PUERTO DE LA CRUZ, TENERIFE, Spain — José Antonio Salazar Martín was a tennis pioneer at Arkansas, one of the first Hispanic tennis players to play for the Razorbacks' men's tennis program.
José Antonio, now 29, is now director of a tennis club of a prestigious country club in Connecticut. He sat down with La Prensa Libre AR recently on the tropical island of Tenerife, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Born in Puerto de la Cruz, from an early age José Antonio was a high-level junior player and turned professional very early. At the age of 15 he left the island to improve his prospects and went to Madrid and then Alicante.
He was one of the first high-level youth players in Spain to go to a university in the United States, José Antonio said.
"It sounded like a fairy tale to me because of everything they told me about the studies and the level, I thought it was too good to be true," he said. "A close friend who was already in college in the U.S. helped convince me. I had to take the SAT, I had good grades and my SAT was enough to get me admitted.
“A coach came specially from Arkansas to see me. He was Venezuelan and his name was Néstor Briceño. After he talked to me and my parents, I said, 'There's no other option, I'm going to the United States.' It was the best decision I've ever made in my life."
Even though the Arkansas tennis coach had gone in person to recruit him, Jose Antonio's college career didn't start in Fayetteville. But it was only a matter of time.
"I visited...Arkansas, Oklahoma and LSU. I went first to the University of Oklahoma because I had two very close friends there, but then they finished their studies,” he said. “I remembered the Venezuelan coach from Arkansas who had traveled to my island and I switched to Arkansas after a year and a half. When I got there, I recommended my best friend catch up with me and he did. In the end, they even gave me an extra year of eligibility unexpectedly, and I made the most of it."
The tennis player spoke wistfully of his time in Northwest Arkansas.
"The region is very green, it has nature and lakes. It reminds me of the mountains of my Canary Islands. The people are very welcoming. The southern United States is like the south of Spain, there is no stress. Since there is no professional team, everyone is very proud of the Razorbacks. It's a unique place.
“Fayetteville is an amazing city. I had a scooter and I moved all over the place. I also visited places like Little Rock and Bentonville. I loved Fayetteville, especially Dickson Street. I spent a lot of time on campus, we lived a minute and a half apart. On weekends, they would take us to the lakes in the region."
The support of his teammates was key to José Antonio's adaptation to his new environment.
"Moving to the U.S. was a challenge, but I was surrounded by amazing people,” he said. “When you're a Division 1 athlete, they give you everything you could possibly need. The transition was easy and smooth. It was like a fairy tale, it was an opportunity to do excellent studies and play tennis. In the team we formed a very special group, with Europeans and Latinos and our Venezuelan coach, to date we are still in contact. There were a lot of Bolivian students because of an agreement that we have, and many South Americans in general. We had a natural affinity for the language."
The tennis player has returned once to campus since graduating in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and international business.
He completed his Arkansas career earning ITA All-American honors in doubles and was the ITA Most Improved Player and a first-team All-SEC performer. He ranked No. 45 in singles and had 30 singles wins his senior season at Arkansas and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
In his two seasons as a Razorback, he was 45-16 in singles matches. As a senior he also paired with Mike Redlicki to finish ranked No.10 in doubles and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA championships, where they lost to ironically to a doubles team from Oklahoma, Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa, who went on to win the national championship.
He is now director of Racquets at the Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn., where he runs a country club's tennis program. He is a permanent resident.
"I feel more American now. I'm more of a morning person, I like to do things in the first half of the day,” he said. “The language was a challenge at first, but after 11 years in the U.S., it feels like a second home and I'm very grateful. Now I even feel more comfortable speaking English."
Although he said he likes the United States, the tennis player said that his intention is to retire at a young age and return to live in the Canary Islands, perhaps Fuerteventura because Tenerife is overpopulated.
José Antonio said a tennis career is attainable for young players who are willing to put in the work that it takes to play at the collegiate level.
"Tennis requires a lot of time, practice and repetitions,” he said. “I trained six hours a day. I had teammates from Arkansas on the team and it's very feasible to play tennis [there]. It's a gorgeous place with lots of resources, you have it all in one place.”