MIAMI – For Marcelo Ríos to be kind to you, you had to appeal to him. There was no other way, says one of his greatest rivals. Yevgeny Kafelnikov belonged to that limited circle: “We joked a lot.”
“If he likes the person, he’s never arrogant and always wants to chat, to talk. That’s how he was with me. Maybe because we played a lot, we joked a lot, we had mutual respect for each other’s game”, said the Russian about the Chilean, who was world No. 1 for six weeks in 1998.
“He was not easy to deal with; many people think that Marcelo acted in a strange way, which he did, but once you found the key to deal with him, he was fine. My relationship with him was fantastic”, added Kafelnikov, who faced him eight times as a professional (leading their head-to-head 6–2) and had known him since their junior days.
Ríos, champion of the 1998 Miami Masters, accumulated controversies with rivals, journalists and spectators throughout his career. He himself acknowledges that controversial profile and made it clear in his most recent television interview.
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“Tennis has always had restrictions. If you swear, you get fined; if you throw your racquet, you get fined. In press conferences you couldn’t speak badly about anyone. Wimbledon, all dressed in white, it looks like whatever (nonsense). Tennis is boring, it’s like going to watch cricket. Then someone like Kyrgios comes along and causes chaos. He fills stadiums, he’s a spectacle. My way of being was also somewhat misguided. I drew a lot of attention by smashing racquets, or with the ‘old fuck’ (during a match he insulted a woman who was heckling him). People found it entertaining,” the Chilean reflected in an interview with ESPN Chile.
Ríos is one of seven male players who have managed to win the Sunshine Double: becoming champion in Indian Wells and Miami in the same season. His title in Key Biscayne, after defeating Andre Agassi in the final, took him to the top of the ATP rankings.
A challenge of extreme difficulty due to the physical demands of winning so many matches in succession without rest and maintaining a high level across two events with such contrasting conditions.
“I don’t even know how I did it. Winning for three weeks, becoming world No. 1, beating Agassi, taking the top spot from Sampras. I have the memories, but I don’t live in the past. It’s not that I’m ungrateful or that I don’t care,” the Chilean recalled.
Jannik Sinner, the recent Indian Wells champion, will have the chance in Miami to join the list that includes Ríos alongside Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Sampras, Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
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