Sunday, August 04, 2002
Guga aims to get back in the groove
Hip surgery has slowed Kuerten in his quest to be No. 1 again
By Michael Perry, mperry@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Gustavo Kuerten might have a tough time successfully defending his title this week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, which begins Monday.
The Brazilian captured the third — and most significant — hardcourt tournament title of his career last year in Cincinnati. He had to finish on Sunday a tough 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4) semifinal victory over Tim Henman that had been postponed in the second set because of heavy rain Saturday night. Kuerten then disposed of Patrick Rafter 6-1, 6-3 to win the championship.
“I played unbelievable in the finals,” Kuerten said. “You need this kind of luck to be successful in these tournaments.”
It is the last event he has won. Cincinnati has not had a champion repeat since Andre Agassi in 1995 and '96.
This year “Guga” is just trying to get healthy and regain the mobility that helps him so much on the court. He retired from the Tennis Masters Series Canada Tuesday in the middle of his first match but has practiced in Cincinnati and has been declared fit to play.
After playing most of 2001 in pain, Kuerten ended up having surgery on his hip in March.
“After the (2001) U.S. Open, it was tough to recover and get my energy back,” he said. “I was all year long trying to hang in there. It was really tough at the end to have power. We are a little bit used to (playing through pain). It usually goes away in one or two weeks. But it's tough when it's something that bothers you for such a long time.”
Kuerten played two tournaments early in 2002: the Australian Open in January and Buenos Aires in February. He lost his first match both times.
He took a shot at rehabilitating his hip without surgery, but it soon became obvious he would need an operation.
“It was my first,” he said. “Before going into these kind of things, you always have these little doubts, and it was the same with me. It was a little bit scary. Finally I decided to do it. I stayed out of tennis for six weeks.
“Now things are much easier. I can play again. I can practice again the way I like. I feel like this year I can get myself together to play strong next year again.”
It was the first time Kuerten went a month without playing tennis in 15 years, he said.
He read books, went to movies, spent time with his family. But the prospects of rehabilitation and not knowing how he would be when he returned weighed heavily on his mind.
“It's not the same as when you have free time and you are physically healthy and you can enjoy much more the situation,” the typically upbeat Kuerten said. “I didn't have the same energy and inspiration to do all the things I enjoy because I had to pass over this. Right now, I feel much more like my normal life is coming back.”
Kuerten is 15-3 (.833) in Cincinnati, the second-best winning percentage in the history of the tournament (behind Mats Wilander, .837). His only losses have come to Henman (semifinals, 2000), Agassi (quarterfinals, 1999) and Michael Chang (quarterfinals, 1997).
He finished No. 1 in the world in 2000 and No. 2 last year behind Lleyton Hewitt. Kuerten has not advanced past the quarterfinals of any tournament this year.
TMS Toronto was only his ninth tournament of the year and seventh since his surgery. Kuerten went into Toronto No. 62 in the ATP Champions Race with a 12-8 singles records in 2002. He is 20th in the ATP Entry System, which is used to seed players at tournaments.
Kuerten, 25, said it will be another four to six months before “everything's going to be perfect.”
“I'm feeling all right,” the three-time French Open champion said. “I don't have the balance I used to have. My strength can improve a little bit more. Every month I feel some kind of improvement. This was a different year for me.”
In his first hardcourt tournament of the year, he won first- and second-round matches (against George Bastl and Martin Lee) at the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles before losing in three sets to eventual champion Agassi.
“If you see his strokes now, he plays at the same level or better,” coach Larri Passos said. “But he doesn't have good mobility. I try to say every time take the ball early, recover fast. That's what I try to put in his mind. This is day-by-day.”
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Guga aims to get back in the groove
