Cisco García, the tennis player who never gave up

Cisco García is an example of inspiration on how to overcome the most difficult moments and move forward with the desire to continue fighting for your dreams. At 39 years old, the Cordoba tennis player has just published his second book under the title “Companions of adventures: the family that never surrendered” (Editorial Beascoa) together with his wife, Raquel Rostro, in which he reviews some of his experiences from who plays chair tennis after suffering a serious accident. Cisco García spoke with AS about the new publication and also to review his career and face future goals.

– How did you come up with the idea of ​​writing this book?

– The little seed came when they put my story in a textbook for teenagers and many boys and girls wrote to me on Instagram saying “I was very excited to see myself in the book”, “you are an example” … I was excited that people The young man looked to an athlete in a wheelchair as an example. A few years ago it could be something more marginal and when I saw myself there I thought we could take a little jump and we could read this story to parents and children at home and that children of 4, 5 or 6 years old would know us and be They will become familiar with a person in a chair and the values ​​that I try to convey. We were very excited.

– And the format to relate it in the third person through the eyes of your son Gonzalo?

– I liked it because Raquel (his wife and co-author of the book) and I found it a bit more difficult to tell it for children. It might seem easy but it was a bit complicated for us and we did not know what language to use for four-year-olds. At first it came out a bit serious but over time we realized that what we were saying sounded better in the mouth of a child and that Gonzalo was the narrator. We have put in some fiction because Gonzalo is one year old and in the book he appears with three to make it more real that he tells everything. We think that it can be a book with a long journey, that is read for a long time, and when he is 2-3 years old he will feel very identified there.

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– Of the adventures that are told in the book, which one do you keep in particular?

– My favorite is the one we tell at the end that happens to us in Costa Rica, which I call “the lame turtle that preferred to continue living.” I have also written a book for adults (Unbreakable) and in fact I close with this story, with the story of “the lame turtle that preferred to continue living.” I saw that lame turtle in Costa Rica and it attracted a lot of attention to us and the guides. I was going twice as slow as the others, who would have swum thousands of kilometers and, although it seems silly, I was inspired by that fighting turtle for a long time. When I find it difficult to do more things, like going to the beach, they have to put other wheels on me or push with the whole beach watching, I think of that turtle and that I want to continue living even if it costs me more work. I also like it so that children understand that things don't go the first time, that you have to try again and again and again. Maybe life has given you some cards that may seem worse, but with a good attitude you can continue living and doing other things.

– In the book collects a phrase that invites reflection: “I dream that my story is not one of overcoming, but that it serves as inspiration”. Could you analyze it?

– I have always been told that it was an example of overcoming, but I think that we all overcome each other day by day and we have daily adversities and problems and get our best version to overcome them. Being able to serve as inspiration is what excites me the most. That people who have been opposing for years can be inspired by my story, or people who have to fight against a disease … I like more to talk about inspiration.

– His passion was snowboarding but an accident while practicing it left him in a wheelchair. How was that?

– That was on December 28, 2015 in Austria. I was unbalanced in a jump and, after being 10 meters in the air, I fell on my back. I did not feel bad but it had snowed very little that year and it was like falling on the ground because the snow was very hard. When I fell I bounced up and that's when the vertebra moved an inch and I couldn't move anymore. I tried to get up to sit up and couldn't. It was pretty tough. He touched my legs and I didn't feel them and I already knew what had happened to me. Then they took me by helicopter and I already have very blurry memories until I woke up in ICU. Snowboarding has been my passion for years and, oddly, I have no grudge against it. What's more, it's what I miss the most. In a fictitious scenario where they told me that I could snow but not walk, I will sign it for you right now. I can move with the chair but I miss that passion I had for the mountains. Today I don't want to watch snow videos because I miss the life I led in the mountains. I would put on my helmets and do everything with the board, especially freestyle, which was what I liked the most.

– In 2016 he decided to jump into the chair tennis competition. How were your beginnings?

– I already played tennis at club level and already had the hitting and a base. I started with chair tennis in 2016 at the Toledo National Paraplegic Hospital, where the Emilio Sánchez Vicario Foundation has a court and I liked it. It is true that at first I felt some bitterness because I compared it with how I did before and at first I was very clumsy with the chair. But I kept training little by little and in 2018 I decided to dedicate myself to it. I was a lawyer for 10 or 12 years and I decided to dedicate myself to chair tennis training 4 or 5 hours a day. In 2019 I played 23 tournaments and I was in many places in Europe, in Kenya, in Thailand, in the United States, in Canada … The chair tennis circuit is very beautiful and takes you through many places and tournaments of different levels and people. training in high performance centers. For me it is one of the most professional adapted sports there is “

– How would you describe the chair tennis circuit?

– It is an increasingly professionalized circuit but less competitive than tennis on foot because there are many fewer players. In tennis you have a base and if you put the number 5 in the world and 400 to rally, you don't know who is who until the game comes. In chair tennis there are people who have started later, others who have started earlier but the 40-50 best in the world do train very seriously and take it as a profession. But it is very difficult to make a living from chair tennis. The prize money is very low. As in the ATP and WTA circuits, we also have several categories, but many times the prize money does not help you to cover expenses. In my last tournament in Turkey the flight and hotel were more expensive than the prize money I won. The top 10 live well but it's not crazy either. In a Grand Slam the champion in the chair takes 35,000 euros while in tennis on foot the winner takes one million euros. I am not complaining in the sense of what is being generated. We have little public and we do not have the attention of the TV either. I am not saying this as a complaint, but as a reality. You have to assume it and look for sponsorships and ways to continue doing your passion.

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– In 2019 he won his first ITF title in Uppsala (Sweden). How was that moment?

– It was nice because I won it on clay, which was the surface that I liked the most, although now I like to play on hard court the most. It was quite a responsibility because he knew it was a tournament that he could win by seeing the draw. Maybe I did not play at my best level in the first rounds but I took it forward and then in the semifinals and in the final I played much better and won. It was a great joy, like taking a weight off your shoulders. This triumph is the best thing that has happened to me in chair tennis together with what happened to me in December 2020, when I reached the final of the Spanish Championship. It was unthinkable because of the time I had been playing chair tennis. In the semifinals I beat a boy who was 36th in the world who I had never beaten, I played very well and they are two very nice memories. In 2019 I also played a very tough tournament in Canada but in which I reached the quarterfinals and in the United States I also played a very tough tournament against the current number 13 and I couldn't do anything. I have been playing chair tennis for a very short time, but I hope to be there for at least 10 more years if injuries allow.

– How has the stoppage due to the pandemic affected the chair tennis circuit?

– We live it with a lot of uncertainty because many tournaments were suspended and many of us were trying to qualify for the Tokyo Games. The ranking was frozen then but now we are the same. Many tournaments have been suspended in February and March and I will start competing at the end of that month but you go with the uncertainty of preparing well and having the tournament canceled two weeks before. It can be extrapolated to what the whole society is experiencing but I prefer to focus on what I can control: continue training and with my calendar and if things are suspended, I will hold on and that's it.

– One of his dreams is to be at the Tokyo Games. How is that mission going?

– It's a dream that we got a long time ago. I didn't have it in mind when I started on the saddle tennis circuit, but it became a real possibility when I put on 58th in the world last year, even though I'm now 66th. The cut is in June of this year and I have several tournaments to get into the national Top-4 or the world Top-46. Now I am fifth and 66 in the rankings. I have seven or eight tournaments until June and I hope to get it. The Paralympic Committee has pre-selected me, they have told me that I am in the shortlist and they have sent us all the documentation and protocols and the bubble in the Olympic Village is crazy. You cannot get together with more athletes, you cannot go sightseeing … If they are held, they can be a bit sad Games without an audience and with such large measures. I do not know if they will be held because a tournament with so many people from all over the world, with areas where the vaccine has not arrived or there are strains … I do not know, I see it complicated.

– On Instagram he is one of the most followed tennis players with 286,000 followers. Was this repercussion expected?

– I never expected it. I opened the Instagram account after the accident because I was walking down the street and I saw that society did not know how to treat someone in a chair. They look at you with pity, with condescension … And I said to myself “look, I'm going to show what life is like in a chair, which can be just as happy”. I started putting my life, videos of when I go to train or when I sing with my wife in the car and it started to go up a lot. The maximum madness was when in 2020 a friend called me and said: “Hey, do you know that Forbes has included you in the Top-100 of Spanish influencers?” It seemed crazy to me to be on that list with people who are dedicated to it and various celebrities. But having made the people who see the chair, which in general tends to feel sad, pay more attention to the person, for me it was worth it. It is the greatest achievement in that sense and what makes me the most happy.

– How is the relationship of the tennis players of the chair circuit with the players of the ATP and WTA tournaments?

– We do not usually coincide in many tournaments but they tell me that they admire us a lot and that they know our difficulties and how we do the same strokes but they know the difficulties of moving the chair and hitting the ball with the racket at the same time. We have a good relationship. Roberto Bautista helps me a lot and when I ask him for advice he is always there to help me. Rafa Nadal has been organizing the Spanish Championship at his Academy for three years. Tommy Robredo has always been very dedicated to chair tennis. Feliciano López is always very attentive to what we do … They know the difficulty and we are very united and we are very sorry for their support.

– Besides the Tokyo Games, what other dream do you want to fulfill?

– The closest goal is Tokyo, but if I'm honest I would be very excited to play a Grand Slam. To this day I know that it is impossible (the 7 best in the world play plus an invitation). The good thing about tennis is that, unlike other disciplines, you do not prepare only for the Games, European or World. We usually play two tournaments every month and for me it is very important and winning them makes me very excited. Climbing up the ranking also makes me very excited. It's the beauty of tennis, that we have short-term goals that make you stay alive and want to fight. I go step by step. I don't set long-term goals for myself because it's putting unnecessary pressure on myself. I want to play better and better, because in 2020 I have made an important level rise, reach the highest level I can in the ranking and play and win tournaments, in addition to being able to continue playing for many years. The most important thing is health and I can continue training and playing without pain.