Granollers looking to bounce back

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This article was published 09/07/2018 (2861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Marcel Granollers went from Wimbledon to Winnipeg over the course of a weekend.

When pushing to catapult yourself back into the ranks of the top-100 men’s tennis pros on the planet, you play where you need to play.

And that includes competing in pressure-packed matches at the All England Club just to qualify for the grandest of the Grand Slams, or rushing to get to a central Canadian city — the name of which is vaguely familiar — to smash shots in the sweltering summer heat of a second-tier tour event.

The location doesn’t really matter much, maintains Granollers, once ranked 19th on the ATP World Tour (July 2012), but now with a precarious hold on the 116th spot.

Business is business, the 32-year-old Spaniard said Monday.

“When I was deciding my calendar I’d never been here before, so that part is nice,” said Granollers, in town this week for the National Bank Challenger tournament, staged at the Winnipeg Lawn and Tennis Club. “But this is work. For me, I’m trying to do my best everywhere I go.

“For me, I go onto the court, even if it’s here or Wimbledon or U.S. Open centre court, and try to do my job. This is an important tournament for me. I will be very motivated to do well.”

Granollers was ousted from Wimbledon in men’s doubles play Friday, as he and partner Pablo Cuevas fell in the Round of 32. Ten days earlier, he lost a qualifying match in singles play. That stung because he, too, is captured by the mystique of the prestigious event played on grass.

“Luckily, I’ve played many years there. It’s a different atmosphere, it’s very historic and it’s one of the tournaments I like most to play,” he said.

On Sunday, he adjusted his travel plans and jumped on a direct flight from London’s Gatwick Airport to Winnipeg. Here, he’s ranked No. 2 in the Challenger, behind only Peter Polansky of Toronto, currently the 110th-ranked player in the world.

Since turning pro in 2013, Granollers has won four singles titles and 13 doubles titles and is currently ranked 22nd in the world in men’s doubles. He has staggering career-earnings of nearly US$10 million. In Grand Slams, he’s made the fourth round three times in Paris, a fourth-round finish once at the U.S. Open and made the second round once at Wimbledon.

He’s struggled with inconsistent play the last four seasons and his stock on tour has plummeted, yet he’s committed to honing his game on smaller stages offered by the Challenger series on hard-court surfaces in North America. This week, there’s 32 players in the men’s field, including four Canadians, and a $10,000 cheque awaits the tournament winner. However, Granollers’ sole focus is climbing the ATP ladder.

“My motivation is to go for it every match and to try to move up into the top 100,” he said. “(Winning) would give me points, for sure, but I’m not thinking about that. I’m only thinking about playing good tennis.”

Granollers first picked up a racquet when he was five years old, at a club just outside Barcelona. By the time he was 12 he was playing in junior tournaments across Europe, battling the likes of Britain’s Andy Murray, Gaël Monfils of France and one of his best buddies, Rafael Nadal, also of Spain.

He and Nadal, who is just two months younger, helped lead their national teams to under-14 and under-16 world tennis championships. The two remain close friends off the court, Granollers said.

“It’s nice when you see a guy who you shared many moments with and he is like a big, big star,” he said.

In their pro careers, they’ve faced each other five times, and the world’s No.1 player and winner of 17 career Grand Slams is, rather expectedly, a perfect 5-for-5.

In fact, Granollers has been on opposite sides of the net with each of tennis’ Big Four — Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Murray — and is winless.

That makes him part of a really large fraternity, he said, smiling.

“It’s not easy to play against those guys. There are guys who are better than you, but these guys are some of the best of all time. Normally, if you play 10 times you will lose 10 times, so it’s not a disgrace to lose four or five times against these guys,” said Granollers, who last faced one of the four giants in the first round of the 2017 French Open, losing in straight sets to Djokovic on centre court at Roland Garros.

“I think we are lucky to be in the same period with them. In 10 or 15 years when all of us are retired, people will talk about Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and I can say that I shared 10 years on tour with them, so I think it’s good.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell