Agustín Tapia, better known as “El Mozart de Catamarca”, is a professional padel player born on July 24, 1999 in Argentina, in the city of Catamarca, located 1,200 kilometers from Buenos Aires. This young player has conquered the hearts of the fans of this sport, due to his ingenuity and his optimism for not giving a single ball for lost, which makes him capable of making points that seem almost impossible.
Beginnings
For Tapia, since he was very young, his passion has been to play paddle, in fact, he always had the vision of playing this sport at a professional level. So when he was only 15 years old, he decided to leave home and his family, to go to the city of Rosario in order to enhance his skills.
For a couple of years, he was training very hard until he finally managed to become the number 1 of the absolute professional circuit in Argentina. After this achievement, his first opportunity to travel to Spain would not be long in coming, so with just 17 years old he toured several tournaments of the World Padel Tour.
The result? He reached the final draw in the Barcelona MASTER, facing the best padel players in the world at that time. Now, his second stage in Spain, would begin in Barcelona, participating in the International Campus for minors, where he had to train very hard for the World Championship that took place in October.
At the age of 18, Tapia signed his first professional contract with NOX, an event that would lead him to take the most important step of his life: to start his career as a professional padel player.
Strengths
On the court, the player from Catamarca is considered a specialist in the impossible, and although off the court he projects an introverted and humble personality, once he steps on the court his attitude changes radically, becoming a very daring player. In the 20×10 he is usually very irreverent, he is even a magician when it comes to scoring incredible points.
Here are some of his strengths as a player:
- Speed: Regardless of his starting position, Tapia tries to catch every ball. We have seen occasions where he recovers from the lane on his side or on his partner’s side. “The Mozart of Catamarca” is very fast from the station and reaches almost every ball. All this, thanks to his ability to move fast while creating magical moments for the audience to enjoy.
- Versatility: He is one of the most versatile players today. He tends to exude a lot of confidence and knows what he is capable of doing. Tapia knows how to make his moves in the interest of getting good results, so he moves quickly under the ball to deliver a high spin shot from anywhere on the court.
- Innate talent: At a very early age he exhibits a wide range of physical and mental abilities. He is confident and positive on the court. He does not follow conventional rules and is an innovator of the game. He also stands out for being very creative, which has led him to be a top 10 player in recent years.
Weaknesses
The Argentinean reached the top very early and in a short period of time has shown a legendary style on the court. This has allowed his coaches and teammates to set no restrictions against him, placing full confidence in his abilities and giving him the freedom to develop his game calmly.
With so much talent, Tapia is at his best when he can fully develop his style of play, but he also has some weaknesses:
- Fatigue: In longer matches, he tends to show signs of fatigue, which leads him to make mistakes in his choice of shots and he tends to lose self-confidence.
- Risks: Likes to finish longer points in style, however, this often increases the risks of losing points in longer exchanges.
- Lack of maturity: We know he can do everything and even he knows it, but maturity can play a bigger role in the more evenly matched games.
A young man with a bright future
“The Mozart of Catamarca” at 20 years old is one of the most representative stars in this generation of young padel players destined to become the face of the sport in the years to come.
To date, Tapia is the youngest professional padel player to win a World Padel Tour tournament. In fact, he is also the youngest to become a master, after emerging victorious alongside Fernando Belasteguín in the Estrella Damm Menorca Master Final.
Since his beginnings, the Argentine has been in the top 10 players of the circuit. If he continues to mature and perfect his style of play, padel fans have no doubt that he will continue to move up the rankings every year until he eventually becomes the number 1 player in the ranking. He has great potential!