After winning the 16 & Under Tennis Europe Junior Masters last October, Jaume Munar Clar of Spain ended the season ranked as the European #1. This year his appearances on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour have been limited to representing his country at team events, and to competing at the European Junior Championships, where he recently won the doubles gold medal alongside Pedro Martinez Portero. We caught up with him to find out how his junior career is progressing…
Congratulations on becoming a European Champion! How would you evaluate your week in Moscow?
It was a good experience for me, both in singles and doubles. Any chance you get to play against the very best players is good. I think that it the whole week was very positive; I learned some things and having won the doubles and done well in singles, I am happy with the results.
Is doubles important to you?
Of course! Some people might think that doubles is not as important as singles, but I don’t look at it that way. Singles is more popular and always has a bigger audience but doubles has its appeal too; if you can achieve notable results in doubles it’s just as impressive to me.
Do you see yourself continuing to play doubles when you become a professional?
Well, it’s difficult to say because as a professional you have to consider your calendar. Sometimes it’s not possible to combine singles and doubles at every event, especially if you go deep into the tournament. But apart from that, if it was just down to my own personal choice, it would be perfect to always play doubles because I love both events.
This year you have played a wide variety of events; 16 & Under, 18 & Under, team events, even your first ITF Pro Circuit tournaments. Have you noticed a big difference in quality when switching between these levels?
Well, the only 16 & Under events that I have played have been the European Championships, both individual and team. Those events already have an incredible standard, with all the best players taking part. Many of them are also already playing Under 18s, so I haven’t really noticed a big difference there. All of the different circuits have different things to teach you, and you have to learn from these experiences and move on to the next challenge. The most important thing is to play high-level events, and I think that that has been the case in all of the tournaments that I have played.
At last year’s Tennis Europe Junior Masters, you were one of three Spaniards to win titles, along with Eduard Güell and Sara Sorribes. Having won a gold medal in Moscow with Pedro Martinez and competing in the Borotra Cup alongside him and Alvaro Lopez, do you feel like you are part of a particularly strong generation of Spanish teenagers?
I think it’s a bit early to talk about generations when we are only 16 years old and we are all still a long way from being successful professional players. But in terms of juniors I do agree that Spain is very strong at the moment, there is a very high level and there are many players that are performing very well. All I can tell you is that it’s an honour to play alongside them, and I hope that we can all continue to progress and end up being professional players together.
How do you explain the fact that there are so many top players from Mallorca? It’s a very small island to have produced champions such as Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya, Nuria Llagostera and yourself…
I’m not sure that it’s anything more than a happy coincidence to be honest. Of course there are several very good tennis schools, but you can find thousands of those all over Spain.
When Nadal was preparing his comeback earlier this year, you were invited to train with him in Mallorca. What was that like?
I was on my way to Barcelona when they told me that I had the opportunity to train for a week with Rafa; it was incredible! It was an unforgettable experience; he’s one of the greatest players in the history of the sport and I felt very, very lucky to have such a chance. The whole time I tried to give 100% and play my very best…it was incredible.
Did he have any advice or words of wisdom for you?
Nothing special really, but of course I paid a lot of attention to everything he said!
Of all your achievements so far in the sport, what has been the most special moment for you?
I think that the win that made me happiest was my first 18 & Under tournament in France [Munar won eight consecutive matches to win the Grade 3 Saint Cyprien event as a qualifier] at the end of last year. It was a great way to end my best season so far, and since then I’ve seen a great change in my tennis.
What are your objectives for the rest of the season?
I don’t have any concrete objectives. The most important thing for me to continue to learn, to give my best efforts on a daily basis and to continue to prepare for the future, because things will only get tougher and I will need to put in even greater efforts to keep progressing.