Secrets of Spanish Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz Wins First Career Grass Title At Queens

June 26, 2023 by Admin

Carlos Alcaraz won his first career title on grass as the Spaniard defeated Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-4, 6-4 at Queen’s Club.

The victory ensures that the 20-year-old will overtake Novak Djokovic to be the men’s world No. 1, and will play at the upcoming grass-court Wimbledon Championships as the top seed, despite this not making much of a difference as you can read here: http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/17219

“Even if I win the title, I just played 11 matches in my career on grass, so I have to get more experience, more hours,” said Alcaraz, whose previous experience on grass amounts to two Wimbledon appearances in the past two years.

“But obviously, after beating these amazing guys, these great players, and the level that I played, I consider myself one of the favourites or one of the players to be able to win Wimbledon.”

Alcaraz battled hard in the first round at Queen’s Club as he came from one set down to edge lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech. But the 2022 U.S. Open champion adapted his game well on grass, winning the following four matches all in straight sets.

Alcaraz reached the round of last 16 at last year’s Wimbledon and said he believed he has many weapons on grass.

“I try to hit big shots all the time. I think I have improved my serves a lot. And with the forehand, I try to dominate all the time,” he said.

The success of Alcaraz on grass courts is a result of many Spanish tennis coaches implementing multiple court-surface training for young players, as described in the book “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis” by Chris Lewit for sale and download here https://a.co/d/adUB7o8

Garbine Muguruza Dispels Two Myths About the Spanish Method of Training

December 4, 2017 by Admin

by Chris Lewit

Chris Lewit is the author of the highly-regarded book “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis” for sale and download here via Amazon.com
Garbine Muguruza’s Wimbledon triumph in 2017 — and her success in general — are important to help dispel two common myths about Spanish Tennis:

1. The Spanish system is somehow ineffective at developing world-class girls and women.

2. The Spanish system does not develop players who can win on all surfaces.

Both myths are patently false and the rise of Muguruza provides strong evidence against them.

For decades now, as the Spanish Armada of men have taken the ATP World Tour by storm, starting in the late 1980’s with great Spanish players such as Emilio Sanchez and early 1990’s with Sergi Bruguera and many, many others, there has been a dearth of female Spanish champions and significantly fewer successes on the WTA tour for Spain. Two bright spots were Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario and Conchita Martinez–great champions–but in general, there was not a huge wave of female success on the WTA Tour as compared to the ATP. The Spanish Armada seemed to be captained primarily by men.

Thus a pervasive criticism of Spanish tennis developed: that the system in Spain could produce many world-class male players but something in the approach was flawed at developing female players. Muguruza’s success is helping to dispel that myth.

She will also help drive more female players from Spain into the sport of tennis with her star power and popularity.

Historically, the female participation rate for girls in sport in Spain has been lower than boys, and this is one of the main reasons Spain has produced fewer female top players than men. Muguruza proves the “Spanish Method” works for females, and at the same time, she will help grow the tennis participation rate in Spain for girls.

The second prevailing myth has been that the Spanish style of training does not produce players who can win on all surfaces. There has been a litany of evidence over the last few decades to combat this myth, but it still exists to a certain extent.

As more and more Spanish trained players win on all surfaces, this myth should recede into the backdrop. Only the uninformed make this claim anymore.

Many Spanish champions, from David Ferrer, to Juan-Carlos Ferrero, to Carlos Moya, Fernando Lopez, and Rafa Nadal have had excellent results on hard and grass surfaces.

Conchita Martinez won Wimbledon for Spain and now Muguruza has won both Roland Garros and Wimbledon — a very strong support of the flexibility of modern Spanish training.

Muguruza started at the Bruguera Academy at the age of 7 and trained there for almost a decade. She got her start on the pro tour traveling with a Bruguera coach?. She trained a lot on red clay at the academy but also spent a significant time on hard courts. She is a perfect example of the adaptability of the modern Spanish training system.

While she grew up on red clay learning how to grind, run, and defend, as she matured the Bruguera team allowed her to hone her strong, attacking power baseline game that would serve her well on fast courts.

Indeed, many other leading Spanish academies have been evolving–not just Bruguera. Nadal’s new academy in Mallorca stresses hard court play, and almost every top academy in Spain now rotates players from clay to hard courts regularly to give them the unique benefits of playing on each surface.

Muguruza’s success is a reminder of the power and flexibility of the training method in Spain. It works for both men and women, and it can produce champions on any surface.

A Look At The Bruguera Tennis Academy

May 26, 2016 by Admin

In his best-selling book “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis,” author and respected high performance tennis coach Chris Lewit discusses and shares with readers the secrets that have made Spain one of the most successful tennis nations in the world the last 25 years.

As part of his book, Lewit provides information and summaries of all of the leading Spanish tennis academies, including the academy founded by Lluis Bruguera and his son Sergi, the two-time French Open champion. The academy, called “Bruguera Top Team,” is located in Barcelona and surprisingly has more hard courts (9) than clay courts (7), which emphasizes the Spanish focus recently on excelling on faster surfaces.

Garbine Muguruza, who had her breakthrough career result at Wimbledon in 2015, is one of the recent success stories of players who have trained with Bruguera at his academy.

The following is the summary on Bruguera Top Team as seen in Lewit’s book. Other academy summaries, as well as philosophies, attitudes, drills and training methods are also featured in the book, based on Lewit’s eight years of study in Spain. The book, published by New Chapter Media, is available for sale and download here on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559491/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_RB-Nvb1DXHXYW

Bruguera Top Team

Location: Santa Coloma de Cervelló, in the hilly west suburbs of Barcelona, about 15-20 min from the Barcelona International Airport and 20-25 min by train to Barcelona center.

Website for more information: www.brugueratennis.com

Description/Philosophy: Bruguera Top Team, founded in 1986 by Sergi Bruguera and his father and coach Lluis Bruguera, is one of the oldest and most successful Spanish academies. Situated in the charming and humble small hill town of Santa Coloma de Cervelló, with views to the Mediterranean overlooking Barcelona, Bruguera’s is one of the only academies probably in the world 100 percent dedicated to serious junior training. They don’t offer any adult programming and there is no adult membership at the club. This is part of Lluis Bruguera’s vision and his passion for junior development—the club and its facilities only exist for the juniors. The club has a mixture of good quality red clay and Green Set hard courts all terraced on multiple levels, which makes viewing convenient. The facilities themselves are aging and are definitely due for an upgrade or renovation soon, so don’t expect luxury accommodations. Some visitors say the club reminds them of an old-school spit and sawdust boxing gym, and this analogy seems apt to me. The physical structures, dorms and locker rooms, and gym are very minimalist and need updating, but for whatever the club lacks in luxury and modern touches, the academy makes up for with positive energy and friendliness. The training is also the most inexpensive of all the academies that I visited in the Barcelona area, which makes for a good cost/benefit equation. Lluis Bruguera is the technical guru of the academy and a passionate leader on court, while the day-to-day operations are run by his family member, Xavier Torner, who would probably give you the shirt off his back to make your stay a happy one.

Fernando Luna, one of Lluis’s students and a former top 30 ATP player, leads the staff of coaches, and he is also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet—a class act. At Bruguera, it seems that the coaches and staff have mastered the art of hospitality and friendliness, which makes any stay here pleasant for the athletes and their coaches and families.

Lluis believes in a very positive and minimally critical style of coaching, and his experienced staff, many who have been with Lluis for decades or longer, do a great job following the proven system and keeping the positive energy and comments flowing. This positive approach is probably why Bruguera’s is very popular with younger players who need more encouragement. With so many long-term staff members, this family owned and run business, as an entity, really seems to treat visitors like part of the family, like they are good old friends come home.

Lluis and his staff have created a proven system that has propelled more than 15 players into the top 100 on the professional tour. The academy philosophy and system is the method that Lluis created in the 1980s that helped revolutionize tennis in Spain, and while the system has evolved, many of the same drills are still being used today. Like many Spanish programs, in the morning the coaches typically work a lot on the groundstrokes and other technical areas using a lot of hand feeding methods, and then the players play points and sets in the afternoon.

The typical daily schedule is three hours 15 minutes of tennis in the morning and afternoon and two hours 45 minutes of physical training. Lluis believes strongly that players do not concentrate well over three hours per session and that “quality is more important than quantity.”

Salvador Sosa, a legendary trainer who has traveled and trained many top ATP players, such as Ivan Ljubičić and Alex Correjta, anchors the fitness and conditioning staff. As with other Spanish academies that have large summer camps, sometimes the fitness is not taken as seriously by some of the recreational part-timers visiting the program.

Fitness tends to be a combination of running, stretching, and gym work. Once or twice a week, students are challenged to run to the top of the steep mountain on which the club is built—a grueling fitness exercise that builds stamina and the capacity to suffer.

The students range from tournament beginner 9 and 10-year-olds to top ITF players and touring pros. On my last visit, a good Spanish 10-year-old and a top 300 ATP pro could be seen training on adjacent courts.

In the busy times of the summer, the academy accepts sometimes over 100 players and in July they will sometimes rent out additional courts to accommodate the extra students. Bruguera believes in a two or three player per court ratio for the training system for its older players. Sometimes younger players are four to a court during busy weeks.

Full-time boarding players, of which there are about 45 during the school year plus 30 additional local afterschool players, work very intensely both on and off the court. Bruguera’s players work hard but also play hard—there is a nice, healthy balance. The academy is a cheerful place where everyone pushes themselves hard and then jumps in the pool to relax and play before dinner.

Facilities: 16 courts (7 clay, 9 hard), Pool, On-site Supervised Housing, Gym, restaurant/cafe, hotels nearby.

Services: Psychologist available, Physio and Massage, Medical arrangement with Spanish Davis Cup Sport Medicine doctor. Private lessons are not part of the philosophy here and thus not offered (but groups are small and they will work extra to help your player during the regular program; Lluis believes the regular program is good enough that most players do not need a private lesson), School facilities and tutors on-site.

Cost: About 850 Euros per week. For latest prices please contact by email: info@brugueratennis.com

Best Match For: All players at all levels; Bruguera’s friendly coaches make this an especially positive place for younger players, but they have the experience to train top national and international standard players as well—just don’t expect any fancy equipment or luxury accommodations.

The Revival of Spanish Tennis on Grass

June 15, 2015 by Admin

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Waking up and scrolling through the pages of my book “On This Day In Tennis History” – or swiping from your Iphone via the mobile app – always delivers an interesting nugget about tennis history.

June 15 was no different.

It was interesting to read that on June 15, 2008, Rafael Nadal won his first career grass court title when he defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the final of Queen’s Club in London. The seven-year anniversary of this hallmark title came a day after Nadal won, once again on grass, in an almost equally-important tournament win in Stuttgart. Nadal’s confidence has been in shatters this year, his ranking dropping to his current perch of No. 10 and astonishingly not winning any of the spring European clay court championships and suffering on his second loss ever at Roland Garros to Djokovic in the French Open quarterfinals. When Nadal won at Queens in 2008, he went on to win his first Wimbledon title three weeks later, defeating Roger Federer in one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. Will this grass court title Stuttgart catapult Nadal back to a consistent winning form? We shall see.

It was also remarkable to also read about Nadal’s seven-year grass court anniversary that when he won at Queen’s Club in 2008, he was the first Spaniard to capture a grass-court title since Andres Gimeno won the title in Eastbourne, England in 1972. It seems remarkable that for 36 years, no Spanish player won on a grass court, although the grass court season was only four weeks long since 1988. Up until 1974, three of the four major championships (Wimbledon and the U.S. and Australian Opens) were played on grass and two majors were played on grass from 1975 until 1987 (Wimbledon and Australian Open.)

However, since Nadal’s win at Queens in 2008, Spain has won seven ATP singles titles on grass. Nadal added three more grass titles since then – the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon titles and his 2015 title in Stuttgart. David Ferrer won the title in s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands in 2012 and Roberto Bautista Agut took the title there in 2014. Feliciano Lopez also won the title in Eastbourne in 2013 and 2014.

What these victories tell me is something that is reflective in the book “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis” by Chris Lewit (for sale here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559491/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_q1UFvb0QPEW8Y via @amazon) – the Spanish players are becoming more and more successful on faster surfaces after having most of their success primarily on clay.

Presenting Lewit with these figures on Spanish success on grass courts, Lewit reinforced Spain’s recent focus on training on faster court surfaces.

“Historically, Spanish players have struggled to compete on faster surfaces but since the late 80’s and early 90’s, that trend started to change,” Lewit said. “Players like Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero had great success on faster surfaces, and coaches in Spain started to train players on more of a balance of fast and slow courts. Today, modern Spanish players are adept at multiple surfaces and leading Spanish academies are installing more and more hard courts.”

An interesting perspective Lewit put forward was that for developing players, in the opinion of most elite tennis coaches, is that it is easier to transition one’s game from slow clay courts to faster surfaces than vice versa. With American tennis players primarily playing on faster hard courts, this would, in theory, explain while Americans have struggled for decades on clay courts, while clay court players from Europe and South American have found relatively more success on faster surfaces like grass, hard courts and indoors.

“Whereas 20 or 30 years ago, the typical Spanish training center would be purely clay court training, most high performance centers nowadays have a good amount of hard courts and rotate the players regularly to play on both,” Lewit said. “In addition, the younger modern generation of Spanish coaches are teaching players to play closer to the baseline and fight more for court position, as opposed to the traditional Spanish style of giving ground and moving very deep into the backcourt. Modern Spanish players will give ground more reluctantly than their predecessors.”

Keep your eyes on how the Spaniards do on the slick grass of Britain the next few weeks and on the fast U.S. hard courts this summer. Will it prove to be the surface of redemption for Rafael Nadal?

“The Secrets of Spanish Tennis” Book Released By New Chapter Press

October 14, 2014 by Admin

“The Secrets of Spanish Tennis,” the book that features the key Spanish methods and philosophies that have propelled Spain to the pinnacle of professional tennis, is now available for sale from New Chapter Press.

The book is written by elite New York-based high performance tennis coach Chris Lewit, who spent the last seven years visiting many of the top Spanish academies and studying their teaching methods. The book features results of Lewit’s interviews with some of the leading Spanish coaches, explaining their unique and special training methodology, while also sharing many of their “secret” Spanish tennis drills.

“I am very excited to share the results of my extensive studies of the Spanish approach towards tennis and the training methods of Spain’s most famous coaches in this book,” said Lewit. “This is a very valuable and practical tool for any player, parent, or coach who is curious about how a small country like Spain has become a world superpower in tennis, and would like to learn and adopt some of the methods used to achieve this unprecedented success. The advice, methods, and drills shared in this book are presented in a clear and simple way that is easy for the reader to understand.”

All featured drills in the book from famous Spanish coaches are also demonstrated visually on Lewit’s www.secretsofspanishtennis.com website to aid the understanding of the reader. The book can be purchased where books are sold, including here on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559491/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_Oatpub01M072B

Lluis Bruguera, the respected Spanish tennis coach and the father of two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera, contributed the foreword to the book. Bruguera, the former Spanish Davis Cup captain and technical director of the Real Federacion Espanola de Tennis, is the founder and current director of the Bruguera Tennis Academy in Spain.

“Chris is in love with the Spanish system and a fervent follower because he believes in the advantages of what this system offers,” said Bruguera in the foreword. “It’s obvious that one country so small and without many practitioners must have something hidden that supports the success. I highly recommend The Secrets of Spanish Tennis to all parents, coaches, and players who are interested in learning the Spanish methods.”

Said Valencia, Spain-based International Tennis Federation Development Research Officer Miguel Crespo in endorsing the book, “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis provides an excellent overview of the main characteristics and reasons why tennis in Spain has been so successful. By the appropriate combination of theory and practice, the book helps to understand the factors that may help a nation in the development of high performance players. A must read for those interested in the insights of some of the best players and coaches in the history of the game.”

Lewit directs the Chris Lewit Tennis Academy, a Spanish-inspired high performance tennis academy at the prestigious New York Tennis Club, the oldest tennis club in New York, located in the Throgs Neck area of the Bronx. The Chris Lewit Tennis Academy is the only tennis school in the Northeastern United States to offer an authentic and progressive curriculum based on the successful methods of Spain. Lewit is a certified USTA High Performance Coach, the highest coaching designation in the United States; a member of the USPTA and PTR; and he has also received the prestigious ASC certification from the Academia Sanchez-Casal, earned while studying in Barcelona, Spain. He has studied under many former top ATP players and coaches and several national federation coaches, including Bruguera and legendary Spanish coach Pato Alvarez. He played No. 1 for Cornell University in singles and doubles and still actively competes on the ITF professional circuit in his spare time. A resident of Weehawken, New Jersey, he is a long-time contributing editor for TennisPlayer.net and the author of The Tennis Technique Bible.

Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All-Time” by Steve Flink, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “Macci Magic: Extracting Greatness From Yourself And Others” by Rick Macci with Jim Martz, “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer (www.RogerFedererBook.com), “The Days of Roger Federer” by Randy Walker, “Andy Murray, Wimbledon Champion: The Full Extraordinary Story” by Mark Hodgkinson, “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker (www.TennisHistoryApp.com), “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “Court Confidential: Inside The World Of Tennis” by Neil Harman, “A Backhanded Gift” by Marshall Jon Fisher, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “Internet Dating 101: It’s Complicated, But It Doesn’t Have To Be” by Laura Schreffler, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “Bone Appetit: Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Suzan Anson, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin among others.