Nick Bollettieri Discusses Marcelo Rios

[Gonzalito17]

Nice read of Nick Bollettieri talking about Marcelo Rios. Remember in the book "Tough Draw" By Eliot Berry, Bollettieri was quoted as calling Agassi a "one in 50,000" player. And in this book Bollettieri called Rios a "one out of a million"

Speaks volumes about the natural talent of Rios. Some interesting insights made here by Nick...


http://tennisconnected.com/home/2012...op-malinowski/


Nick Bollettieri: "My first memory of Rios is, Who is this guy? He came here with a Chilean group when he was about 14. He wasn't big in stature. But he had an air on the tennis court - that he could do anything with the ball. And that air is difficult to teach. And the ironic thing is, he could do anything with it. Even at that age he just had the ability to do those things. And then being a lefty - it was much more interesting to me because lefties are peculiar in ways. They do things you don't think anybody can do and sometimes they do things off the chart. They think different, they react differently. And they really cannot be stymied early in their career. Because if you stymie them, you never know what that boy and girl can do. And lefties are far different than righties. He wasn't too jovial on the tennis court, he didn't mess around. He wasn't joking. That's my first memory of Marcelo."

Question: Who did he like to practice with here?

Nick Bollettieri: "Marcelo would actually practice with anyone. He never thought anyone was too young or too poor. If you say to hit, he'd go out and hit. That was very good. I think Jimmy Arias said it better than anybody. Because he'd play with ding dongs, ping pongs, choppers, chippers. Because you never know when you might run into somebody that way. He would never say, Oh they're not good enough, or something like that. But he was very serious when he practiced. He was serious. And he worked like hell on the court. He would never say, I'm tired, I had enough. He would run for every ball. And he was the same way in the gym. He worked his *** off. He never complained."

Question: He loved the sport?

Nick Bollettieri: "He seemed to love it. However, he didn't show too many signs of satisfaction. So you never knew what was going through his mind. You didn't know whether he was self-conscious, over-conscious, stuck up. You didn't know. He trained with the very best - can't get any better than Larry Stefanki did a helluva job with him. And then I had him. I was a little taken aback because I began to see a little bit of a different trait of Marcelo. I don't know if he really appreciated the sport or what he could get out of the sport - it was very difficult for him to say thank you to all the people that helped him. It was very difficult for him to talk to young children, when they waited for autographs and things like that. And I was a little surprised. And he wasn't overly generous. And he was very tight with his money. I remember he'd come down from the eighth floor down to the third floor at two o'clock in the morning when the water was free. He'd go all the way down there. That was in Germany, we were playing the Grand Slam Cup in Munich and he won (d. Agassi in five sets). In fact, I had Williams then and we won the doubleheader. And so when we won, I tipped the stringer and I tipped the ballboys. And then when I presented them, he said, 'What did you do that for?' And then he even questioned whether or not I should get paid because that wasn't on the regular Tour [smiles]."

"I believe that Marcelo had as much talent - feet, movement, anticipation, hands, his eyes - of any player that's played the game. He wasn't afraid to work. But tough for him to communicate. And perhaps, to understand how devastating it was to a youngster that would wait two or three hours for autographs and then not do that. And of all the students I've had, I believe that he didn't get to a point where he was capable of doing. I think he could have been top dog, man, top dog."

Question: How has Marcelo changed and matured?

Nick Bollettieri: "He was divorced and he's married now - he's very, very, very polite. Extremely, extremely polite. He came here to watch his daughter (in 2009) - by the way, his daughter (Constanza) is excellent, excellent. No, she's better than excellent. She moves well. Good groundstrokes. Great foundation. She can volley. She can do a lot of things. She could be a very good player. And Marcelo is very happy to see that. And he was very appreciative, (saying) Thank you, he was very warm. And I said to myself, I think having the children that he has now, helped him change. But did he fulfill his career? No. No sir. He was one out of a million. What he had, you can't teach."

Question: He was the only guy I ever saw who could toy with Agassi on the court. Your comment?

Nick Bollettieri: "He could toy with anybody. Fast as anything. He created shots that most people don't even think they could do. But he was #1 for a week or so. Never won a Grand Slam. He probably fell short of the mark he could have made on tennis."

Question: What was missing in his makeup?

Nick Bollettieri: "Himself. You have to understand that life is a multitude of things. It's being humble. It's sharing. It's knowing that when a little kid waits hours - so excited - that it's your obligation - this is your profession - to give that child time. I think now he seems to be much more subdued. But he was never lazy. Never lazy. Never. He worked like an animal."

[Rozroz]

thanks! great stuff.

[Mustard]

Nice interview.

I knew his daughter played in the under 12s, as I remember reading results on a website somewhere. Looks like we could possibly be seeing Constanza Rios on the WTA Tour by around 2018-2020, if her progress as a player continues to go well.

[slowfox]

If his daughter has what he has, O..M..G..!

[Anyone4tennis?]

Rios has always been one of my favorite players to watch, but I wonder why Rios isn't coaching his daughter himself. What is it that Bollettieri (or anyone else for that matter) brings to the table that Rios can't? Rios was a former World No. 1 player who apparently understands the game very well, and I am sure he can serve as a great hitting partner for his daughter at the same time. I just don't get it. Anyone have any insights or knows why?

[Rozroz]

Originally Posted by Anyone4tennis?

Rios has always been one of my favorite players to watch, but I wonder why Rios isn't coaching his daughter himself. What is it that Bollettieri (or anyone else for that matter) brings to the table that Rios can't? Rios was a former World No. 1 player who apparently understands the game very well, and I am sure he can serve as a great hitting partner for his daughter at the same time. I just don't get it. Anyone have any insights or knows why?

c'mon, not all pro players can coach, let alone their children.
it's not that simple.. and Rios might be a complicated man..

[Anyone4tennis?]

Originally Posted by Rozroz

c'mon, not all pro players can coach, let alone their children.
it's not that simple.. and Rios might be a complicated man..

I am under the impression that more pro players can coach than not, but, if it is true that Rios doesn't know how to coach and is a "complicated" man even with his own daughter, then what you said makes a lot of sense.

[Gonzalito17]

Rios daughter played the Orange Bowl 12s this year in Coral Gables/Miami, she is 10 but she played 12s. According to the Chilean media she had a knee wrap but played anyway and lost first round like 3 and 4. She apparently lives in FL with the first wife of RIos who went to NBTA and was, according the this Marcelo Rios book, good friends with Maria Sharapova. Also according to the Chilean media, MArcelo is not too keen on Costanza playing so many tour tournaments at such a young age - she also plays some USTA junior events in FL - but - but the mom presumably is the one calling the shots.

[Gonzalito17]

Originally Posted by Anyone4tennis?

Rios has always been one of my favorite players to watch, but I wonder why Rios isn't coaching his daughter himself. What is it that Bollettieri (or anyone else for that matter) brings to the table that Rios can't? Rios was a former World No. 1 player who apparently understands the game very well, and I am sure he can serve as a great hitting partner for his daughter at the same time. I just don't get it. Anyone have any insights or knows why?

The Rios daughter is no longer full time at Nicks. She went back to Costa Rica with the mom and was getting expensive full time coaching there, read this somewhere last year, then earlier this year she was in Miami area getting coaching there. Not sure if she moved or is still in Miami part time or full time, or back in Costa Rica.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by Anyone4tennis?

I am under the impression that more pro players can coach than not, but, if it is true that Rios doesn't know how to coach and is a "complicated" man even with his own daughter, then what you said makes a lot of sense.

Constanza is Marcelo Rios' daughter with his first wife. Rios also has 5 kids with his current (third) wife, including triplets who are less than a year old. I'd say he's a busy man.

[vive le beau jeu !]

Originally Posted by Gonzalito17

Nice read of Nick Bollettieri talking about Marcelo Rios. Remember in the book "Tough Draw" By Eliot Berry, Bollettieri was quoted as calling Agassi a "one in 50,000" player. And in this book Bollettieri called Rios a "one out of a million"

Speaks volumes about the natural talent of Rios. Some interesting insights made here by Nick...

very interesting, thx for sharing.
a peculiar and interesting player for sure...

[Gonzalito17]

You're welcome, yes I agree Rios was a very eccentric enigmatic player to watch and read about too. The book about him is pretty darn good reading, Rios was so farly different than any other player, in so many ways.

[hoodjem]

Was Rios the biggest underachiever OAT?

The BUOAT?

[Gonzalito17]

Well Hoodjem Rios did get to #1 in the world and won five Masters Series. He just couldn't win a major, had trouble with the physicality of having to play seven 3 out of 5. I don't think he was physically and hence mentally strong enough to do it. One week tourneys were more comfortable for him to excel in.

In the book many players and tennis people call him a big underachiever, but then I read Vince Spadea say that he felt Rios was actually an overachiever. So, everyone has their opinions. Bottom line is Rios was a great player to watch.

[Gonzalito17]

The facebook page of the Rios book (Marcelo Riosbook) posted this letter from a Rios fan...it shows the powers of Rios to captivate.

Marcelo Rios was one of the reasons why I started watching tennis back in the 90's. My father and I enjoyed watching his matches on TV and I still remember how amused
my parents were of me then when I would cut out newspaper clippings of Marcelo Rios and made a scrapbook out of the clippings. I loved how he was so emotional on the court and how he does not care what others think of him. He kept it real.
Thank you for this article and I sure am buying your book, Scoop!

[Mustard]

Rios was the clear favourite to win the 1998 French Open, but lost to Moya in the quarter finals. After Sampras pulled out of the 1999 Australian Open through fatigue, Rios became the favourite, but then Rios had to pull out of tournament through injury. Rios was second favourite for the 1999 French Open, behind Kuerten, but both Rios and Kuerten lost in the quarter finals, to Hrbaty and Medvedev respectively.

[urban]

I have seen some clay performances by Rios especially at Rome, which rank with the best i have seen alltogether. As it is said, his problem at RG was the physicality, to overcome a string of tough clay courters in a best of five format. He was beaten not so much by a single player, but by the cumulative efforts. In 1998 he had to tough out a five setter agaiinst Costa, before losing to Moya. It seems that the Spaniards were out to hold him on court as long as possible, to tire him out for the next in line. In 1997, he lost a quarter to an inspired Arazi in a wonderful match. Maybe this was his best chance to win RG.

[hoodjem]

Rios reminds me of Nastase.

Not in personality, but in terms of talent and hot-making ability.

[Gonzalito17]

A lot of players called Rios things like a wizard (Enqvist), magician (Jensen), artist. Nastase didn't like Rios though, because he wouldn't sign something for his neice. Nasty called Rios "the worst ***** I ever met" in the book.

[Rozroz]

yea i also heard he was actually pretty hated guy.
but i can relate to his inability to deal with crowd and public demand.