"The players are more closed": Alex Corretja says tennis has lost camaraderie element

At an event in the city of Leon, Alex Corretja was giving a talk for a few minutes, where he reviewed his career, what he felt after he stopped playing and the differences between tennis now and when he was on the circuit.

"I didn't retire, I finished one career, which is tennis, and started another. In my time, I didn't feel like talking about what I was going to do when I retired. I was busy training, sleeping well, resting and training again. The post-career is very complex. You have the feeling that nothing you do is as exciting as what you have done. What you have experienced is so energetic that afterwards, even the financial offers, even though it is not the most important thing for me, everything falls short," he said.

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"I had an eye problem and that stopped me abruptly. I never knew what I wanted to do. If you are not aware that you are privileged, then you suffer. If you are not aware that what you earn at the age of 20 or 21 is not normal, then you suffer. I, usually, I still wear tracksuits. I retired 20 years ago, but I still find it strange not to do it. When I do a three-hour photo shoot, they ask me if I'm tired and I always say I could be another seven hours. We have a very marked discipline since we were kids.

"Now everything is much more closed. Before there was a little more camaraderie. You communicated with colleagues without filtering. Now, it's impossible to tell a friend on the circuit that you're bad, because a couple of days later you can confront him. We used to go 20 to dinner and nothing happened. Now, for another player to enter your group... it is very difficult. Also because now the teams of players are ten people. That is very noticeable. The players are more closed with their teams."

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