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Marcelo Rios Explained Why He Didn’t Always Sign Autographs
· Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
This week I met an old coach at IMG Academy who shared an interesting story about why Marcelo Rios, the former world no. 1 player in 1998, sometimes didn’t sign autographs for kids.
Rios was the best player in the world and so of course, attracted a lot of attention from fans with his standout appearance and electrifying style of playing.
The coach said there was a group of Chilean junior players at the academy in Bradenton and one kid was adamant about getting a Rios autograph. The coach warned the kid that Rios didn’t always sign but could not explain why.
The persistent kid tried though and approached Rios during his practice. Rios declined, explaining, “I’m working. Can’t you see I’m working?”
Later that day Rios explained his logic to the coach. “When I was a kid I loved John McEnroe. McEnroe was my favorite player. But if I saw him working at practice I would never think of bothering him to ask for his autograph.”
The coach added that he found Rios to be a nice guy… but he’s no angel.”
IMG Academy · Marcelo Rios · NBTA
