‘Have respect for people.’ Jordi Arrese – Olympic athletes interviewed Episode 36

No one expected Jordi Arrese to make it to the Olympic final in 1992. No one except Jordi himself, who doubled down on his preparation for the Olympic Games and made a lot of sacrifices in his season to prioritize the Olympic Games.

After his career as an athlete, Jordi took up the position as Spanish Davis Cup Captain and reached the final of the Davis Cup in 2003, and ultimately won the Davis Cup in 2004. In order to win the final, Jordi and the coaching staff decided to nominate a young, fairly unknown 17-year old player, with the name Rafael Nadal, to play the final against the number 2 in the world.

Furthermore, we discuss

Christian: Today it’s my very pleasure to introduce Jordi Arrese. Jordi has been my boss from 2006 – 2008 when I was working for the Catalan Tennis Federation and has become a friend and mentor ever since.

Jordi Arrese is silver medalist at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, later took up the position as a Davis Cup Captain for Spain, reaching the Davis Cup final in 2003, and ultimately winning the Davis Cup in 2004.

Jordi was technical director of the Spanish Tennis Federation and is a commentator for Eurosport.

Welcome, Jordi.

[The original interview was in Spanish, the text below is the translation of the original interview.]

Jordi: Thank you for the invitation.

His darkest moment

Christian: Jordi, in your career as an athlete or coach. What was the darkest moment?

Jordi: For most of the athletes the most difficult moments are when you have problems to meet your goals. Most often this is due to injuries, that don’t allow you to train, as you would like to train.

For most of the athletes, the most difficult moments are when you have problems to meet your goals.

I think the darkest moment in my career was actually at the beginning of my career when I had a problem a testicle, that was swollen, just at the moment, when I started to improve my world ranking. I didn’t feel well for several months.

Also as an athlete, when you enter into the tennis elite and you are ambitious, the losses are always hard, but when you see the losses in combination with the work you put in, and the goals you have set out for yourself, you can somehow live with it. Because you know, what you need to improve and you go back to training and work harder than before.

However, when you have injuries, you feel much worse, because you cannot train when you cannot train and improve and above all.

Another dark moment was at the end of my career, just a few months before I turned 32 years, I had some severe problems in my shoulder. I had arthritis, and that held me back from training. To give you an example, normally I used to train 5 hours, and then I could only train for an hour or an hour and a half. I just could not train well, I could never train, as I would like to train.

And the same is true for the end of my career when I ended up retiring because of back problems. My lower back felt very bad, and I did not know how to prevent it.

Until I retired, I used to play even though I had a lot of troubles, I wasn’t able to train at ease and I always trained with a lot of pain. And the result was, that I could never play my best tennis. These are basically the hardest moments for an athlete.

Until I retired, I used to play with pain, and I always trained with a lot of pain. And the result was, that I could never play my best tennis. These are basically the hardest moments for an athlete.

Christian: How did you overcome these problems, mentally? How did you keep the confidence?

Jordi: The truth is, when I finished with tennis I got surgery on this, although I’m pretty against surgeries. When I was 24 years old, I had two herniated cervical discs, which I managed to overcome and they’ve never had to operate me.

But then at the end of my career, I decided to get surgery, and in fact, it was a very simple surgery, but since I had a bad year, without training, and every time I hit a forehand it hurt a lot. At that time, everything fell apart a little bit and I said to myself “Until I get over it, I do not want to keep training.” And then I saw the time passing, the years passed away, and I decided to retire when I was 32 years old. I felt it was a good age to retire, other people retire earlier, I was still in the top 100 of the world, so everything was good.

I saw the time passing, the years passed away, and I decided to retire, I was still in the top 100 of the world.

The truth is, I was actually in a good condition mentally, technically and tactically, and I had much more experience, but the problem was purely physical.

His best moment as an athlete

Christian: What was your best moment?

Jordi: If you mean a single moment, the best moment, in the career of a tennis player is when you have your best result. In my case, it was the Olympic Games in 1992.

The best moment, in the career of a tennis player, is when you have your best result. In my case, it was the Olympic Games in 1992.

But I think I’ve had more than one good moment, that I can remember, for example, the first ATP tournament that I won, I won two weeks in a row, it was really amazing.

But for example before the Olympics, we played in Spain, there were several of us who wanted to compete in the Olympic Games, like Javier Sánchez, Pato Clavet, Carlos Costa, there were just so many of us who competed for it.

I, for example, I wasn’t a very good fast court player, but when I had earned the right to go to the Olympics, I went to play on the fast court and I won in Buzios, an ATP in fast court tournament. So I think there are many good times in my career, but yes, the highlight was the Olympic Games 1992, even though it was not the gold medal, it was the Olympic silver medal. And what made it so special was my dedication and the exclusivity I gave I gave to the Olympics.

Christian, you know how it is in tennis, we do a pre-season of 2 months, in preparation for the Olympics 1992, I dedicated 4,5 months to the pre-season, and I hired the best physical trainer that we had at that time, Paco Seirul·lo. Paco has always been an innovator of physical preparation; he works with the football club Barcelona for more than 40 years and is a professor at the University here in Barcelona.

In tennis, we do a pre-season of 2 months, in preparation for the Olympics 1992, I dedicated 4,5 months to the pre-season.

Back then, I had never worked with a psychologist before, I worked with one all the pre-season, I was also working with a nutritionist, I was taking 8.500 calories to gain weight and I didn’t even reach the 2-kilo weight gain.

Christian: 8.500?

Jordi: Yes, 8.500 every day for 4,5 months and I did not even gain 2 kilos. I guess with you, I would have done it because you work the guys very hard. But we worked differently, doing a lot of aerobic work and I have always had a fast metabolism, and burn everything. Still today, I’m 54 years old and I weigh the same as when I was at 18 years old. I think my muscles aren’t made for getting bigger, but I did everything for it. And since I did so many things, and I sacrificed so much for the Olympics, and in the end, it went well, that is without a doubt my best memory.

I sacrificed so much for the Olympics, and in the end, it went well, that is without a doubt my best memory.

Christian: In this Olympic final you were down two sets against Rosset,  then you won set 3 and set 4, and you ended up losing the 5th set 8-6, right?

Jordi: Yes, this match, I never went back to watch it again, but sometimes, every 10 years or so, some images and things pass through my mind, and I see them in front of my imaginary eye. But I always look to the future, the past is past.

I always look to the future, the past is past.

But the message was clear to me, I remember, that I had several break points in the first set, and he didn’t have any breakpoints. Then he won the tie break, and he broke my first service game of the second set, and suddenly it was 6-7, 0-1.

And with this, basically, in 15 minutes, I lost two sets, because Rosset served very well. And for me back then, the worst thing was returning, and he was very dominant with the serve.

But after the 2nd set, there I started to come back, and the heat also started to take its toll on him. I remember, that the match was stopped in the fifth set.

At this moment, when the match stopped, I just came back from a 1-4 down to equal a 4-4. The clouds went up, it got dark, they had to put on artificial light, that gave him a chance to recover and to finally win 8-6.

The truth is that he deserved to win, he played very well, I was very close to the win but ended up losing.

The truth is that he deserved to win, he played very well, I was very close to the win but ended up losing.

His best moment as a coach

Christian: And as a coach, what was your best moment?

Jordi: As coach of the Davis Cup team, as Davis Cup captain, it is clear that the best moment is when you win, that was the Davis Cup in 2004.

As Davis Cup captain, the best moment is when you win, that was the Davis Cup in 2004.

But for example, I also have a very good memory of the final of the previous year in 2003 in Australia, on grass court, and we were also very close to being able to surprise the world.

We played on grass, and it was basically impossible for Spain to beat Australia on grass, but the truth is that we were very close to the win.

It was also a very strange tie, because I remember that when we were 2-1 down, Alex Corretja got injured, and we lost the double. Before the double, it was 1-1 and I remember that Carlos Moya had played an amazing match and won against Philippoussis.

And in the last match, Ferrero played Philippoussis, and in the 5th set, the match was stopped for 10 minutes, because Philippoussis had back pain. That was a bit strange, that a match was stopped for 10 minutes, and after that, he wins 6-0.

But anyway, I have a very pleasant memory of the whole year of having managed to reach the final, and then the next year 2004 was the best year, because when you win the Davis Cup, that it is unforgettable.

Everything is great, because it was also the year in which we added Rafa Nadal to the team, he was a very young player with 17 years, and with only 17 years old we already put him in the knock out stage, because we had a lot of confidence in him and the results he got, proved we were right.

We added Rafa Nadal to the team, he was a very young player with 17 years, but we had a lot of confidence in him, and the results he got, proved we were right.

His decision to put a young Rafa Nadal in the Davis Cup final

Christian: This is my next question: You put Rafa in the final against Andy Roddick and Roddick was number 1 or 2 at that time, right?

Jordi: I don’t remember exactly, but he was at the top.

Christian: He reached Wimbledon final 2004. My real question is, how did you have confidence in Rafa? Wasn’t it a risk? If Rafa would not have performed, they would have asked: “What did Arrese do?”

Jordi: Well, we were 3 captains, I was the one seated in the chair on the court. But my colleagues were Juan Avendaño and Josep Perlas.

In my case particularly, since Rafa was 14 years old, I believed that Rafa Nadal would become number 1 in the world – I said on radio and live on television – because he was very different from everyone else. He had a strong character and the will to win, that really stood out and exceeded above all others.

Since Rafa was 14 years old, I believed that he would become number 1 in the world. Because he was very different from everyone else. He had a strong character and the will to win, that really stood out.

He lacked tennis, but he had character and we followed him over the years and we had great confidence in him. We discussed it a lot if we should put him in. The first time we nominated him, was the first knockout stage on an indoor court, and back then he had never won an indoor match. That was a very tough elimination, very difficult in a very difficult court. He lost the first match against Novak and won his second match against Stepanek.

Also later in the semifinals, we changed Charly Moya who was one of the best players in the world and changed him for Rafael Nadal. That shows that we had a lot of faith and confidence in him.

Of course, in the final, he had already proven himself in the previous rounds, to win indoor matches, to exchange him for one of the best players in the world, we exchanged Juan Carlos Ferrero a former number 1 in the world, as well as Charlie Moya a former number 1 for him, so then to put him in the final was just a logical consequence.

And in the final, it was a risk for us to put him, but we also saw, that he had opportunities to win, and if he did not win, he would leave the opponent very affected, because we knew that Rafa Nadal has the type of game where he gives everything he has, and if you want to beat him, you have to give all you have.

We saw, he had opportunities to win, and if he did not win, he would leave the opponent very affected. Because Rafa Nadal gives everything he has, and if you want to beat him, you have to give all you have.

But yes, if he had lost that game in the final, the heads would have rolled very quickly. In fact, we already got some criticism for putting him in.

Christian: And you mentioned that Rafa, when he was only 14 years old, he had the attitude, but he needed to develop his tennis.

It’s a bit philosophical., but what do you like to see more in a player, a player who has the mind and needs to learn tennis or the player, who has tennis and needs to improve the mind?

Jordi: I think the mind is more important, and today even more so, because a player who has the mind, can learn tennis or any sport. Of course, as we say over here ‘the lame it will not run faster than those that can run normally’, but for me, the one that has the mind learns everything.

There are also others that are very competitive, but they are not very willing to learn either, but normally the one who has the mind, who has very good values, has everything in his hand.

The one who has the mind, who has very good values, has everything in his hand.

Christian: What do you mean by values?

Jordi: The values I mentioned before, discipline, a value as simple as patience, in these days the generation of now, with Ipad, with iPhone, with all the technologies, at the touch a button and they have everything available.

Earlier, we went to the library and you had to find an encyclopedia, you did not know where, and you had to search for it. Now you touch a button and in a minute you get it. Where do you cultivate patience?

Now with all the technologies, at the touch a button you have everything available. Where do you cultivate patience?

On the court, they hit 3 – 4 balls and they do not want to do more before we went to the tennis wall hit 200 balls aiming for the same spot on the wall. This does not exist today, this is difficult that with modern society to go back to that.

But a winner, with the right mind, it’s easier for him to get it, whilst others give up very easily. But it is also true, that now you play with the same players, all very similar to each other and they rely much more on the physical side, it’s all about the power, but the brain, really the tactical understanding, I see it now – at least in tennis – very poorly developed.

Christian: With the values you mentioned, I remember, that saw an interview with Toni Nadal, and he said the same thing, when they asked him about the value statistics in tennis, and he answered “If you see right now you have so many statistics, we have always focused on the values ​​of discipline, work, respect for the rival” and it is the secret of success.

Jordi: Toni Nadal helped Rafa a lot, really a lot. I’ve always said, Rafa Nadal would not have been so good without his uncle Toni, because I remember, I have seen him since Rafa was 14, 15, 16 years old, Toni always said “Go, thank to receive the wildcard”,   “Go thank the person to bring the balls to the court.” He always educated him to be humble, which he maintained and by the time was number 2 or 3 in the world, he didn’t take advantage of anything.

Rafa Nadal would not have been so good without his uncle Toni, he always educated him to be humble, which he maintained and by the time was number 2 or 3 in the world, he didn’t take advantage of anything.

Why does a youngster of 19 years think he is a champ? That just means you’re teaching something wrong. I’ve seen Rafa Nadal at the beginning of his career being so good and playing with a racket 10 g heavier than normal, and someone –  I will not say the name of the person, told him: “Hey!, this racket weighs more!” and his uncle Toni got angry and said: “But why are you going to put monsters in his head, if he does not know them, why do you have to put your manias?”

Christian: I also have a story about Rafa, in 2008, two or three weeks after he won Wimbledon, I was in Mallorca and I watched his practice, and after the practice, he picked up the balls himself. I thought that was incredible.

Jordi: Exactly, that’s why he lasted so many years. That’s why he has the mentality of wanting to win, of wanting to improve himself every single year. And now he has changed and improved his serve, and every year something will change and improve.

The only problem will be when his body hurts so much, that he cannot do it anymore. If this moment will not come, Rafa will keep improving and increasing his game constantly.

What advice would he give a younger Jordi Arrese

Christian: If you could travel back in time 20 years, what advice would you give to your younger you?

Jordi: What advice would I give to myself?

Christian: Yes, to yourself, with all the knowledge and experience you have now.

Jordi: All athletes make mistakes. But some of the mistakes, we do by doing too much and other mistakes we do when we don’t reach our goals.

In my case, I have been a rather atypical case, I started playing tennis, when I was 9-10 years old and until I was 15 years old, I played once a week. My brother, who played better than me, he stopped playing tennis, but I continued.

I have been a rather atypical case until I was 15 years old, I played once a week.

Luckily, Luis Bruguera, the father of double Roland Garros champion Sergi Bruguera, came and he told us: “Look, if you train for one year, next year you will be training with Fernando Luna and Juan Aguilera.” who were the best players in Spain at that time.

That’s when I got really motivated and started, but those who were a year younger than me, but they always beat me. So, yes, my start was a bit atypical, but when I fully committed to tennis, I was training all day, I loved it.

I came from athletics, I was one of the best guys in Catalunya, both in the sprint, as well as endurance disciplines. In both I was very good, so I could easily play 5, 6 or 8 hours of tennis, that wasn’t difficult.

I mean, it was not a sacrifice for me, I enjoyed it and the more I played, the more I enjoyed. But in my time there were no coaches, later you had all the coaches you wanted, in my time there were only Luis Bruguera and Pato Álvarez, so I started giving myself training advice. So, I didn’t get so much technical advice or anything, all I did was play a lot, I trained a lot.

My friends always joked, that when I said “Ok, last ones!” The last ones were another hour for me, so my last ones were another hour of work.

My friends always joked, that when I said “Ok, last ones!” The last ones were another hour of training.

Looking back, maybe I should have worked fewer hours and you would have focused me a little bit more on areas like concentration and attention, I have a little deficit of attention and I would have devoted more to concentration techniques and attentional focus. I think I would have gotten a lot more out of it.

Another good example, what happens, if you coach yourself. I never learned to block the return, and later, as a coach myself, I saw it was very easy. I realized it’s easy to teach and learn if you know how to do it.

Of course, it needs time to learn, and while learning, it feels very difficult, because you will make a lot of mistakes by practicing it. But in the end, I really learned it easily, if you have the appropriate conditions to learn.

Jordi’s success habits 

Christian: What are the habits that made you a successful athlete?

Jordi: Perseverance, discipline, and the capacity to sacrifice. In my case, I’m very ambitious within my means, I always believed that I can do more than what I was doing.

Perseverance, discipline, and the capacity to sacrifice.

I’m not one of those, who when I fail, I get depressed. I fail and at the same time, I’m setting a higher goal. With perseverance, discipline, hard work, the right mentality, and ambition, you can go through bad times. I’ve been through that many times.

I think, when an athlete falls and is able to get up immediately and is already thinking about how to set a new goal, these are good dynamics and good values ​​to succeed in the sport.

I believe I could have been very good in the athletics, I performed very well, when I was young, all my life I had the right physique. In fact now, with 55 years, I have maintained so well, I feel very well physically.

And one thing I have noticed, where others feel they have to sacrifice and it takes a lot of effort for them, to me it comes naturally. I do not find that it takes effort, I know, that if you want to achieve something, you have to do something for it.

Where others feel they have to sacrifice and it takes a lot of effort for them, to me it comes naturally.

So these are advantages that give you a high level of confidence and security.

Christian: And these qualities of perseverance and discipline, do they come from your family or how did you learn it?

Jordi: I think it comes from all the people, who teach you something in your life. But I think the most important ones are your parents, your brothers and sisters, who live with you in the house, what they say to you at home, the ones you see, the ones you respect. The fact that you are obliged to respect everyone as part of your education, as well as the values ​​they teach you in school.

For example, the first tennis teacher I had, the truth is, that he taught me a lot and very important values. He was very strict, but at the same time I enjoyed a lot, I enjoyed the discipline and structure.

I believe that the values ​​that your parents give you are the basis, they are the most important to start your life with, as a resource of values. Then it depends on the coach you get or not, that can potentiate your values or not.

The values ​​that your parents give you are the basis, then it depends on the coach you get or not, that can potentiate your values or not.

The example I outlined about Toni Nadal, it’s a case where he totally empowered Rafa, because in the end there is a time when you aren’t with your parents, and instead you are with your coach, and because you’re still young and you still have to be formed, the coach can teach you to carry the best values, ​​it’s kind of a guarantee for life.

Christian: Basically, you have to choose good parents …

Jordi: Yes.

His morning routine

Christian: As an athlete, did you have a routine in the morning?

Jordi: Drink half a liter of orange juice and eat a good sandwich. My food habits from before to now are still the same.

Drink half a liter of orange juice and eat a good sandwich.

Christian: Okay, and sandwich with?

Jordi: Everything. Here in Spain we have very good sausages, and the bread with tomato in Catalunya is just great, with whatever sausage you want on it, it does not matter what, everything is good.

Christian: I know, I also like the sausages and bread with tomato.

How to prepare for important moments

Christian: As an athlete, how did you prepare for important moments? Either the long-term preparation, but also the preparation for a specific moment. Before the Olympic final 1992, what were you doing?

Jordi: I tell you, with Paco Seirul·lo, my physical coach, he gave me two options. Option one, doing many micro cycles to stay in shape and get to the Olympics more or less; or, option two, do a longer preparation until June / July and get to the Olympics in the best shape. I chose to have those two months of preparation and ultimately have an advantage.

To be honest, the truth is that they did not treat me very well in the Davis Cup, as in 3 Davis Cup, I felt it was unfair, that I was not within the team, because it was a very complicated time in which there was a lot of pressure on the Davis Cup Captain, because someone always made his life difficult. That’s why I risked to not be in the selection for the Davis Cup, and to exclusively prepare for the Olympics.

I saw it very clearly, the Olympics were in my hometown, in Barcelona, played ​​on clay, going the full distance over five sets, in the middle of the summer, which means a lot of heat, all these conditions were ideal for me.

I saw it very clearly, the Olympics were in my hometown, played ​​on clay, going the full distance, a lot of heat, all these conditions were ideal for me.

That’s why for me as a player, I would never have dreamed of being an Olympian, but when I saw the opportunity, I was confident, that I had very good chances. Of course, you also need a bit of luck, in the second round of the Olympics I won 9 – 7 in the fifth set to Magnus Gustaffson, in a match of more than 4 hours and a half, it was an incredibly hard match.

But overall, I thought, I had a lot of possibilities, and therefore I focused on preparing myself physically very well. Normally, the other times, the other pre-seasons have been much shorter.

Christian: It’s also interesting, because normally the pre-season in tennis is very short, and you chose to do a long season, right?

Jordi: In 14 years as a professional tennis player, I have never done 1 pre-season that lasted more than 2 months, and here I did 4 and a half months.

Christian: Was this then your best season?

Jordi: No, in fact, my best season had been the previous one and I could have improved my ranking a lot if I would have done a shorter pre-season. But I preferred to forget the ranking and the possibilities, to risk everything for the Olympics, and to reach the Olympics at the maximum of my abilities.

I preferred to risk everything for the Olympics, and to reach the Olympics at the maximum of my abilities.

In fact, the first two months weren’t so good at all, they were really not good. I liked it, similar to Rafa today, to have a lot of rhythm in my game and to make the opponent play. But this you only get through playing matches, and if you don’t win matches, it becomes very complicated. I even went to a lower category of tournaments, like the Challengers, to get this rhythm, I took it to step by step and came back. And the truth is, that the last two tournaments were very good, very good level.

I actually missed the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, because I was in the final of Hilversum, an ATP against Karel Nováček. I could not be there entering the stadium with the flag and all the stories, because I was playing a final. But that meant that I was in very good shape.

How to overcome setbacks

Christian: How do you overcome the setbacks?

Jordi: I think that you overcome setbacks with a very good mentality, be very positive – it is one of the values that I have not mentioned before,  I’m very positive.

Christian: I know.

Jordi: And with that, I think, that seeing the best version of the things that happen. Whatever happens, look at the positive, this is how you get over the worst moments, when you see the most positive part of it, it’s always much easier to get over it. When you are able to see it as a challenge, instead of a problem, it is always easier, to overcome it in the best possible way.

  • Also check out the interview with double Olympic champion Mariana Pajón, where she explains ‘I transform dark moments into challenges. Challenges make you stronger, so I just go above and beyond them. Life is showing me that I can be stronger and that I can just beat these challenges.’

Christian: Interesting.

His role model

Christian: Did you have a role model, an idol or hero as an athlete?

Jordi: I’ve never been like this, I’ve never collected autographs or anything. I’ve always been a bit introverted.

I’ve never collected autographs or anything. I’ve always been a bit introverted.

But it’s true that I liked Borg. He retired very early, but I always liked him for the way he was, and how he fought.

I always had him a little bit like an idol, but not as much as the children of today have, I have never had too many idols, but if someone was my idol,  it was Borg.

Now it’s Federer, for me, Federer is the complete tennis player.

The best advice he has ever received

Christian: What is the best advice you have ever received?

Jordi: I don’t know, because they have given me many tips and very good ones indeed, but the best advice, I think is to have respect for people.

The best advice is to have respect for people.

What I’ve seen a lot in tennis and in the elite sport is, that there are many egocentric people, so I think being a good person is something I’ve seen a lot in Toni Nadal. He always said, he wants Rafa to be a good person and then being a star.

I think this is the best advice you can get, because then when you see a bunch of self-centered people, what do you think? What are they more than fools? What more can there be, as to be brought up in a good environment?

Christian: I remember, one of the best pieces of advice I have received, actually came from you. When I left the Catalan Federation, you told me as professional advice “Make sure you have a good relationship with the coaches.”

I still remember it, and I think that as a strength & conditioning coach if you want to be successful you have to have a good relationship with the coach. If you don’t have that, it is very difficult, and the same is true for the athletes.

Jordi: True, the time we worked together, you know, that I’ve always been enthusiastic about the work you did, it was spectacular.

But it’s clear that when you form a team, everyone has to go in the same direction. And in your case, it might have been different, because there might have been several physical trainers and maybe you’re the one who had by far the best level, and then sometimes it can collide.

But the truth is, that it is essential that the entire team works in the same direction.

A typical day in the life of a professional tennis player

Christian: As an athlete, how did a typical training day look like?

Jordi: For example in the pre-season, first thing in the morning, I was going for a run. I live here near the water road, which is a great place to go for a run. Every day, I was going for a round trip maybe running for an hour, then a good breakfast, then go play tennis for two and a half hours or so, eat, and play two hours tennis again, then physical preparation, some weights, one hour or so, then relax and then take it easy, because you do not have much time left until you go quiet dinner, watch your television or read something or what you prefer for relaxation and then the next day it starts all over again.

First thing in the morning, I was going for a run for an hour, then a good breakfast, then go play tennis for two and a half hours, eat, and play two hours tennis again, then physical preparation, some weights, one hour or so, then relax and then take it easy. And then the next day it starts all over again.

This was normal when I was at home, but it depends if I was with my family or with your wife, it depends on each case and day.

His interview nomination

Christian: Do you want to nominate someone for an interview?

Jordi: I think both Toni Nadal and Rafa Nadal, one as coach the other as a player, are certainly very interesting to have for an interview.

Christian: I would like it!

Jordi: Toni Nadal is easier, because he’s in Mallorca, and he’s also someone you can get a lot of insights from, because he talks very frank.

There are many who want to look good and sometimes they say what they actually not think or they say less than they think, he is different, he says everything he thinks. Talking to him is always fruitful and positive.

Where can you find Jordi Arrese

Christian: Where can people find you?

Jordi: In my hometown Barcelona, at times I still do commentary for Eurosport. I am not very active on social media, I use Twitter once in a while.

Jordi’s social profiles

Twitter

Christian: Vale Jordi, thank you very much for your time! Thank you!

Jordi: Thank you! I’m glad to see you again.

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