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Mariano news and articles

14K views 88 replies 32 participants last post by  HuaTuo 
#1 ·
Thought we need a news thread here as well :)

To start with, here a translation of yesterday's interview with Mariano from La Nacion (thanks to Jelena and Mercedes for the translation help) :)



http://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportiva/Nota.asp?nota_id=768757


Zabaleta: "We are professionals and we cannot take anything"

After a complicated year in which he suffered two injuries, the tennis player from Tandil aspiers to enter among the best 20 and admits his worry about the antidoping controls.

PUNTA DEL ESTE. - Dressed in a green shirt and bathing suit, Mariano Zabaleta enjoys a moment of relaxation in the pool of the hotel Conrad, some hours before his encounter with the Chilean Nicolas Massú for the Desafio TelMex. At the same time he applies an ice pack to the right arm. "They are pains of pre-season, nothing serious", explains the Tandilense, who wants to begin the season 2006 with the best expectations.

The year I finished was very difficult to me, because I was playing very well, but I had two important injuries (break of the tendon of the left sole and an artroscopia in the left knee), although I could recover. I finished among the best 70, which for me is a bad ranking, but it is reasonable to be able to return fast if I begin with good results. I want to finish 2006 among the best 15 or 20 of the world. I was always close to it, but I did never manage it. Also I would like to win a big tournament", he says.

For a little more than a year, Zabaleta alternates his activity in the circuit with the television programme Tenis Pro, that he conducts together with Juan Ignacio Chela. However he denies that doing the tv show disturbs his concentration on his tennis career. "It does not have a negative influence at all. On the contrary, it does me well because many times it distracts me. It makes us happy that many people can see the tennis players in a way that they cannot know in their life, people can see that tennis players are common people. Many people, who have nothing to do with tennis, see the programme, but this is television. We do it in a good way and we search for things that entertain the people".



Recently you began to work with Guillermo Pérez Roldán as coach. What expectations do you have for the new phase?

-He was a great player, with a lot of experience, and he can help me a lot in that sense. He knows a lot of tennis, he is a hard worker and I believe that we can be a good team.



When you began your career, your coach was Raúl, Guillermo's father, and the things did not finish well?

-But that has nothing to do with it, it is another relationship. I have always got along excellently with Guillermo.



How did you experience the sanction that received Mariano Puerta?

-I didn't take it well, because I lived all the career with him - they played the Roland Garros final 1995- and I know about the bad and good moments that he passed, about all his sufferings to be on the top again, and that now his career ends this way, makes me very sad. I do not agree with this type of sanctions, in which nobody thinks about the human part of the player.



You are somebody who did not have problems with the controls. Do you think it is a situation which could have been caused by the carelessness of the player?

-And, it could be.. But the theme of the doping is very strict. There are things (medicaments) that give you a positive result which make no sense, because they do not favour you physically and I do not know why they are on the list. Speaking about Mariano, they discovered a substance that has not improved his performance and they gave him a eight years ban. This is something I do not understand.



Don't you feel you worried when you need to take something?

-Thousand times! When I have to take a medicine I am afraid that if I have to do a control something appears that I don't know where it is coming from. It is difficult. It can be a carelessness, an error of the doctor of the tournament, as it happened to Canas. It can be any mistake, not only the player. We are professionals and sadly we cannot take anything.



In the circuit is there some reference about the Argentine cases?

-At times you hear comments of players of other countries and and the truth is that they break the balls (pelotas)



Two years passed since your last match in the Davis Cup (2-3 against Spain, in the semifinal of 2003). How do you see the possibility to play it again?

-There are some incredible players and in order to enter the team I am going to need impressive results, but obviously I would love to play again. It is something that we always speak with Luli (Mancini, the captain) in the meetings, and he always tells us that all have chances. I believe that we are very close. We lack luck, to play in Argentina. The last times that we lost we played away. One year we are going to play the semifinal at home and it will be a different story.
 
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#2 ·
http://www.eleco.com.ar/nuevo/

Zabaleta puso en duda el Abierto de Australia

No hay alarmas, no hay -por suerte- lesiones serias que compliquen, y el trago amargo de la temporada que se cierra -cayó 29 lugares y concluyó 83- ya queda en el recuerdo


No hay alarmas, no hay -por suerte- lesiones serias que compliquen, y el trago amargo de la temporada que se cierra -cayó 29 lugares y concluyó 83- ya queda en el recuerdo.
Mariano Zabaleta no pudo jugar mucho durante 2005, cuando había alcanzado su mejor ritmo físico y tenístico se encontró con el problema en la planta del pie izquierdo. Tardó casi tres meses en volver y obviamente sin la condición anterior y para colmó en pocas semanas se desató otro inconveniente, ahora en la zona de la rodilla. Jugó hasta donde pudo y como pudo hasta que resolvió parar y operarse.
Con la voluntad de siempre, con la ganas intactas y con una predisposición muy especial trabaja duro junto a Guillermo Pérez Roldán -su flamante coach- y el profesor Juan Carlos Menchón. Prevé el debut en el Abierto de Australia, pero... nada es seguro.
Porque el propio Zabaleta se encuentra mentalizado con que 2006 "quiero que sea mi mejor año, por eso me sacrifico y me mato entrenando todos los días. No quiero dar ventajas -monologa- y para eso tengo que estar bien, bien. Re bien", replica con tono firme.
"Hoy me siento bárbaro", sintetiza quien fuera 21 del mundo en abril de 2000, pero añade que para competir y con posibilidades es necesario "estar mejor todavía, al ciento por ciento". Llega para Australia? es la pregunta obligada y Zabaleta no anda con vueltas: "Si estoy bien voy a jugar, sino prefiero arrancar más tarde, en Chile o en Buenos Aires. No quiero irme hasta allá sabiendo que no alcancé un óptimo estado de preparación. Todavía quedan varios días... Veremos".

____________________________________________________________________________________


Translation of Mariano's quotes:

"I want 2006 to be my best year, therefore I make sacrifices and I kill myself practicing every day. I do not want to give advantages and for that I have to be well, very well. Today I feel great, but to compete with possibilities I still need to be better, I need to be healthy 100%. If I feel well I will play in Australia, if not I prefer to start the season later in Chile or in Buenos Aires. I do not want to go knowing that I haven't reached an optimum state of preparation. There are still several days left, we will see."
 
#3 ·
Just hope Mariano can make it to Australia.

Since the tournament thread hasn't been updated yet. Here is something of interest to some people maybe.

ATP Buenos Aires
1. Nalbandian, David ARG 6
2. Coria, Guillermo ARG 8
3. Ferrero, Juan Carlos ESP 17
4. Moya, Carlos ESP 31
5. Volandri, Filippo ITA 38
6. Chela, Juan Ignacio ARG 39
7. Acasuso, Jose ARG 40
8. Serra, Florent FRA 49
9. Martin, Alberto ESP 50
10. Calleri, Agustin ARG 51
11. Massu, Nicolas CHI 65
12. Montanes, Alberto ESP 71
13. Berlocq, Carlos ARG 79
14. Pashanski, Boris SCG 82
15. Zabaleta, Mariano ARG 83
16. Horna, Luis PER 84
17. Monaco, Juan ARG 85
18. Behrend, Tomas GER 89
19. Daniel, Marcos BRA 94
20. Lapentti Nicolas ECU 95
21. Vanek, Jiri CZE 99
22. Kim, Kevin USA 101
23. Starace, Potito ITA 105
24 (SE)
25 (SE)
26 del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG) (WC)
27 Kuerten, Gustavo (BRA) (WC)
28 (WC)
29 (Q)
30 (Q)
31 (Q)
32 (Q)
 
#6 ·
Article from the official Bueons Aires tournament website http://www.copatelmex.com/novedad.php?id=13. Get well soon Mariano!!!!

Uno que se va a extrañar

La Copa Telmex sufrió la baja de Mariano Zabaleta, uno de los principales animadores del ATP de Buenos Aires


[2006-02-11] La noticia se conoció durante el día, luego de que el "*****" anunciara que no jugará la Copa Telmex 2006, por una gastroenteritis que lo afecta.

Seguramente, el público extrañará a uno de los argentinos más carismáticos del circuito, al igual que el torneo, que pierde a un notable jugador.





One who is going to be missed

The Cup Telmex suffered the withdrawal of Mariano Zabaleta, one of the main attractions of the ATP of Buenos Aires


[2006-02-11] The news was known during the day, after el "*****" announced that he will not play the Cup Telmex 2006 due to a "gastroenteritis" that affects him.

Surely, the public will miss one of the most charismatic Argentines of the circuit, and also the tournament that loses a notable player.
 
#14 ·
On Friday I watched tennis pro, his tv programme, and he said he is going to be back on tour when he is totally recovered from the knee surgery and he said also that's going to be on mid april or may.

This has nothing to do with what washingmir asked but mariano has a cute brown labrador called Felipe, he is less than a year old
 
#15 ·
marti_228 said:
On Friday I watched tennis pro, his tv programme, and he said he is going to be back on tour when he is totally recovered from the knee surgery and he said also that's going to be on mid april or may.

This has nothing to do with what washingmir asked but mariano has a cute brown labrador called Felipe, he is less than a year old

Thanks so much for the info, marti_228 :)

I am glad to hear Mariano is waitign to play tournaments again until he is 100% healthy, that's the right thing to do. He shouldn't risk anything.

Can't wait to watch this tenispro video now :)
 
#16 ·
marti_228 said:
On Friday I watched tennis pro, his tv programme, and he said he is going to be back on tour when he is totally recovered from the knee surgery and he said also that's going to be on mid april or may.

This has nothing to do with what washingmir asked but mariano has a cute brown labrador called Felipe, he is less than a year old
Muchos Gracias,marti_228~ :hug:
I was thinking Mariano maybe going to retire since he withdrawed from one tournament after another. :sad: So happy that he's going to be back on tour. :D
 
#17 ·
Ayer vi a Mariano en una entrevista para Tennis 2006 (ESPN), donde decía que ha cambiado un poco su relación con el tenis: está un poco cansado de las lesiones-rehabilitaciones-lesiones , y que todo esto sumado a los viajes le cuesta cada vez más.
Decía que ya no tiene 19/20 años y que todas estas situaciones se le hacen más pesadas, y que está aprendiendo a volver a disfrutar del mundo fuera del tenis (por ejemplo: ir con sus amigos a ver a U2 al campo, y volver en colectivo).
No implica que no disfrute más del tenis, sino que ahora disfruta de otras cosas a la par.

Sorry, but I have no time (and skills) to translate it now
 
#22 ·
For those who don't understand Spanish, here is a summary of that Olé article.



- Mariano will put an end to an inactivity of almost seven months by playing the Challenger in Zagreb next week.

- Asked about his expectations, he says that he wants to play as well as possible. He thinks he is physically and tennis-wise good enough to play two more years on a high level. That's what motivates him to keep on going and practicing.

- The things he didn't miss while being out of the circuit were the travels. He enjoyed spending time in Tandil with family, novia, nieces, nephews and friends.

- Then he tells about the injury in Monte Carlo, his comeback and good results on the clay in summer, his knee surgery and comeback in Australia. His knee kept hurting and he was frustrated and sick of going to the kinesiologist. He forgot about everything, ranking, etc.

- Now he wants to try to play competition again. He does it happily, content. If it works out, then good, if not, bad luck.

- Mariano travels with his friend Ramiro Sixto as coach (for those who don't know him, he is the funny guy who travelled with Mariano and Juan Monaco last year to Bastad, Stuttgart, Kitz, etc)

- Mariano hopes for an exception in the protected ranking rule, since he had to retire in Australia (he hopes this match doesn't count), but he isn't too hopeful.

- His goal is to end the year on the best ranking position as possible in order to be able to start the year 2007 "a full"

- He mentions that he hasn't played so many challengers for 10 years, but that he is motivated to play them. It won't be easy, because these guys play on a very high level and give their lives on the court.

- Mariano's right ellbow still hurts a little bit, but it doesn't worry him too much, he has been through worse.

- Mariano's new coach is Mariano Hood. They worked together the last 5 weeks, twice a day. The most important goal was to motivate Mariano to play tennis again. The target for the next few weeks is to get match practice and to get used to the tournament rhythm. Mariano Hood can't travel with his pupil until October because of his doping ban.

- Mariano's planned tournament schedule for the next weeks is: Zagreb Challenger, Roland Garros qualys, Lugano Challenger, Braunschweig Challenger, Reggio Emilia Challenger, Biella Challenger, Bastad, Stuttgart, Kitzbühel and Sopot.




Good luck to Mariano in Zagreb and hopefully his health will let him play all those planned tournaments this summer :)
 
#26 ·
MARIANO NEWS EXTRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some really good news for all Mariano fans around the world. - the first post on that link contains a message from him...

Mariano was seen back on a Tennis Court.... he is looking GREAT!

http://marianosboard.proboards29.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1147962671&page=1

Please do not post the photographs seen on this link anywhere else on the internet - I am sure when you see the photographs you will understand why..... :) thank you for the 3 special MTF photographers!!!!
 
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