Among your most outstanding successes are having participated in 5 Davis Cup finals, obtaining 3 titles, in 2000, 2004 and 2009, together with a great generation of Spanish tennis players from the 2000s. What does it mean for you to watch your career reflected in these digital works signed by VUHO 3D?
It is always nice to see your successes reflected in a work of art but I am especially excited that they are digital works. I am not used to this interactive world but I find it incredible and I am excited to enter something that is clearly growing and that is defining future generations. Being one of the first athletes in Europe to enter this world is exciting. I have learned in the process and I am looking forward to seeing the evolution of the works that we have created in the digital world.
One of the works shows all the tournaments you have won throughout your career in an animated video in 3D format. Is there a specific moment that is more emotional or special for you? Which?
The artwork sums up my career very well. As we walk through different courts in the world of tennis where I have suffered so much and which have given me so much joy, while we glimpse the three moments that have most marked my career: Davis Cup 2000, Roland Garros 2003 and the world number 1.
Do you think sport is art? Why?
Art expresses ideas and feelings. Sport expresses ideas and how art does, sport manages to stir feeling in the viewer too. Both can create magical moments and change the mood of the observer.
How did you find out about the world of NFTs?
It is something that today you already hear from the past but without understanding it. Through some colleagues from the Academy and collaborators that we have had, I got to know him better and I dared to carry out this project. Part of my philosophy and of the Academy is to innovate, with meaning that yes.
Why do you think digital art is on the rise?
I see it in the children of my friends and family, even in my children even though they are still young. Their way of communicating and expressing themselves is different. I work with young people who prefer to send a thousand whatsapp to a simple call. It doesn't seem like any fashion to me. I believe that digital art is a form of natural evolution of art and that it will continue to grow.
Tell us what attracted you to StadioPlus. Why did you decide to be part of the project?
It has collaborators with whom I have already worked. In something so new, trust is important and having positive experiences helps.
How do you think NFT technology can help the world of sports?
NFTs can help reach the very young, who have a much harder time keeping their attention on just one thing. I think it can be a great support for promoting the sport in the future. The clearest example is PSG officially announcing the signing of Messi through this technology. It was fast and very effective, giving an extra reality to that fact. I do not limit myself to a press release and wait to have it physically. It was very effective and spectacular from minute 1.
