine sent Lluis a message saying she was thankful for everything he had done for her, for the Bruguera Academy, and that she was proud to be able to perform at the highest level for her team,” Lewit said. “She knew he was at home very proud of her.”
Bruguera wrote the foreword to “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis” which is available for sale or download here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559491/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_ppeOvb1J9F7C8
To read more about the Bruguera Academy, read this story on TennisGrandstand.com: http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/2015/07/10/a-look-at-the-bruguera-tennis-academy-where-garbine-muguruza-trained/
To read more about the “Secrets of Spanish Tennis” click here: http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/11432
