14 years after retiring from tennis, Marcelo Rios has outlined plans to return to the Challenger tour in 2019 with the goal of becoming the oldest ever ATP Champion.
Rios, who spent six weeks as world No.1 back in 1998, has told newspaper La Tercera that he has been training for a return to competitive tennis. It is understood that Rios only intends to return to action at the lower level events located in America at the moment and it is unclear if he will travel further. He currently lives in the Sarasota, Florida.
“I’ve been training with pretty high-level guys.” Rios said during an interview with La Tercera.
“There are no guys that plays badly. I’ve been getting tired and I’ve had to lose weight. I have lost 12 stone and has almost reached the weight I was when I was a player (on the tour). I’m happy, it’s something different.”
The return of the Chilean player could happen as soon as next month. A formal request for a wild card to play at the upcoming Columbus Challenger has been submitted. The tournament is hosted at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center and will get underway on January 7th.
“There is an invitation committee, which will finally decide who gets a wild card,” said tournament director Todd Alles.
The ultimate goal of an ambitious Rios is to become the oldest ever winner of a challenger tournament. A title that is currently held by Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, who won the Calgary Challenger this year at the age of 39 years and seven months.
“If I had not felt good or I had not lost weight, I would not have made the decision (to come out of retirement).” He said.
“From here to 7th January I can injure myself, because I train a lot, but I would like to do it, to get a wild card, to try it.”
“Imagine: winning a challenger at 43 is nice, whatever it may be. I feel qualified to play it and win it. If I did not feel good playing, I would not.” He added.
Rios, who turned 43 on December 26th, could become the only player to have an ATP singles ranking in the new year. Currently 39-year-old Karlovic is the oldest player in the top 1000. Further down the rankings, Spain’s Roberto Menendez is ranked 1660th at the age of 42.
During his career, Rios won 18 ATP titles and reached the final of the 1998 Australian Open. He is the first South American player to have topped the ATP rankings back in 1998 and finished in the year-end top 10 three years in a row (1997-1999). He was forced to step away from the sport at the age of 28 following a series of leg and back injuries.