The travel diary of an Argentine tennis player ranked 590th: “The keys to staying alone and continuing to play”

The world of tennis is full of stories of players struggling to keep their careers afloat. From “racketeering workers”, who sail in the lowest positions of the ranking – and when we say lower we are not talking about the 150th or 200th rung, but rather lower – and strive to continue to keep alive the dream of earning a living from a sport which means that for some, daily life is very difficult. He’s in that group Juan Pablo PazArgentine, 29 years old and is in 590th place in the singles rankings ATP.

The man from Quilm has been traveling the world for many years, far from the luxuries of the Slams or the tournaments where the big stars rub shoulders. And after a long time, he knows everything perfectly “tricks” that help him continue to compete, as he said in a thread on Twitter with the hope that the information shared may be useful to a colleague in a similar situation to his.

“I’ve been receiving a lot of messages lately asking how I keep up with my tennis rankings. And there’s always the idiot who, every time I lose a game, says I’m ‘fixed’ and this is how I earn the money I need to support myself. But needless to say, they’re stupid.”wrote as an introduction to a list of things “the key to being alone and being able to continue playing”.

The first, the Interclubs, especially the European ones. “It’s no secret that it’s crucial that all players who are outside the 100-150 range of the ATP play these tournaments”Paz assured. “Depending on your ranking, you can earn a lot of money just by playing an interclub match. In my case, being between 400 and 600 in the world, I can earn between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per match. It really depends on what passport you have. “.

Another key secret is, second Juampigetting used to traveling alone, without a coach or technical staff, not to mention family or friends.

“Not even with Interclub money is it possible to support yourself by traveling by bus”, he has declared. And she acknowledged: “It’s not easy at all, especially at the beginning, to get used to doing everything. A lot of times it’s overwhelming, but over time you learn and get used to finding training, hotels, flights, etc.”.

Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of being able to have a place to settle Old Worldwhere most of the competitions are concentrated and where the distances and costs to travel are lower. “In Europe you have every type of tournament you want every week and if they are not exactly in Europe they are very close and internal flights cost much less”He said.

The events taking place in Eastern European countries, even if they are not of the same level as in other places on the continent, “Worth the quality/price ratio”. Why?

“Life there is cheap. The food is very good. Except for a few places, the people are very friendly and have a good atmosphere. Besides that, now that I have been going there for many years, I have friends almost everywhere. And finally: ” It is outside the Schengen territory, which, at least for me as I don’t have an EU passport, is essential.”Paz is listed.

Other tournaments that Quilmeño takes advantage of to increase its income are those known as “Resort Tournaments”ITFs that are played in hotel complexes equipped with sports facilities and which allow playing “many weeks in a row always in the same place, which saves you a lot on the cost of tickets and also allows you to settle in and get used to the conditions since they are the same every week (balls, pitches, etc.)”.

And finally the silver competitions and the UTR, which is a professional circuit independent of the ATP and the ITF, with prizes that exceed those awarded by the World Tour of the International Federation (formerly Futures) and which are played on all continents.

“Countries like Italy, France or Germany are full of silver tournaments every week, which gives you the peace of mind that if you’re short on cash, you can always play a little and catch up. This is also why being in Europe is fundamental.”Paz explained.

And he closed: “Now there are also UTR tournaments, which do not give ATP points, but depending on the places where they take place it is more or less convenient to play them”.

Juampi, who talks about his comings and goings around the world on his YouTube channel (@juanp_paz), began her professional career in 2012. She has won seven ITF circuit titles so far. The last one was obtained in 2021, aboard an M15 from Antalya, for which she pocketed $2,160. On the Challenger Tour, her best results are the semifinals of a competition in Anning, China, in 2017 and another in Blumenau, Brazil, in 2002. He has not yet been able to make his debut in the main draw of an ATP.

In May 2017 he reached his best position in the world ranking, 284th place. This year he played only one official tournament, the Buenos Aires Challenger, in the first week of January. He lost in the first qualifying round and received $130. Throughout his career he won just under 184 thousand, of which about 138 thousand were achieved in doubles. It’s clear why, as he said on his social media, he needs to take advantage of every “trick” he has at hand to continue playing.