\n Former World No. 46, also known for motivational speaking, is at Nitto ATP Finals
\n <\/p>\n
The ATP Tour is in the midst of an exciting new era, and Shuzo Matsuoka knows it. <\/p>\n
Renowned in his native Japan as a sports commentator, television presenter and motivational speaker, Matsuoka is well-qualified to comment on the current state of tennis: He is a former No. 46 in the PIF ATP Rankings, a one-time ATP Tour champion, and was a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 1995. <\/p>\n
Despite having commentated on the Nitto ATP Finals from a studio in Japan on several occasions, Matsuoka is this week visiting the prestigious season finale in person for the first time. The 58-year-old did not hesitate when asked for his opinion on the ATP Tour\u2019s most eye-catching current stars. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment I like [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner,\u201d Matsuoka told ATPTour.com in Turin. \u201cI had an interview with them at the Australian Open and also at the US Open. They were so nice. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been coaching juniors for 25 years at the Japan Tennis Association. Kei Nishikori and all those guys. Tennis has completely changed. Alcaraz and Sinner play a new tennis. Also the speaking, the way they act, it\u2019s all new. So I had to change myself, the speaking, the way I act. Tennis is changing, so in Japan we have to start the new generation and new tennis also in Japan too. It\u2019s a mental approach.\u201d <\/p>\n
Matsuoka, who finished his playing career with 145 tour-level wins, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index, is in Turin to commentate for Japanese broadcaster UNEXT, while he is also filming his own experience at the Nitto ATP Finals. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve been to the event. I was doing the television coverage in Japan, with Kei Nishikori, Novak Djokovic and everyone. I was commentating, but this is my first time coming here and it is completely different. It\u2019s like a show. The players, everybody, make it feel like the Finals. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to introduce how big the Nitto ATP Finals are and how tennis is improving [to people in Japan. Not just watching it. The whole show, the food, the places. Those things I think are very important. I am learning, so I am taking many things from here and will bring them to Japan and use them at the Japan Open to change and make more exciting things for tennis.\u201d <\/p>\n
Matsuoka\u2019s colourful and varied post-playing career also includes motivational speaking. He is known around the world for his short videos that usually involve him delivering encouraging phrases to viewers, while he has also hosted a weekly cooking show, Kuishinbo! Bansai, since 2000. For Matsuoka, any visit to Italy is also a reminder of the social importance of food. <\/p>\n
\u201cEating is a passion and [relates to] how you feel,\u201d he said. \u201cItaly has this feeling in the culture. The food, the water. When they eat, they eat, it is always with family, and that is a very good thing, I think. Not alone. The family and friends are important for tasting too. I have a couple of days here, so I also want to concentrate on eating and restaurants. I just had a pizza here and it is completely different in Japan.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former World No. 46, also known for motivational speaking, is at Nitto ATP Finals The ATP Tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-264093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}