In a day dominated by the news that Juan Martin Del Potro might be healthy enough to start practicing in time for the U.S. Open, other players on both the ATP and WTA Tours dealt with their own injury issues yesterday in events in Hamburg, Portorož and Atlanta. And while for Lleyton Hewitt and Nikolay Davydenko it may be a return to a familiar storyline, Jelena Jankovic and Andy Roddick hope their own brief ventures yesterday into “wounded warrior” status doesn’t hamper their summer hardcourt seasons.
In Hamburg, top seed Davydenko found himself on the losing end in his 4-6, 4-6 loss to Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan. Davydenko, who suffered a left wrist injury in March, has only played four events after being out of action for most of the spring. Even though Davydenko’s wrist might not have been a factor in the loss, it’s definitely another setback for the Russian who many thought had a real chance to win a Grand Slam after his stellar late season run in 2009 that saw him take the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Meanwhile in Atlanta, No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt fell to Lukas Lacko 4-6, 2-6. After his match, Hewitt cited that an undisclosed injury prevented him from serving as well as he’d hoped in the match.
Also in Atlanta, top seed Andy Roddick not only had to battle the stifling heat but a pinched nerve in his foot during his first round encounter with Rajeev Ram which Roddick finally prevailed in over two hours 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-3. Afterwards, Roddick said he considered calling for the trainer before the third set but decided against it as he thought taking off his shoe might make the condition worse. Roddick didn’t think it would be an issue in his next match against Xavier Malisse. And finally in Portorož Jelena Jankovic rolled her left ankle in the second set in her match against qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova which forced Jankovic to retire in the third set. Later Jankovic through her Twitter account, said “Rolled my ankle a little. Will be OK. Just a little disappointing. Will rehab and get ready for San Diego.” Jankovic, who had to retire in her fourth round match at Wimbledon hopes this string of injuries isn’t an omen of things to come.
Finally it was probably appropriate Jankovic used social media to let everyone know about her health as it’s becoming the fastest and easiest way for many players to let their fans know how their bodies are holding up. And fans are letting them and tournaments know what they think as well. When the Atlanta tournament announced on its Facebook page that Mardy Fish, who rolled his ankle in his previous match against Robby Ginepri, decided to pull out of the doubles event with Andy Roddick so that Fish could be fresher for his next singles match, a lively discussion ensued on the tournament’s Facebook page with some fans expressing dismay and even asking for their money back.
One can’t blame eager fans, especially in Atlanta that hasn’t had a professional tennis event in almost ten years, for wanting to see players actually play and not hold back because of injury. But such is the life of the pros today where preventing and/or maintaining injuries is almost as important as practicing serves and groundstrokes.
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Hard courts are tough on the body – no doubt about that. And the transition from clay to hard, from sliding to sticking, must be a tough one too. Hope everybody stays as healthy as they possibly can out there. It would be nice if Fish could be replaced in dubs, but really the fans should relax and be happy that they have an event. Plenty of good matches to come in HOTLANTA!
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