With so many outstanding teams currently competing for the title of champion in Zagreb, the tennis tournament of the European Universities Games gives everyone who stops by the Mladost Sports Park a chance to enjoy numerous singles and doubles matches. If you are a tennis fan, take a stroll along the Sava riverside these days and you are sure to find something to your liking. Among numerous competitors, one name sticks out – the 21-year-old Pablo Vivero Gonzalez, best player from Madrid’s Camilo José Cela University.
This young student from Madrid currently ranks as the world’s 289th top tennis player. This is also the best ranking of his career in a sport where competition can be fierce. Vivero Gonzalez is taking the world by storm, and in addition to other tournaments, he decided to spend a part of his summer competing in the European Universities Games in Croatia, where he feels most welcome.
‘Croatia is amazing. I’m here with the entire team. We’ve already seen the whole Zagreb, and we took a bus to the city centre along with football players. I love staying in Zagreb, it’s a beautiful city,’ said Pablo about when asked about his first impressions of Zagreb and the competition where victory, although important, is not the only thing that counts.
In Zagreb and Rijeka, it is all about meeting new people and hanging out, and that is what makes this tournament so different from the ones that Pablo usually participates in.
‘In Futures and Challenger tournaments, I’m all by myself. This competition, on the other hand, is more like the Davis Cup, because in involves the whole team. To be honest, I feel more comfortable with tournaments where I’m the only person responsible for the outcome. I’m no stranger to teamwork, but I like it better when everything depends on me,’ said Vivero Gonzalez, who is getting better and better with each year as he makes his way into professional sports.
If you want to see results, you need to do your best
“I’m always getting better, but the only recipe for success is constant training. Of course, there are also the tournaments. We’ll see how far I can get,” said Pablo about his own path to success. He also confessed that he, unlike most Spanish players, prefers concrete courts to clay ones.
‘I prefer playing on concrete because I’m used to that type of court. I don’t normally compete in tournaments which would require me to play on a clay court. I think all the tournaments I’ve competed in were very well organized. I prefer playing in countries other than my homeland. When I’m in Spain, I always meet the same players, I can’t experience anything new,’ said Vivero Gonzalez.
Balancing studying and training is not easy, but fortunately, Pablo’s home university is very flexible when it comes to this issue.
‘The professors at Camilo José Cela University are very understanding. They help me balance my academic responsibilities with my athletic career. I can take exams whenever I want, since the professors are aware of my situation. When I was 18, I decided tennis was a priority for me and since then, I dedicated my life to training,’ said the 21-year-old player from Madrid, who wins at least 1 point for his team in his every match.
