T H E F I V E - M I N U T E I N T E R V I E W
Bruno Soares
Interview PAUL NEWMAN
Until you were six you lived in Iraq, where your father was a civil engineer. Was that where you were introduced to tennis? “My father worked in highway construction and formy first five years we lived in a camp. Most people there were Brazilians.Therewas a Brazilian school and a club with a tennis court, whichwas where I first played. Whenwemoved to Baghdad I toldmy dad that I wanted to play tennis. Wewere living in a kind of apart-hotel and they had a tennis court.Therewas a coach there whowas the first person to teachme how to play.” Most young Brazilians want to become footballers rather than tennis players. What about you? “I had a chance to be a footballer, but at the age of 10 I had tomake a choice between football and tennis – and chose tennis. I’ve always loved tennis, though I still like football and play it withmy friends.” When did you decide you wanted to be a professional tennis player? “When I was 16 I started having some good results at
some events in Europe and started thinking about the idea. I had a good year when I was 18 and decided then to go pro, though it wasn’t an easy decision. I thought about going to the States to play college tennis and then turning pro. It was a long process, talking to my parents and to other people, before I finally made the decision to turn pro.” When did you focus only on doubles? “I always had success in doubles, going back tomy junior years, and I’ve always really enjoyed playing doubles. I played singles until July 2005, but then I got injured and was out for two years. At the end of 2007 I decided that for the 2008 season I was going to focus on doubles. I had an amazing year in 2008. I started it at No 192 in the world rankings and finished it at No 23. I never looked back.” Who have been your most difficult opponents? “I thinkmy top four would be the Bryan brothers, Daniel Nestor andMichael Llodra, though of course I playedmany other amazing champions, players like Mahesh [Bhupathi] and Leander [Paes].”
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