Sal Castillo, Grand Slam Champion

Sal Castillo blazes a path into the semi-finals of the National Indoors on Thursday

Player Profile: Sal Castillo

Career Highlights
•#1 in 1991 in USA in 35 singles
•Represented the USA in the Italia Cup in 1993-1994
•Recognized by SPORTS ILLUSTRATED for winning Grand Slam in Doubles in National 35’s
•Formerly ranked #1 in the World in 45’s singles
•Was ranked #1 in the World in 50’s singles
•Won national 50’s Indoor and Hardcourt championships in 2007
•Currently living and coaching college tennis in San Antonio, Texas

Boise--Sal Castillo breezed into the USTA Men's 55 Indoor Championships at the Boise Racquet and Swim Club. The fit and youthful tennis player from San Antonio didn't start playing tennis until he was a sophomore in High School, yet he played College tennis at Southern Illinois and spent time on the ATP Challenger tour.

Castillo's ground strokes are flawless, his footwork unmatched by any of his peers, but most striking thing about Sal Castillo is a calm confidence that infects all that takes time to chat with him.

We had so many questions to ask:

You have an impressive tennis resume?

My first year of doubles in 35’s; I won all the doubles with four different partners; A Grand Slam, that had never been done before. I also won indoor singles that year, and I have been on 11 cup teams, four world championships.

Where did you play college tennis?

At Southern Illinois

That doesn’t conjure up images of a Tennis Powerhouse school?

We were top 20 but were not stellar. I had only been playing tennis three years; I didn’t start until I was a sophomore. Id played baseball and picked up tennis as an off season training sport and started to like it more and more, set some goals and decided to switch to tennis full time, and haven’t looked back since.

What was it about tennis that hooked you?

It was my personality that hooked me, baseball was something that I was brought into, I liked it, I was good at it, so anytime you are good at something, hit a ball, catch it, I could do all of that stuff naturally. The thing about baseball is that you have to wait nine turns to bat, wait for the ball to be hit to you. I don’t have that personality to sit and wait. I wanted to be batting all the time, I wanted to pitch, I wanted to be the one catching all the time; tennis afford you the opportunity to be hitting the ball all the time, you don’t have to sit and wait your turn in the dugout in total boredom.

Boredom?

In tennis you have no excuses; in baseball you’re dreading the thought of someone losing the game for you. If I lose, I lose no one to blame. Id rather be in charge of my own destiny and outcome.

How do you explain your sport?

In tennis you can play all your life. The key is finding people you enjoy playing with; the reason I play tournaments is to play against the best, that’s what I want to do. I’ve won my share and lost my share, what keeps me coming back is that I want to play with the best. It’s not to say that I don’t enjoy going and playing recreational tennis, I do and there’s a place for that. But again the competitor in me wants to play against the best; I enjoy that more than anything else. That said I don’t come out here just to win a tournament; I come out to play the best I can, that’s what I’m looking to do. If I win the tournament I win it, if I don’t, I don’t. You find the best players in the world at these tournaments. Of course you have to prepare yourself. It’s frustrating when you have an injury I have a bad knee, and Im trying to overcome that injury, that’s frustrating because I know I play better.

Is that the way it is on the Senior circuit?

To a certain degree everyone out here has some kind of injury. I think what’s nice about tennis is that you can still play and break through those barriers. I’m still playing but not at the level I had been playing my whole life because of the knee injury.

There’s a lot of frustration in the game, some quit if they’re not having enough success, do you see that in the Seniors?

I see that in junior tennis in the United States, it doesn’t take much to frustrate a player, they have the option of doing something else. They would rather not deal with the frustration and challenges of not winning right now. I coach college tennis and I try to teach the right attitude to have in any circumstance, whether it be tennis or anything else, they are doing the best they can. Like I said everyone out here has some kind of limitation, we are not as fast, we are not as strong, whatever, but the thing is that you go out there and do the best that you can, so we keep that frustration at bay and get overwhelmed to the point of quitting.

The more you play the less frustration you have?

You got to have a love of the game, a passion to keep going out there and its hard. I was losing to guys that couldn’t touch me and losing to them bad but in the back of my mind I know Im doing the best I can if I cant do it, I cant do it. My doubles partner recently suffered a massive heart attack, our time here is limited, go out and do the best you can.

What can we do to be better players

I think it’s having a good attitude, the things that you do to be successful at your level is what I have to do at my level. You have to follow the habits of a good athlete. You have to stay in shape, you have to watch what you eat and you have to get enough sleep, be reasonable with a balanced approach, go have a beer or two, but you cant be drinking every night during a tournament, You cant eat whatever you want during a tournament you got to approach it with a plan to compete well. You will enjoy tennis more if you get your share of wins. If you are playing leagues and tournaments, you’re an athlete, that’s the way I look at it.