The past and the present, what an interesting debate. Applicable to any area of life, also in sports, where everything has changed in the last 20 years. This is something Juan Mónaco knows perfectly, someone who spent fifteen seasons on the circuit before hanging up his racket in 2017. Now, the Argentine is one of the most important figures at Sport Summa, a representation agency working to help a long list of players find their best version. Through an interview with CLAY, the former world No. 10 shares some headlines about the revolution that tennis has undergone, especially when applying it to the daily lives of younger players.
A new society
"When playing, we weren't as exposed in the past. Between phones and social media. nowadays, there are many cameras and microphones during matches. A bad day on the court can make you lose a sponsor. Reading a tweet can cause psychological damage. There are many things, we were freer when we played before, there wasn’t as much responsibility."
The external noise
"Today, the player is much more responsible for their failures, so we try to help them in that direction. How? For example, isolating them from all these things so they don't depend so much on what is said on social media, although sponsors demand visibility during tournaments. We try to prevent them from consuming that unreal virtual world, encouraging them to live a bit more in the real life, the day-to-day, training and being on the court to compete."
The past and the present
"There is an evident generational clash. In our case, we try to talk a lot with the juniors to understand how they think, because we know their mindset is not the same as ours back then. Like it or not, they were born with a phone in their hand, immersed in social media. It is very difficult to make them understand that this could be counterproductive for them when competing. If playing tennis is already hard, imagine adding the pressure of social media, a bunch of things that are not relevant."
Social networks yes or no?
"They are very valid tools. Looking back, we see many champions facing issues on social media due to all the haters harassing them. Naomi Osaka, for example. All that wear and tear causes psychological damage that is hard to manage for a young player. Our advice to this generation is the farther you stay away from social media, the better. The more time you spend meditating, training, resting, and sharing time with family and friends, the better competitor you will be."
This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El consejo de ‘Pico’ Mónaco a los jóvenes: “Cuanto más alejado te mantengas de las redes sociales, mejor”