AGM Team - Gonzalo "Talito" Corrales
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Born in the Northern Spanish city of Huesca, in 1975, Gonzalo “Talito” Corrales is an example on how to use sports in order to advance in the academic and professional world. He was one of the best junior tennis players in the history of the sport but, instead of choosing the professional path, decided to move to the United States to get a college education
As a tennis player, Talito won his first Spanish National title at the age of 12, forcing his move to Barcelona where he was formed tenistically. From that point, he started finding success not only nationally, but also internationally. First, he reached the final of the Official World Championships Under-14 in Tarb, France, and became the number 1 player in the European rankings for that age group. Also in that year, he won the European Championships in doubles, celebrated in Sofia, Bulgaria, forming team with Albert Costa.
At 16, Talito won the Spanish National title in singles and doubles, beating Alberto Costa in the final and winning in doubles with him as a team. Representing Spain, Talito, Albert Costa and Roberto Carretero won the European and World Championships, dominating the sport and not allowing one loss in either tournament. In that same year, he entered for the first time in the ATP rankings and qualified for the first time in an ATP Tour event. He finished the year with a victory in the Individual World Championships, the Orange Bowl, in Miami, Florida, tournament he won in 1991 beating Thomas Johansson in the final.
Off the tennis courts, the city of Huesca choose him, representing the province, to run the last mile when the Olympic torch went through downtown, lighting the Olympic flame with the city’s major. At the same time, the Spanish media named him “the best young athlete for the future” in the country.
At 17, Talito continued playing professionally, qualifying for a second ATP Tour event (in Athens, Greece) and competing in Satellites and Challengers all around the world. He reached the finals in different Satellite tournaments, like Anaheim, California or Bangkok, Thailand, and reached the semifinals in doubles in the Challenger of Ljubljana, Slovenia. With the National team, forming team with Albert Costa and Roberto Carretero, they once again won the European Championship and, teaming up with Albert Costa in doubles, reached the semifinals of Roland Garros in the junior category.
After his junior career, Talito surprised everyone in the tennis World with his decision of retiring from the professional tour and preparing himself for a collegiate career in the United States. He kept competing in college tennis, first at Texas Christian University (TCU, in Fort Worth, Texas) and the last two years at the University of Georgia (UGA, Athens, Georgia). In the US, he became the only athlete to win 3 different conferences (Southwest, WAC, and SEC Conferences) and the NCAA Championships, title he won representing UGA in 1999. He was the captain of both universities and finished his tennis career playing in front of a home crowd of 5,300 people in the final of the NCAAs in Athens, Ga.
During his junior and professional years, Talito had victories over Thomas Johansson (Australian Open Champion), Albert Costa (Roland Garros champion), Magnus Norman (ATP Tour number 1), Justin Gimelstob, Jean-Michael Gambill, Hendrick Dreekman, and many other players that have been ranked in the top-50 of the ATP Tour rankings.
Academically, Talito dropped out of high-school at the age of 15 to dedicate full time to the sport of tennis. At 19, when he decided to go back to school, he took the necessary tests to enter the American system, including the GED (high-school equivalence test). He graduated in Business, with a specialization in Marketing, from the University of Georgia. Years later, he received an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from Florida International University.
Professionally, Talito has more than 10 years of experience at American multinational companies, working with banks and financial institutions from all over the world. His first years at Americas Software and at Experian (EXPN) were exclusively dedicated to Technology Consulting in the prevention of Money Laundering, getting certified as an Anti-Money Laundering specialist and participating in conferences as a speaker in different places across the globe. Later on, with Fair Isaac (FICO), his responsibility has been limited to Iberia, working with the most important financial institutions of Spain and Portugal, helping them in managing risk throughout the whole life-cycle of the clients of these institutions.
He also realizes the power of sports to change the lives of many kids around the community and used to belong to the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Tennis Foundation, organization dedicated to help underprivileged kids using tennis as a vehicle. This organization has many programs in Miami-Dade County and helps more than 1.000 kids with its programs.
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