While many tennis players on tour are not shy to wear their emotions on their proverbial sleeves, Roberto Bautista Agut has taken that phrase to a whole new level in the past year.
In truth, Bautista Agut, the No. 18 seed at the 2021 US Open, is very measured, bordering on stoic, with his expressions while on court. But when it comes to the sports team that he's rooted for since childhood, Spanish soccer club Villarreal CF, his passion for the team is there for all the world to see.
It’s sewn on the right sleeve of his tennis shirt, just for good measure.
In July of 2020, Bautista Agut entered into a partnership with his boyhood club to wear the team’s badge on his outfit for every match he plays on the ATP Tour. He is believed to be the first top-level tennis player to wear the logo of a soccer club on his or her kit. Late in 2019, the club honored Bautista Agut at an awards ceremony for his integral role in Spain’s run to the Davis Cup title that year, gifting him a golden Villarreal badge. Not only is the tennis star originally from Villarreal’s home base in the Spanish province of Castellón, Bautista Agut was a member of the soccer club’s youth academy and seriously considered a professional career in “the beautiful game.”
The apparel partnership between the sides is for two-and-a-half years—or just a fraction of the time that Bautista Agut has spent being one of the club’s biggest fans.
“I feel very proud to be a part of the brand, of the company, of the family of Villarreal,” Bautista Agut said after his second-round victory at the 2021 US Open on Wednesday. “I’m really pleased to be a little part of the big brand. I’m very happy and proud to have the brand on my sleeve. It’s been a very long relationship, a very nice collaboration within us. I hope I can keep that for many years.”
Pictured below: The Villarreal CF badge on RBA's right sleeve.
So why did Bautista Agut pass up the dream of possibly playing first-team soccer (in a soccer-mad country such as Spain) for the team of his youth, whose patch would have been located over his heart while wearing the jersey? The appeal of scoring goals on his own on the tennis court—compared to the team-oriented buildup needed in putting the ball in the net on the soccer pitch—ended up being the kicker.
“Tennis is an individual sport, for me to take my own decisions, to do everything for myself,” Bautista Agut said. “I wanted to play both things because I was really good at playing soccer. Maybe better than tennis. I chose tennis because it was an individual sport.”
Bautista Agut’s ascent to the top of the men’s game has paralleled the rise of Villarreal as one of the preeminent soccer clubs in Europe. Turning pro in 2005, Bautista Agut did not reach the Top 100 until 2012. Since 2014, Bautista Agut has finished every year inside of the Top 25, with a career-high ranking of No. 9 at the end of 2019, a year in which he made his first Grand Slam semifinal (at Wimbledon) and helped Spain to its latest Davis Cup title.
Founded in 1923, Villarreal toiled in the lower divisions of Spanish soccer until finally reaching the country’s top division, La Liga, in 1998. The club was relegated after finishing in the bottom three of the league in the 2012 season, but quickly earned promotion back to La Liga the following year. Like Bautista Agut, the team has resided near the top of the division regularly since 2014, finishing in sixth place or higher in seven of the last eight seasons.
If those ascending similarities continue, Bautista Agut may find himself at the very top of the game, just as Villarreal did this past spring when it won its first major European title, the Europa League, defeating Manchester United in the final. Even better, Bautista can celebrate his accomplishments just like his boyhood heroes—with Villarreal’s badge on his person.
“I think they are doing unbelievable things. They are growing up slowly, but every year they are a better team, they are a better company and they are a better club,” Bautista Agut said. “I feel very proud for being a little part of them and, of course, I will support them always.”
Watch: Bautista Agut vs. Ruusuvuori, Round 2 Highlights
