'Fede' Gomez, from club coach to ATP Challenger Tour champ

After coaching for two years in Miami, Federico Agustin Gomez gave up feeding balls to chase his professional tennis dream.

One glitch? The Argentine was not training regularly and any time with a racquet in hand was spent in a continental grip, feeding and coaching for 11 hours a day.

A 2019 graduate of the University of Louisville, Gomez was figuring out his post-college life in south Florida. A summer internship required Gomez in the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and robbed him of any time to polish his game. Recognising he was not able to fully commit to training, Gomez decided to pursue coaching. Then the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 was just another roadblock in his hopes of playing beyond the collegiate level.

“I was like, ‘Okay, what am I doing? The Tour is not going anywhere, everything is stopped, so I’m just going to stop here and start teaching,’” Gomez told ATPTour.com.

Trying to make ends meet in his new role, Gomez was missing the thrill of competition. Then, in September 2021, Gomez’s friend, Pedro Caniza, approached him and offered financial help to kickstart his career.

“I was doing okay, like I was working, I was happy. I had a place to stay. I had a car. Everything was good. But that something else was missing,” Gomez said.

“[Pedro] saw me playing matches and he was the one like, ‘Hey, what are you doing? You can teach after! There’s no need for you to be teaching right now. Why don’t you give yourself another chance.’ He was a big part of the reason why I am here today.”

It is easy to see why Gomez said, ‘I didn’t expect to win,’ after triumphing at last month’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Milan. Seven days after his first-round qualifying match on the Italian clay, Gomez had his hands around the trophy. He raised his arms in the air and cracked a smile so wide it felt palpable through a computer screen. It has been a difficult, but rewarding path for Gomez to reach this point.

“I was just teaching and trying to make a living out of [coaching],” Gomez said. “I was trying to stay healthy just doing fitness. But tennis, no, not at all. I don’t think I hit a two-handed backhand in two years. I was just doing fitness in the morning or late afternoon. I didn’t really have the time and also I was kind of disconnected from the entire Tour mentality.”

Federico Agustin Gomez is crowned champion at the Aspria Tennis Cup. Credit: Francesco Peluso

Gomez’s journey to a career-high No. 224 in the PIF ATP Rankings is maybe different than what he would have imagined at age 17, when he earned his first ATP point.

“I thought I had it all. I thought I was on top of the world, that I could do whatever I wanted,” Gomez said. “But nothing else changed. I decided to go to Europe to try and make out a living. Things didn’t go as planned. There were some issues in Europe with visas and stuff, I wasn’t getting the opportunity to stay there.”

Upon returning to Argentina, Gomez told his parents, Marcelo and Patricia, that he was going to attend college in the United States. The Buenos Aires native narrowly beat application deadlines, arriving at ASA College Miami and three days later competing in a dual meet. After a year and a half at the junior college level, Gomez transferred to the University of Louisville, where he studied sport administration.

The 27-year-old is the oldest first-time winner on the ATP Challenger Tour this season. The week of his title run was also his first week working with his new coach Cesar Chiappari, who was in tears after Gomez secured the title. 'Fede' later shared a memorable phone call with his parents.

“It was funny because they couldn’t watch the first match because it was super early for them. I was first on for qualies that Sunday and they didn’t watch it. I won, so my mom tried to keep things the same way,” Gomez said. “They didn’t watch any more matches. They just followed the scores and stuff.

“When I called and they were driving, we had a little conversation. They were screaming and so happy for me. I really enjoyed seeing their faces. All of the hard work they’ve put in over the years to help me reach my goals... It’s a big step moving forward.”

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