Tennis players are a versatile breed. Some of them choose to quit at the top of their game; not ready to play the role of an also-ran after scaling the highest peaks of the sport. Others continue to grind it out on the professional circuit, years after their best days are behind them.
Jimmy Connors dropped out of the top 10 in April 1989 but continued playing for a few more years. And the Connors legend would not be the same were it not for his improbable yet magical run to the US Open semi-finals at the age of 39.
It takes a certain amount of character to continue playing when age or your body has got the better of you. It takes guts to come back from injury after injury; surgery after surgery; setback after setback - and put yourself in a position to be beaten by an opponent you know is not in the same league as you. It takes courage to defy the odds and the ravages of the ageing process for that one last shot at glory. And it takes a pure sacred love of the game to continue playing for the chase of that one last shot.
No one exemplifies these qualities more than Lleyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian and Tommy Haas - three former top-ranked men, two of whom were part of the ATP NEW BALLS, PLEASE campaign launched in 2001, who are now in the midst of their latest comeback attempts.
Hewitt is by far the most accomplished of the trio - having won 2 Grand Slams and reaching the top ranking in April 2001. Its been five years now since he has been ranked in the top 10 and six since he last reached the semi-finals at a Slam. It would have been easy for him to settle into the family life with his three kids or into the role of a Davis Cup captain. But a surgery on each of his hips and his ankle later, the Australian is still slugging it out on the tour. Hewitt had a 4-4 record this year until his latest setback - the ankle - put a brake on his season in March. He is back this week at the Gerry Weber Open and has won his first two matches - over Leonardo Mayer and Andreas Seppi - to reach the quarter-finals.
30 year old Hewitt certainly doesn't believe he is a spent force. In his post-match interview after beating Mayer, the Aussie said, "Ranking is not important to me. I have been out of the game for over three months and I feel it's tough to readjust. I couldn't care less about points.I have to pick up my game again, my timing, movement, footwork - everything has to become second nature again." He believes there will be more moments like last June where he unexpectedly beat Roger Federer in the finals of this same tournament after losing to the Swiss the last 15 times they had played. Not many think Hewitt has a chance to win Wimbledon this year, but at the same time, all the top seeds will be hoping to avoid drawing him in the early rounds at SW 19.
David Nalbandian is the opponent that Hewitt beat for his Wimbledon title and the 29 year old Argentine is now in a similar position to Hewitt. Nalbandian has been a sort of an enigma to many. Many anointed him as a Grand Slam champion but he never made it to another Slam final following that Wimbledon loss. And questionable fitness and a body that broke down at regular intervals has meant that he has not been to the semi-finals of a Slam since 2006.
In May 2009, Nalbandian underwent a hip surgery, and then had to endure abdominal and knee injuries as he launched his comeback in 2010. And in 2011, its been a torn hamstring and a hernia,that has prevented him from competing since March. Still ranked a respectable 24th in the world, Nalbandian also returned to the tour this week at the Ageon Classic in Queen's beating Illya Marchenko and Ilija Bozoljac before losing to the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Nalbandian will be another player the top seeds will be looking to avoid when the draw is made.
The oldest, most injured, and least accomplished of this triumvirate is 33 year old Tommy Haas. The German rose to #2 in the world in 2001, but was soon involved in a severe accident that nearly claimed the lives of his parents, leaving his father in a coma. Haas spent much of the 2002 season taking care of his family instead of playing tennis. At the end of his lay-off because of his parent's accident, he seriously injured his shoulder, requiring a major operation. He was plagued by further injuries and complications, and did not return to tennis until 2004. He then had shoulder surgery in November 2007 which took him out for 3 months. In 2010, the German had to undergo a right hip surgery followed by a right elbow surgery. Haas played his first singles match in 14 months at the French Open last month where he was beaten in the first round and he also lost his first match at Halle this week.
Haas is a little more skeptical about his future. Following his loss in Paris, he said, "I'm just kind of right there where I'm not sure where the body will be. All I try to do is to get it back to a place where I feel really comfortable for a few hours playing a match. And if that's possible, then I'll continue to play if I still have some success. And if I know it's next month or the end of the year that that's not the case, then I know where I am at and I can make a decision if I continue to play."
Here's hoping that they stick around a little longer and the sport, that they have given their life to, gives them a chance to go out on their own terms. Each one of them brings something unique to the game. Hewitt's fighting and competitive spirit, Nalbandian's smooth groundstrokes, and Haas' flowing one-handed backhand will be sorely missed when they decide to hang up their rackets for good.
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