The theme of pro tennis this week was Back to the Future. Back after lengthy injury woes, Kenneth Carlsen and Magnus Norman turned back the clock with excellent performances to reach the Tokyo final.
Carlsen and Norman rise from the depths in Tokyo
The Tokyo tournament this week featured a strong field, with the likes of world number one Lleyton Hewitt, Spanish stars Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya, and rising Asian star Paradorn Srichaphan. But when the week ended, the final featured two valiant warriors back from serious injuries.
Swede Magnus Norman was a top five player and French Open finalist two years ago. At the top of his game, he suffered torn hip cartilage (the same injury that has since afflicted the man who beat him in the 2000 French Open final, Gustavo Kuerten), and his comeback from arthroscopic surgery has been arduous. Norman?s ranking had slipped to 212 prior to the Tokyo tournament, and he was forced to play through the qualifying rounds in the land of the rising sun.
After successfully qualifying, Norman marched to the final, notably accounting for two seeds, #2 Ferrero and #16 Taylor Dent. Magnus finally feels that the magic is returning to his racquet. ?After one and half months I was supposed throw the crutches away, but I still couldn't walk,? commented the Swede. ?That was a very tough moment for
me, but I always believed in myself, I'm very stubborn and I wanted to really come back."
Kenneth Carlsen?s comeback is arguably even more impressive. Carlen was a regular in the top 100 throught the 1990s. But in 2000 he underwent two separate shoulder operations and for a while dropped completely off the rankings. "They said it would take 6-8 months, and I got back after nine and a half months,? said the Danish serve-volleyer. The whole period was 19 months, which is a long time for a tennis player.?
If nothing else, the comebacks of Norman and Carlsen have driven home how lucky both men are to still be playing the sport they love. Norman: ?When my life is going too fast I press the stop button and I re-wind to a year ago. I think that I should be pretty happy that I can play tennis at all." Carlsen: "I came away from tennis and kind of realised how lucky I am to play tennis...It's very important to remember how lucky we are to be living from our hobby. Not many people can say they do that."
Nice.