Daily Busan
A conversation with tennis coach Sergio Rojas
"If I Were Reborn, I Would Live in Busan Too," a web series on BusanTube, the city's official YouTube channel, has released its fifth episode. The series features people from various backgrounds as they share their personal experiences of living in Busan. The videos offer a glimpse of life in Busan through the eyes of non-Koreans, highlighting the city's distinctive charms from a fresh perspective.
The latest episode features Sergio Rojas, an enthusiastic tennis coach from Peru. Daily Busan spoke to Coach Rojas about the life and career he has built in the city.
The full episodes of “If I Were Reborn, I Would Live in Busan Too” are now available on BusanTube.
Q. Could you please introduce yourself?
Hello. I'm Sergio Rojas from Peru. I'm a tennis coach and former professional tennis player. I played in some good tournaments, like the Davis Cup and junior grand slams, and coached at pro tournaments like the US Open. I have traveled all over the world as a player, coach and backpacker.
I came to Korea for the first time almost 14 years ago, just for travel and out of curiosity. I ended up working with the great coach Hyung-Taik Lee in Chuncheon Song-am Sports Town. Six years ago, my wife and I decided to move from Seoul to Busan because of the beach and the weather. I really missed the beach, since I've lived by it most of my life. I love the beach so much that I can spend the whole day there.
Q. How did you first start playing tennis?
I started playing tennis in Peru when I was 5 years old. It wasn't very easy to play tennis in Peru at that time because you had to be a member of one of the few big private clubs. Luckily for me, the tennis federation club was near my house; it was one of the very few places where you could join the academy or rent a court. They had a program for little kids to start playing, and my dad signed me up. I liked it, and as soon as I started playing tournaments, I got hooked.
Q. Could you briefly share your personal coaching philosophy?
To me, the most important thing is to create a strong base. When you learn the basics really well and have a strong base, you feel confident and can solve any technique-related problem. That, and to try to relate your sport to other areas of your life. The discipline and strength you develop to reach a high level in tennis stay with you forever and can be applied to other areas of your life. That's a great source of motivation.
Q. Do you have proud coaching moments in Busan?
I have some good tennis memories here in Busan. One of them is starting a tennis program at Busan Foreign School. They really opened the doors for me, and within a few weeks, I had 20 students playing tennis inside the school every Saturday.
My second good memory is helping a junior player, Junseo Jang, in his training and seeing him a year later win the highest international tournaments in his category in the USA and other countries.
The last one is seeing my son playing tennis at the academy (Rojas Tennis Academy) since he was around 4 years old, and making good tennis friends.
Q. When comparing life and people in Peru and Busan, what differences or similarities have you noticed?
I find similarities in the way we eat. Peruvians eat very similarly to Koreans in general. We eat rice every day, lots of seafood, and spicy food. In terms of friendship, there is a big contrast; Latin Americans are very quick to make friends and don't have different circles of friends. But people here tend to have different circles of friends (work, sports, etc). I respect the ability people here have to do things in large groups. I'm starting to like it as I find my way to fit into the Korean friendship style. Compared to other parts of Korea, I like the energy of the people in Busan.
Q. What goals would you like to achieve in the tennis scene here in Busan or in Korea?
With the help of the Haeundae Tennis Association, I just started my tennis academy at the Songjeong Tennis Park this October. The goal right now is to make it a competitive academy, to have many players enjoy tennis, and, hopefully, in the future, have some elite players come out of Busan.
Q. What advice would you give to young players or anyone who wants to start learning tennis?
To a young player or anyone starting tennis, my advice is to listen to your coach, learn the basics right, don't copy the pros and find your own style.
<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>
enthusiastic: 열정적인 discipline: 훈련 motivation: 동기 similarity: 유사점 in general: 전반적으로
Editor: Song Soomi
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