The Spark That Ignites Roberto Bautista Agut

A glance at Roberto Bautista Agut’s record reveals that the start of the year tends to give him plenty to be happy about. This part of the season has provided a significant share of his sporting success, but there is also a slight blemish that he would like to rectify as soon as possible.

At last year’s Australian Open, he was sent packing in the first round. This year he is back with renewed hope. One of the reasons the man from Castellon has to be optimistic is his notable performance last week in Sydney.

“The start of the year has been very positive for Roberto at this ATP Cup,” Spain’s team captain Tomás Carbonell, one of his coaches, tells ATPTour.com. “Historically he has almost always done well on Australian soil, but it’s true that last year the Australian Open was a little disappointing, losing to [Radu] Albot.”

The No. 17 player in the ATP Rankings led his country to the final of the ATP Cup, leaving in his wake Top 10 opponents Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz.

“I think it’s very good,” says Carbonell. “Both the encouraging start and the new team are important for Roberto. Although personally I was already with him, the addition of Dani Gimeno is a breath of fresh air.”

^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
Bautista has a new team of coaches this season. In addition to Carbonell, he has recently added a Top 50 player in Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

“I think it’s going well,” Gimeno-Traver says of his pupil’s performance early in the year. “Not just because of the wins this week, also because of his desire and motivation to have a good season.”

At the ATP Cup, Bautista Agut strung together four consecutive victories, something that he had not done since last March at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, where he reached the semi-finals. In the second half of 2021, a spell of poor results saw him bow out in his opener in five tournaments post-Wimbledon. A 6-9 record between July and November left a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

“Morale wasn’t great in recent months and now we’ve strengthened his desire and his tennis, to give him more weapons,” explains Carbonell. “He has been happy to add the things he needed. He was a little disappointed with last year, even though it wasn’t that bad.”

Among the things he needed was to get back his desire, as his coach points out. “The key to recovering desire lies in really underscoring that there is still room for improvement,” says Carbonell. “That’s what we’ve tried to communicate to him: It doesn’t matter what age a player is, what’s important is their desire to learn.”

And Bautista has come into this season with bags of desire, as the Spaniard admitted to ATPTour.com in the preseason.

“If you’re able to convince a player that he still has a lot of room for improvement, as is the case, I think that unleashes the desire,” insists Carbonell.

^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
But if there is one thing Bautista Agut’s coaches point to, it is his ability to listen to advice and apply it at the right time.

“Roberto is like a sponge,” confirms Carbonell. “That’s the spark that ignites him and makes him continue to be a great competitor, a great player, and from here on in, hopefully we can maintain this throughout the year.

“Roberto is a player who is always ready to learn, to improve, and physically I think he’s better than ever. Hopefully he can go far at this Australian Open, making it a really exciting start to the year.”

For his part, Gimeno-Traver focuses on the finer details. “I tell him to be a little more aggressive and dominate points more.” Bautista seems to be following this advice so far this season. “The goal is to keep improving every day to get as high as possible.

“The season has just started, of course winning matches like that really gives you the energy to maintain the desire to improve.”

Gimeno-Traver will be the man to accompany Bautista Agut in Melbourne Park, where the Spaniard will begin his Australian Open against Italian Stefano Travaglia. For now the desire is intact and the spark is more alive than ever.