The champion consul of Godó who grew up under the shelter of Kubala

Among the thousand attendees Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell there is one with gray hair gazing enthusiastically at a young Italian named Jannik Sinner. “How good it is,” he says, marveling. If you rewind in your memory you imagine 43 years back on the track Manolo santana lifting the title of the Godó champion against the Romanian Ilie Nastase, who was the first number one since the rankings were computed and champion of two Grand Slam. It's about the Hungarian Balasz Taroczy, now consul general of his country in Barcelona.

“This Godó is more similar to the one I won 40 years ago. Everything was more familiar, small. We tennis players would change in the same locker room, we would go to the bar after games, we would mingle with people and talk to them. Obviously not now. you can, but there are few people and it is similar. Playing in Barcelona was different with other tournaments because we were in a club. Everyone knows the history of the RCTB, it is the center of Spanish tennis“, he commented to this newspaper.

The history of Taroczy is curious, a pioneer in his country, considered the best Hungarian tennis player, winner of two Grand Slam doubles and 13 individual titles. “I lived in Budapest and near my house there was a tennis club, such as Pedralbes in Barcelona. I started playing there, and grew up with much older people, two or three years older“With those circumstances he came to Barcelona to train.” I remember being with Roberto Vizcaíno, may he rest in peace. “

Barcelona was always present for the tennis player, astonished by some soccer players who left the country and ended up at Barça. “I was a fanatic, I grew up with those players. Kubala came to watch my games, and we became friends. We had dinner many times. I remember that when he stopped at a traffic light, people would greet him. Also with Elemer Berkessy, who was a father to me. He had been a Barcelona player in the 1930s and later became Espanyol's coach. “

Of that Godó, Taroczy remembers his semifinal against a young Ivan Lendl who “already had skills”, while he will never forget his victory after coming back from a 2-1 in sets to Nastase: “He was already 31 years old. Tennis players last longer because they are better prepared. They start training earlier, to take care of themselves, to polish their technique … And they also don't have to worry about what they will do next. Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have fed each other, they have gotten better. And even if they are veterans they can continue, “he reflects from the stands, recalling youthful memories.