\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Argentine tennis is going through one of its best periods in recent years, with an ever-increasing presence on the men\u2019s circuit. However, Javier Frana is focusing on a new generation coming through without putting too much emphasis on short-term results.<\/p>\n
For the Davis Cup team captain, while the present day is bearing fruit, the challenge is keeping the wheel spinning. With that in mind, Frana followed the South American Under 14 Championship, hosted at the Jockey Club in Rosario, Santa Fe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There, he once again highlighted an idea that runs through much of his perspective on the sport: the importance of the development process.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to see how these players are progressing, how they\u2019re constructing their games,\u201d he said, talking with the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT, for its Spanish initials). \u201cThese are lovely stages of a player\u2019s development, and they\u2019re very important because they relate to what lies at their core.\u201d<\/p>\n
Argentina finished third in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s South American Under-14 tournaments. However, rather than focusing solely on the results, Frana sought to give the kids a different perspective on competition at a young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke with them and told them that right now they aren\u2019t playing for the chance to fulfill their long-term dreams,\u201d he said. \u201cThat will depend on how they absorb the lessons and experiences from these tournaments, on how they learn from everything they\u2019re going through at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having become the Argentine Davis Cup team captain a little over a year ago, Frana admits it was \u201can unexpected situation,\u201d but one in which he slowly became \u201cmore comfortable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something I really enjoy, especially being able to be there for [the players], sometimes from a distance and other times up close, but always connected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Frana, his role extends far beyond the Davis Cup competition weeks. He seeks to build daily connections with players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like being there for them, taking care of them, getting to know them, interacting with them, and letting them know they can count on me,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s a meaningful purpose at this point in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says this closeness allowed him to gain a different perspective on the emotional intensity surrounding high-performance sports, where \u201cwhen you win, it\u2019s heaven, and when you lose, you\u2019re right on the edge of hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frana thinks the drama isn\u2019t born of the sport itself, but of \u201cthe passion for achieving a goal and the frustration when it isn\u2019t achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support and guidance Argentina is awaiting official confirmation of the venue for its September Davis Cup World Group I series against Turkey, but in the meantime, Frana keeps busy by closely following the growth of the country\u2019s tennis scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With nine Argentines ranked in the Association of Tennis Professionals Top 100 and a strong showing at Roland Garros, there is a sense of renewal in Argentine tennis that hasn\u2019t been felt in a long time.<\/p>\n
Argentina became the country with the largest presence at that stage of the men\u2019s draw, with ten, to go along with the tournament\u2019s biggest upset as Juan Manuel Cer\u00fandolo knocked out the world No. 1, Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n
Frana said it\u2019s \u201cundeniable\u201d Argentine tennis is going through a \u201cvery good moment,\u201d but insists they can\u2019t lose focus on the development side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where the future lies,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they\u2019re at the top and doing well, great\u2014let\u2019s take advantage of that. But we also have to give importance to those on the ground, to the kids who need support and guidance. They are the next ones up. What matters most is that the wheel doesn\u2019t stop turning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Argentine tennis is going through one of its best periods in recent years, with an ever-increasing presence on the men\u2019s circuit. However, Javier Frana is focusing on a new generation coming through without putting too much emphasis on short-term results. For the Davis Cup team captain, while the present day is bearing fruit, the challenge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":72001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18638,13209,18639,18640,67],"tags":[18635,13206,18636,18637,1369],"class_list":["post-72000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-argentina-davis-cup-team","category-argentine-tennis","category-davis-cup","category-javier-frana","category-sports","tag-argentina-davis-cup-team","tag-argentine-tennis","tag-davis-cup","tag-javier-frana","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}