Friday, August 11, 2000
Enqvist finds comfort zone
Foot injury subsides and wins follow
By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — There was a chance Thomas Enqvist would miss the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati.
The Swede has a loose bone chip in his right foot. It forced him to retire during a third-round match last week in Toronto. It caused him to practice only lightly for three days until Sunday.
But funny thing about this injury: Sometimes the bone chip falls into a place that makes it painless. Which is what happened. Enqvist figured the surgery he will eventually have to have can wait.
“Fortunately, (the pain) kind of comes and goes,” he said. “When the foot is like this, it's no problem. I don't feel anything now.”
So here he is, the highest seed left in his half of the bracket after winning two matches Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Enqvist, whose Wednesday night match was postponed because of rain, defeated Harel Levy 6-4, 6-1 in 58 minutes in one of Thursday's first matches, then beat Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-1 in 69 minutes in the afternoon.
Today, Enqvist faces unseeded Fernando Vicente, who has beaten No.1 seed Andre Agassi and No.16 Mark Philippoussis.
“A lot of tournaments are like this,” Enqvist said. “Everybody can almost beat everybody. You have to be pre pared.
“I was pretty lucky I had two easy matches timewise. I feel good. I hit the ball well and look forward to tomorrow.”
That Enqvist is faring well in Cincinnati should come as no surprise.
He is 14-5 all-time here, tied for the fourth-most victories among active players with Patrick Rafter. Enqvist was a semifinalist in 1996 (losing to Michael Chang) and in '95 (losing to Agassi). Plus, he is 11-4 since the end of May.
“This is one of my favorite tournaments,” he said. “This surface and this time of the year are good for me. I think you feel more positive when you come to a place where the surface and conditions suit your game.”
Enqvist, ranked as high as No.4 in the world, was runner-up to Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the 1999 Australian Open — his best Grand Slam finish. He has won two Tennis Masters Series events in his career.
He is now 13th in the ATP Champions Race and eighth in the ATP Entry System.
Like a lot of Swedish kids growing up, Enqvist idolized Bjorn Borg, watching his matches on television. When he was 15, Enqvist got a phone call from Borg's coach asking if he would hit with him.
“I think I couldn't sleep for two nights,” Enqvist said. “He was one of my heroes, for sure. That's why I got interested in the sport. Tennis was a huge thing when I was growing up.
“He was very, very nice. It inspired you not only in that practice, but to go out and practice hard. It was a nice moment for me.”
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