{"id":660411,"date":"2026-05-10T15:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/660411\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T15:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:25:11","slug":"im-reading-the-art-of-dying-by-seneca-martin-landaluce-the-tennis-player-with-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/660411\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I’m reading \u201cThe Art of Dying\u201d by Seneca\u2019 \u2013 Mart\u00edn Landaluce, the tennis player with a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROME \u2013 Mart\u00edn Landaluce<\/a> doesn\u2019t bat an eyelid when explaining how he spends the little free time afforded by his dual life as a rising professional tennis player and a dedicated university student.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m reading \u201cThe Art of Dying\u201d by Seneca,\u2019 says the 20-year-old Spaniard during an interview with CLAY at the Italian Open in Rome.<\/p>\n

Landaluce is thus reminiscent of the Argentine Guillermo Vilas, who in the 1970s and 1980s was a \u2018weirdo\u2019 on the tour who devoted hours and hours to reading and writing poetry. The Spaniard could have lived very well in those days, because social media has captured neither his time nor his soul.<\/a><\/p>\n

In \u2018The Art of Dying\u2019, Seneca argues that death should be seen as liberation, because life is a journey towards death. Paradoxically, Landaluce is emerging onto the tennis scene: this year he reached the quarter-finals in Miami and established himself among the world\u2019s top 100. And on the European clay-court tour he continues to grow as a player. He feels, he says, \u201clike a warrior\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Coming from a Spaniard, that is saying a lot.<\/p>\n

\u2013 You\u2019re in the big leagues of tennis; do you feel that way?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, I think I\u2019m becoming more and more established on the circuit; I think I\u2019m playing some great matches. In this case [Rome], I\u2019ve been very lucky with the Lucky Loser spot and getting through early. I\u2019ve made the most of it; I was really keen to play on that beautiful court [the Nicola Pietrangeli, surrounded by statues of classical Olympic athletes, sculpted in Carrara marble] against a great player like Marin Cilic.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2013 You\u2019re doing better and better as a tennis player, so how are things going in your role as a university student studying Business Administration and Management? Isn\u2019t your degree course suffering as a result of your growing success as a tennis player?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, it\u2019s quite difficult when you\u2019re playing well, because there are so many matches and you have to submit assignments and sit exams remotely, and that takes up quite a lot of time. And getting in touch with other classmates for group work too, so it takes quite a lot of time. And at times it\u2019s proving a bit of a struggle, but there are days when I\u2019m free or I try to set aside three or four hours to catch up a bit on what I\u2019ve fallen behind on. But it\u2019s true that you\u2019re always a bit behind with the coursework and you have to catch up. I\u2019m going to try to keep taking it in my stride, and if it ever takes longer than I need or can manage, well, I\u2019ll have to take action.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Where do you study?<\/p>\n

\u2013 It\u2019s a university in Spain [the International University of La Rioja] that offers certain grants for players, for athletes. In my case, I can manage both.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mart\u00edn Landaluce, during his interview with CLAY in Rome \/ SEBASTI\u00c1N FEST<\/p>\n

\u2013 How many years do you have left, or how long is the course?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Well, this degree is a four-year course and I\u2019m taking half the modules; instead of ten, I\u2019m doing five, so in theory I\u2019ll try to finish it in eight years \u2013 it\u2019s a long-term project that I\u2019m taking at a steady pace. If I can manage it with five modules a year, I\u2019ll take it easy; if I can fit in more, I\u2019ll do more. And if not, I\u2019ll try to find the time.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Do you know anyone on the tour doing something similar?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, I think there are a few players, but I don\u2019t think there are many, because tennis takes up so much time. I still have a bit more time to devote to it, and as long as it keeps my mind occupied, I\u2019ll keep developing. On the other hand, I think it\u2019s a positive thing.<\/p>\n

\u2013 And why? I mean, why are you doing it if most people aren\u2019t?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Because I think it actually helps me quite a lot in a way to have a structure, because in tennis I already have a very clear idea of what I need to do. And it\u2019s also another responsibility I have on the side, which makes me\u2014or at least I think so\u2014mature in a way. I don\u2019t waste time in the afternoon; I have to get on with something that I sometimes find difficult, that I sometimes don\u2019t have the patience or the time to do\u2026 And above all because it keeps developing my mind. And if at some point, which is what I intend, I start managing companies, running my own business, making investments, I think everything I can learn from this degree will benefit me. I\u2019m going to stick to that plan.<\/p>\n

\u2013 But you are, in a sense, already your own business; or are you thinking of managing other types of companies?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, my own; I want to manage it as well as possible. For example: I\u2019ve got a module that\u2019s also about law, which covers quite a few laws, and that\u2019s quite useful to me. I\u2019ve got microeconomics; there are modules that help me with tennis, with the business that is me, and if in the future I want to expand, or want to run certain businesses or whatever, I want to have some knowledge and know a bit about the subject.<\/p>\n

\"\"The stands at the Nicola Pietrangeli Stadium, in Rome\u2019s Foro Italico \/ SEBASTI\u00c1N FEST<\/p>\n

\u2013 Do you still not have social media on your mobile phone?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, I don\u2019t usually have them on my mobile; sometimes I download the app during weeks like this one in Rome, when there are lots of people and I have to help post more updates or reply to people. I download it, but normally I use social media on my computer and in the afternoons I sometimes have a look at it and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

\u2013 And do you still read Seneca and other philosophers?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Yes, yes, I do. I\u2019m currently reading \u2018The Art of Dying\u2019 by Seneca. Sometimes I take a bit of a break from those books and read others that also teach me in different ways.<\/p>\n

\u2013 You played at the Nicola Pietrangeli Stadium, surrounded by 18 Carrara marble statues representing Olympic athletes. How did you feel?<\/p>\n

\u2013 I felt like a warrior. It gave me a lot of energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROME \u2013 Mart\u00edn Landaluce doesn\u2019t bat an eyelid when explaining how he spends the little free time afforded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,152772,82,593],"class_list":["post-660411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-martin-landaluce","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}