Gustavo Kuerten, 49, still maintains the same charismatic, irreverent manner with which he beat Brazil when he won Roland Garros for the first time in 1997. After that, he won the Paris clay tournament twice more, won the ATP Finals and became the world’s number one in tennis. Even with such a successful resume, Goga remains humble.
During a sponsorship event in São Paulo, the former tennis player accepted the challenge posed by the report to create what would be an ideal tennis player. Who has the best forehand? And the best backhand? Guga did not sit on the fence and showed that he is also “Fonsequized”.
He joked: “I think Joao is already close to that (completion). Add (Jannik) Sinner and (Carlos) Alcaraz, from today, and it becomes Joao. Who knows, I can just put my hair up to hide the opponent and distract him.”
Goga cites the advantage of the new generation through social media: “They are the TV itself”:
Different generations
Currently, in addition to being expected to replicate the success of Manezinho da Ilha, names like Pia Haddad and Joao Fonseca need to deal with social media pressures, which did not exist in Goga’s time. For a tennis idol, the price of exposure is high, but it also allows for greater peace of mind in terms of the financial aspect.
“Everything is proportional. The exposure they have, the financial resources they receive, the investments in tennis are a ladder that grows according to this vision. Today, being a tennis player means, in the same way as before, to be recognized all over the world. It is an international figure. But the story has changed a lot because I see that the personal side has become more protected, and the space has been excessively reduced. I would have a very difficult time these days going out to dinner and people photographing. I was not born like that. That,” he said in a conversation with land.
Despite leaving his Instagram account under the control of his advisors, Goga says it is important for athletes to have a presence on the platforms: “They are television itself. There is no middle ground, they actually reach the consumer directly. So, I think everything goes in this natural ratio. Business, vision, expectations. But, usually, I admit to you, we are the biggest agent of the demands and the need to perform. The athlete himself, already has a need to do his best, to perform well almost all the time.” “Unconditionally.”
For the three-time Roland Garros champion, the advantage is that tennis players nowadays have the resources to take breaks in their careers, as is the case with Pia Haddad, who ended the season early to take care of her mental health.
“Today, they can take a year off. They can rest a little bit more. Something sensible, calm and more, I would say that, in a career spanning 20 years, I would say it’s more generous. For a player of our age, the idea was to start at 18, at 25 or 28, and he was already on the verge of finishing the slope.”
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