José Luis Clerc broke down and cried with Juana Viale: 'What Guillermo Vilas is experiencing is painful'

08/22/2021 2:43 PM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 08/22/2021 3:01 PM

José Luis Clerc broke down this Sunday during his participation as a guest at Mirtha Legrand's lunch when referring to the health of Guillermo Vilas, the best Argentine tennis player of all time, with whom in his time as players he maintained a great rivalry.

Clerc, when asked about Vilas by Juana Viale, the hostess, was moved to tears and a lump formed in his throat.

He even took a few seconds to start speaking after a deep sigh.

"That situation moves me a lot. I did my whole career with him. What Guillermo is going through is painful. Many years ago I was at Roland Garros and I went to his tennis academy in Mallorca. He sent me a WhatsApp and said: 'Batata I'm a little sick. 'It's very hard to talk about him, "began Batata, who currently serves as a commentator for ESPN.

VIlas and Clerc, together in the 1980 Davis Cup

And he continued: "He behaved very well on a personal family issue and for me that erased all the rivalry we had, the competition, the bad times. It's very hard because I did my whole career with him. Thanks to him being better. that I, banked all the pressure and I was the one who accompanied him ".

Clerc, another of the heroes of Argentine tennis, could not contain his tears when talking about his old adversary.

"I miss him a lot, I love him, I adore him," he emphasized.

Despite the sadness, Batata delivered a hopeful message about Vilas, who is based in Monte Carlo and who turned 69 this week.

In recent years he has suffered from a disease that he fights bravely while still dreaming of being recognized by the ATP as number 1 in the world.

Vilas and Borg, together in Monte Carlo a year ago.

(Photo: @guillevilasok)

It is something that was never reflected in the statistics beyond the fact that his victories and consecrations should have taken him to the top of the ranking around the end of 1975, according to the investigation by journalist Eduardo Puppo, which ended up being the central argument of a documentary broadcast by Netflix.

"The good thing is that a couple of weeks ago I spoke with a friend of his, who has lived in Monte Carlo for a long time, he told me that he is stable. And that is good. And also that Bjorn Borg, a couple of months ago, was Let's see, "he closed.

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