"The tennis player is a hypocrite; we criticize things we do not apply"

Tomás Carbonell is one of the most authoritative voices in Spanish tennis. During his time as a player, he was ranked in the top 40 in the world, won several titles ATP and even won a Grand Slam at Roland Garros in mixed doubles alongside 'Vivi' Ruano. Later, he became a commentator, and in recent statements, he did not hold back when discussing current tennis, the importance of money, and a calendar that has changed a lot since he competed. 

In the 'El Raquetazo' podcast, Carbonell first emphasized the shift of the king of racquet sports towards economic interests over sports ones, stating, "we tend to think that the past was always better. The path that tennis is taking does not please me; it has lost the essence of what it was. It has tried to seek money, and most players do not need the money. They can sell it; they can say there is more money here and there, but we are losing the foundation of the important tournaments. Capital has arrived that, for me, is totally senseless. To hold a tournament in Abu Dhabi or host a tournament where no one attends seems sad to me."

Additionally, he harshly criticized the players who complain about the calendar and then play exhibition matches. "A player is a hypocrite because we criticize things that we then do not apply. Oh, it's a long calendar, and then they go to play three exhibitions. I understand that you want to make money, but the one who wants to make money is the manager; the one who wants to make money is the tournament. Once you are already hanging from the money, nothing changes for you. Then don't criticize the calendar when you're going to play tournaments in the middle of nowhere just to keep earning."

Carbonell stands up for the changes to the Davis Cup

That said, one thing does not negate the other, which is why Tomás says that "for me, the calendar has not made any sense for a long time. The Masters 1000 at two weeks make no sense. I have lost interest because they have taken that away from me, and I think it needed better organization, but I also understand that the pressure to get more money, more money, and more money can lead to that.

Where he became more serious was when discussing the Davis Cup and the changes initiated by Gerard Piqué a few years ago, something Carbonell supported and assured he would do again. "I was responsible for the Davis Cup since Piqué, and at that moment, I supported it. I flew with Piqué on his private plane to Orlando to make the vote. The federation approved that I could go with Piqué at that time because the vote was already fully consensual, and it was going to be approved. 

It was painful because there were people who wanted to sabotage it, and I told the president 'look, Miguel, I have no idea if this will work or not; what I know is that the Davis Cup is having very serious problems. What I know is that Piqué is going to do it in Madrid. If we approve it, it will be very strange that it only changes because of our votes, but you going against Madrid and against doing something that is going to happen in Spain when everyone is saying it is in decline...'. The good ones were not going. Clearly, it has not worked. This is clear, but I would do the same again," he continued.

Carbonell explains how Piqué helped the Spanish Tennis Federation

In fact, despite knowing afterward that it was a mistake, Carbonell explained how beneficial Piqué's initiative to change the format was for the Spanish Tennis Federation. "I would make this mistake again because it went incredibly well for the Federation. Piqué helped the Spanish Federation in various ways, and on top of that, they won that year. It turned out great. The format was lost, the history was lost, but it was already decaying before. 

It was painful because radical changes are painful. I think that moment was necessary to shake the tree a bit because everything was going very poorly. People do not remember, and everything was going very poorly. No one wanted to go. I remember that at that time I was traveling with Bautista, and he told me, 'hey, look, I had to go to Brazil to play on clay when I was coming from hard court.' In total, the check they paid me was 18937 from the Spanish Federation, and on top of that, I got injured, and I missed three tournaments; I am never coming back. Look, Bautista was a guy with crazy desire to play for Spain, but it wasn’t worth it for him," he concluded. These statements will have repercussions and show an unfiltered view of the current circuit.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, "El tenista es un hipócrita, criticamos cosas que no aplicamos"