The track was his home. In his 87 years and until a few days after his death Saturday in Barcelona, William ‘Duck’ Alvarez (Medellín, 1935), never missed a training session and could still be seen at the Emilio Sánchez Academy in Gavà.
generation tennis player Manolo Santana and Andreu Gimeno, ‘the panther’, as his players called him, boasted that he was “the best coach in the world”.
He should have been right if tennis players liked it Emilio Sánchez Vicario, Sergio Casal, Pato Clavet, Tomás Carbonell, Javier Sanchez Vicario, Jordi Burillo, Joan Balcells, Julián Alonso, Carlos Cuadrado or Joan Albert Viloca, among others.
“I made all of them professional tennis players,” he said proudly, the same one who showed up for “discovery.” Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov who worked with him at a junior age and suffered the demands of his hard training.
Of all, Emilio Sánchez was his best work. He discovered this when he was young, barely 12 years old, when his father took him to practice with him at CT Pedralbes. Since then, he has led his career and protected himself like a second father. Emilio Sánchez won with him 15 ATP singles titles and 50 in doubles, most with Sergio Casal, with whom he was number 1 in the world and won silver at the 1988 Seoul Games.
The “bad side”
“Today I will remember all the good things, the bad things we will discuss in heaven, pantera & mldr; & rdquor ;, Tomás Carbonell wrote in a tweet after learning of his death.
That “bad side” It was also a controversial career that in its day caused the rift of Spanish tennis. Whether you were with him or against him. There was no middle ground in his relationship with the players to whom he gave himself and defended with hand and tooth, capable of anything.
Goodbye William Pato Alvarez
The most important coach in the history of Spanish tennis
3 years at your command marked my fate
Today I will remember all the good, the bad that we will discuss in heaven, panther … pic.twitter.com/vEYbGMwnvY– Tomàs Carbonell (@tc_carbonell) 22 January 2022
His group was called ‘the little ducklings’ on the track and for years they competed the group of Lluis Bruguera, who then trained Joan Aguilera, Fernando Luna, jordi arrese and to the young promise, Sergi Bruguera. He who would later become a double champion at Roland Garros suffered the boycott of ‘Pato’ Álvarez’s players when Manuel Orantes selected him to debut in the Davis Cup squad.
“Sergi had a bad time. It made his life impossible, but also, thanks to it, it made him stronger & rdquor ;, Lluis Bruguera recalled yesterday that, outside the special personal life of the Colombian coach, he appreciates his contribution to the transformation of Spanish tennis. “We are opening the door for the recognition of the coaches & rdquor ;.
Bad companies
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With his players, he also had inconsistencies. His style and manner of being led to several of his disciples leaving his group. He never liked “the girls” approaching their players. He said that “they are not a good company for tennis players and rdquor; the worst confrontation was with Javier Sánchez who left the group to defend his girlfriend who would later become his wife. ‘Pato’ Álvarez has his brother Emilio for let him talk to him for a long time.
“Goodbye WP, you marked my life from a young age, you helped me find my best self, you taught me to have a passion to compete, to give my best without looking around. You leave a very important legacy in the world of tennis, I will make sure it continues and is remembered over time, DEP & rdquor ;, he said goodbye to his mentor, Emilio Sánchez Vicario, in a tweet from Florida.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com