Tennis Prose




Apr/12

19

Monaco’s Ecstacy And Then…Agony


By Amanda H. LeMay

During the Monte Carlo Masters event this week, many fans were witness to the gut-wrenching ankle injury suffered by Juan (Pico) Monaco in his first round match against Robin Haase. Having just won his second clay event of the year in Houston and matching his all time career high of #14, he seemed on the verge of cracking the top ten for the first time. The injury, officially torn ligaments in his right ankle, will keep him out of the game for a month and thus leave very little preparation time for the French Open. Such a pity for a guy who loves the clay and had such a promising start to the season.

Pico’s misfortune struck a chord with me because a favorite of mine, Ernests Gulbis, suffered the same type of thing at what was perhaps his most promising time. So I started wondering how many players have fallen prey to injury just when they have achieved their career best. How many more top twenty or even top ten players could we have had if injuries were not a part of the sport? For Ernests, he had just won his first ATP title, reached the semi-finals of a Master’s event, beaten Roger Federer along the way and was on the verge of breaking into the top 20 for the first time. He even came into the 2010 French Open as a dark horse to take the title. But a torn hamstring during the first round stopped his run and, in my opinion, he hasn’t had the same momentum since.

Momentum is a very important thing in the sport of tennis. So is building and maintaining confidence. So trying to come back after a long break and a significant injury can sometimes be incredibly difficult. Take older players like Tommy Haas and Nikolay Davydenko. Both have had tremendous success on the court but have fallen just short of reaching the top of the game. Plagued with knee and wrist injuries they never found enough consistency to capture the big ones. Former grand slam champion and #1 Marat Safin said that a chronic knee injury essentially ended his career just after he won the Australian Open in 2005. Even though he played four more years before retiring for good, his movement was never the same and he never won another title. Dmitry Tursunov, another talented Russian, has been in and out of the game throughout his whole career and unable to ever really reach his full potential. Monfils has knee problems, Hewitt hips, Benneteau just fractured his elbow. American Bobby Reynolds hurt his wrist in practice just after reaching his career high in 2009. The list goes on and on. Also, we lost the super promising Mario Ancic to chronic mono and a career ending injury and Robin Soderling has been out almost a year due to the same condition. Could he have had a slam by now had he stayed healthy?

To succeed in this business it takes a lot of talent for sure. But also maybe a bit of luck? I really never remember Roger Federer being out for very long with any type of injury. Andy Roddick has also been very healthy until perhaps recently. Just being able to compete week after week at 100% may be half the battle in this very competitive and physically demanding sport. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for Monaco and all those others on the “injured list” right now

5 comments

  • Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Interesting article Amanda, so many players have been on torrid streaks of success when suddenly the body broke down. I remember Murray’s ankle injury in Scottsdale or IW early in his career. Rafa had a foot injury that caused him to miss his first French Open. Guga’s hip, Raonic last year at Wimbledon. Matsuoka’s cramps at US Open (and also in Davis Cup vs. New Zealand up two sets to love). Even Muster was on the fast track up the rankings when he had the mishap with the drunk driver in Miami. There are many more examples. Hope Monaco is okay and will not lose much time because of this unfortunate ankle injury.

  • Steve · April 20, 2012 at 2:53 am

    Apparently Benneteau fell in a spot close to where Monaco got injured.
    I think Benneteau also tweaked his ankle –he was playing great.

    There should be a class on how to move like Federer –perhaps it’s called ballet class.

  • Steve · April 20, 2012 at 11:45 am

    …and there’s also the top local players that get hurt in their teens and you never know if they could have made it as pros.

  • Scoop Malinowski · April 20, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    I remember Gambill me he didn’t slide but he was able to beat Rios on clay in Hamburg. Pretty interesting story. Some players just don’t slide and can still be good on clay. Agree Steve, all young players should be taught how to slide.

  • Steve · April 20, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Yeah, Scoop, but I also meant moving lightly like Fed somehow does.

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