Dubai: Spanish tennis player Roberto Bautista Agut, who was beaten in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by defending champion Novak Djokovic, is not your typical talkative youngster.
Instead, the 25-year-old is a born footballer converted to tennis with a passion for horses.
Growing up in Castellon de la Plana in the province of Castellón within the Valencian Community, Bautista Agut thrived.
As a youngster, he was a trainee with his home football side Villarreal.
When he turned 14, Bautista Agut was offered a full-time contract with the junior team of the Spanish La Liga outfit.
But he had other plans and joined the junior International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit.
By 2006, he had made his decision as an 18-year-old to become a tennis professional.
During these years, his parents introduced him to horse riding and, when he was seven, bought him a horse which he went on to name ‘Bagheera’ from Rudyard Kipling’s children’s classic ‘Jungle Book’. Seven years back, as Bautista Agut was embarking on a career as a tennis professional, Janto was born.
And since then life has not been the same for one of Spain’s rising tennis stars.
“Bagheera and Janto are so much part of my life. We’ve all grown up together. And over the years there has been this connection between us. At times it is sort of difficult to explain, but there is something special that binds us. For me the horses are an extension of what I am, and all of us understand each other so perfectly,” Bautista Agut told Gulf News in a chat during the course of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open.
Week in and week out on the gruelling ATP World Tour has its drawbacks for players such as Bautista Agut, who knocked 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro out of this year’s Australian Open in January.
There’s fatigue, lack of sleep, travelling out of a suitcase practically every week and injuries to carry back home.
“But as soon as I reach home, the horses immediately know I have come. They start making such a noise that I need to leave everything and first go see them. Only then are they at peace,” the Spaniard said.
His free days and weekends at home are spent with the horses.
“I like to do everything for the horses, feed them, clean them and go out in the mountains with them. Just being with them makes me relax and forget about everything. Tennis becomes secondary,” he added.
Not many sports fans may have heard about Bautista Agut; he is the silent type anyway.
However, the Spaniard has been around for a few years on the ATP World Tour, quietly reaching his highest world ranking to date of 51.
His biggest moment definitely came at the start of this year when he struck a high note with the stunning win over Del Potro at the first Grand Slam of the season.
That one win not only gave him some extra exposure, but suddenly he became one of the players to watch out for.
Previously unheralded, now many tennis observers sat up and took notice of Bautista Agut, who reached his career-best ranking of 48 in July last year.
The Spaniard can see his stock rising, provided he is willing to continue putting in the hard work and discipline.
“I’m happy with the way I’ve been playing for the last two years, and this year has been especially good for me as I’ve won a lot of matches. I think that if I keep on doing the same work with the same dedication, then I will climb even further in the rankings,” he said.
“I really don’t think about the rankings. If I do the things that I am currently, doing the rankings will take care of itself.”