It's a reflection of the work that's being done in Spain at a basic level. It's no coincidence that Spanish tennis is now the best in the world, with regard to being the country with the most players in the top 100. And this is the case not only for this year, but has been so for many years. Grand Slams, Davis Cup, ATP tournaments...Spain's superiority in getting these results is due to the immense groundwork that's being done in many clubs around the country, the good weather which encourages tennis playing and the fact that the distances the players have to cover to play in good tournaments, be it national or international, are relatively small. This means the player can develop quicker than in other parts of the world, like South America, USA or Australia, where, to be able to play in higher level tournaments when they're just starting out, the players have to pay out lots of money. From a technical point of view, the model player (Nadal, Lopez, Robredo, Verdasco) is the player who is not only limited to claycourts, despite it being their preferred surface, but who also has wider ambitions, like hardcourts. They're a more complete player than those of previous generations...and more ambitious.
9. Do you go to many tournaments during the year?
Oh yes, one each week! (just kidding). One of my jobs as coach is to go to tournaments to check the development of our players however, when I have time, I try to pursue my other interests, as you can imagine. Nevertheless, when there is a good chance to go to an international tournament, like the Majorca Open, Roland Garros, the Madrid Masters, Open Godo in Barcelona, Valencia, Davis Cup or, as was the case this year, the Australian Open, of course I go. I make use of the opportunity because tennis is my passion.