Javier Frana and his precise gaze return to Clarín to tell the secrets of Roland Garros from Paris

Javier Franaone of the most prestigious tennis analysts in Latin America, returns this weekend to the pages of clarion to provide its precise look at everything that happens on the brick dust of Roland Garrossecond Grand Slam of the year, to be held from this Sunday in Paris without the participation of the legendary Rafael Nadal.

“Going back to Roland Garros is always special and this time I will be able to do two activities that I really like. Is that I will be as a coach, I will work together with Sebastián Báez’s team and I will also analyze the matches for Clarín. The circuit is renewed, the styles are having their trends and the parties acquire very dizzying dynamics. Understanding the game is a challenge for players, but also for tennis fans.”, Warns Frana from the French capital a few hours before the start of the competition.

The career of Javier Frana

Born 56 years ago in Rafaela, Santa Fe, Frana was a very prominent tennis player before starting her career in the media. A professional since 1986, his greatest successes have been achieved in the doubles mode, in which – among other achievements – he has come to occupy the 14th place in the world rankings and won the bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Christian Miniussi.

In doubles he won seven ATP titles, Florence 1988, with Miniussi; Guarujá 1990, with Gustavo Luza; Los Angeles 1991, together with the American Jim Pugh; Newport 1993, together with the South African Christo Van Rensburg, and Bordeaux, that same year, in duo with Pablo Albano; and two more in 1995, Mexico, with the Mexican Leonardo Lavalle, and Ostrava, together with the Swede Jonas Bjorkman. He also played nine other finals.

Together with Lavalle, he reached the Wimbledon final in 1991, in which they lost to Sweden’s Anders Järryd and Australia’s John Fitzgerald in four sets. Five years later, he had the pleasure of lifting the trophy at Roland Garros, where he became mixed doubles champion alongside Patricia Tarabini.

The Santa Fe southpaw could also shout champion in singles. He won three titles, Guarujá 1991, Santiago 1993 and Nottingham 1995; and reached six other finals. And she reached the 30th step of the ATP individual rankings.

He was a three-time Olympian. In Seoul 1988 he lost in the second round of the singles with Martín Jaite, his partner in the doubles (they lost in his debut). In Barcelona 1992 he reached the third step of the podium together with Miniussi after losing in the semifinals against the Germans Boris Becker and Michael Stich, then champions. And he reached the second round of the individual draw. And at Atlanta 1996, he couldn’t get past his singles or doubles debut, where he played with Luis Lobo.

He was a member of the Argentina Davis Cup team during the eleven years of his professional career and was standard-bearer for the Argentine delegation at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, where he won gold in doubles, alongside Lobo, and silver in singles.

Goodbye to tennis and media landing

In mid-1997, when he returned to play at high levels after a very tough season personally, a strange ear problem forced him to end his career. On June 23, he beat Czech Martin Damm in the first round of Wimbledon. After the win, he said that after the first set he started feeling sick an annoying noise in the left ear. Gradually, he started losing his hearing and after consulting a doctor, he didn’t show up to his next engagement.

Even if he tried to keep playingon August 1, 1997, he finally announced his retirement. In 1998, he accepted the challenge to start reporting and commenting on games in the signals of ESPN -where he worked until 2019- and became one of the best tennis analysts in Latin America. In 2020, coupled with his decision to work as a coach and contribute all his experience, he joined the ranks of Clarín. This weekend he will once again contribute his gaze to be very close to everything that happens at Roland Garros.