The 15-year-old Argentine tennis player who was mentored by Del Potro, trains with men and will play at Roland Garros

the dream of playing Roland Garros It’s the one shared by all, or at least by the vast majority, of Argentine players, who train and take their first steps in professionalism on brick dust. In a few weeks, Sol Larraya Guidi it will make it happen. Why she will play the junior women’s team in Paris, after winning a wild card in a tournament in which she had her idol Juan Martin del Potro as an adviser.

The 15-year-old from Tandil prevailed in March in Roland Garros serieswhich was played in São Paulo, with the best 32 under 16s from South America (16 girls and 16 boys and the former number three in the world as Ambassador, and which gave the winners a special invitation to the French Grand Slam. And among On June 4th and 11th he will have the pleasure of trampling the fields of Bois de Boulogne for the first time.

“Roland Garros has always been the Grand Slam I dreamed of playing,” said Larraya Guidi clarion. “I think it will be one of the best experiences I will have in my life, especially at this age. It will be something that will contribute a lot to my game. I will try to make the most of it.”

Sol has a clear goal for his first participation in the second “big” of the season. “Obviously I want to go and win every match. But I know it’s difficult, because I’m going to play with the best players in the world. That’s why I think I don’t have to put so much pressure on the results to go and have fun,” he commented.

This was precisely the advice that Del Potro gave her during the San Pablo tournament, in which the Tandilian had the opportunity to share a face-to-face moment with the champion of the US Open 2009.

“After the talk he gave with all the kids, I was able to go to my parents and talk to him. From everything he told us, what stuck with me the most is that this is a long process, a long way, and that we have to take advantage of the opportunities we have, like that tournament, but without putting pressure on ourselves, that above all we try to enjoy them a lot, because it’s not something that happens every day,” he recalled.

That Delpo Being a part of that special moment in Sol’s career feels like destiny. After all, Tandil’s woman might never have picked up a racket were it not for her compatriot’s triumph against Roger Federer at the end of Flowing Meadowsalmost 14 years ago.

“I started doing other sports, dance and artistic gymnastics. But my brother started playing tennis in Uncas after Del Potro won the US Open in 2009. We always went to see how he trained and I loved it. One day “They gave me two little plastic rackets and a ball for Reyes. So every time we went to see my brother, I would play with my father on the sideline with those rackets,” he recalled.

At the age of five, Sol joined the small school of that same club. And when he moved into the pre-competition category, he started training with Well done Mario AND Marcello Gomez“The black”, for those who know him, the coach of Del Potro.

“I was very young when I started, I don’t remember exactly what I liked about tennis. I was quite competitive and I also liked doing things on my own and this is a solitary sport, maybe that was the case. Today it’s what I think like most. Being on the court alone, that everything happens for me ”, reflected those who continue to build on Uncas and train with Gómez, Girolamo Bevanda AND Lautaro Hardoy.

At first tennis was a hobby for Sol. But at the age of eight she started competing, though not with other girls.

“The few women that were there to play were older than me, so they sent me to sub 10 or sub 12 guys and I remember a lot of them didn’t like playing with a girl,” she recalled with a laugh. “She helped me a lot, because when you play with the boys, you play at a different pace, at a different speed, even when they are so small. Today I still train with the boys.”

a quick climb

Tandil’s woman immediately took a liking to the competition and understood that she wanted to devote herself completely to tennis. Little by little she started to grow, she ended 2021 as the best under 14 in Argentina and last year she made a big leap.

He got his first two titles on the junior circuit, a J4 in Córdoba, in August, ea J5 in Buenos Aires, in September. She also reached the quarterfinals of two tournaments on the ITF Professional Tour W15 from Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires. And at the age of 14, he first appeared in the world rankings in December WTAof which today it occupies the 1,043rd step.

In addition, he was part of the Argentine team that won the South American from Colombia in the sub 14 category and who finished 11th in the Prostekhov’s World Cup and established himself as one of the best juniors in Argentina. Also, as he did for Roland Garros this year, he won a wild card to play in the under 14 competition in Wimbledonwhich was his first experience in a “big”.

These good performances have allowed him to access this year to the Concession of the Grand Slama scholarship for young players who excel in their regions and age groups, which has enabled them to travel more and compete in Europe in recent weeks, in preparation for Paris.

Aggressive player, with a good forehand and with the grit typical of Argentines, Sol admits that her biggest flaw is being too emotional in matches. “I have to get angry enough and show it. And I think it’s not good for the rival to see him. I have to learn to manage emotions better,” she analyzed.

With references such as Del Potro and Spanish Rafael Nadal AND Carlos Alcaraz, the Tandilian dreams big, thinking of a still distant future: she wants to win a Grand Slam – “If it’s Roland Garros, better”, she said – and reach the elite of the best in the world. Though, leaving the competitive tennis player aside, she added: “I want to be a good person off the court as well. I would love it if one day I turn pro and I’m someone’s idol or role model and someone wants to chat with me, take a picture or ask me for an autograph, be able to and get it out of me. I think that’s important too.”

Three young Argentines in Paris

The youth teams of Roland Garros 2023 will be held from 4 to 10 June at the complex of Bois de Boulogne and have already confirmed the presence of three Argentines.

In addition to Larraya, Guidi will play for women Luciana Moiano, 20th in the world ranking of that category. The Cordovan is 17 years old and has won three golds in the Junior Pan American Games in Cali 2021 (singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles). The singles victory qualified her for the Pan American event of Santiago de Chile 2023. It will be his fifth participation in a “big”. Last year you reached the second round in Paris.

Fernando Cavallo, 26th in the ITF ranking, will compete in the men’s category. The 17-year-old from Mar del Plata won his first three titles last year, three J2 in Santiago de Chile, Cochabamba and La Paz, and will make its absolute debut in a Grand Slam. While, According to Goity Zapico (70th) will play the qualy.