Another One Bites The Dust
Arthur Fils' stress fracture is bad news for him but also for the sport. Read what he said, and what a player who had it too, a coach and a trainer said about the heavy pressure now put on bodies.
Welcome back! In today’s edition, I’m covering how another player is suffering a back stress fracture on the ATP, this time Arthur Fils. I’m bringing you exclusive reactions from a coach and a fitness trainer about it all, one sounding the alarm about the overall situation on Tour. Also in this edition, an exclusive feature with one of the fastest-rising players on the WTA Tour, Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva who shines a different light on US College tennis, as instead of opening her path, it nearly buried it.
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Another Broken Spine In Tennis
A year ago, Czech player Jiri Lehecka, 22, collapsed on court in Madrid during his semifinal match. Verdict: a stress fracture in his back that would take him out of competition until Cincinnati in August. On Saturday, Arthur Fils, 20, came to press at Roland-Garros to explain he was withdrawing from the tournament due to a stress fracture in his lower back. Another broken spine. Not too long ago, former World No.1 Dinara Safina saw her career ended by a broken spine. It’s one of these tennis injuries that make anyone pause. It’s on the “that’s bad” list.
“I had some issues with the back for a long time, and during the match against Munar, it got worse. Then I did some exams. The exams were not good at all. I got a stress fracture. We decided with the team that it was better to stop now, because it could mean stopping for four to six weeks instead of a couple of months,” he explained. “I will try to be ready for Wimbledon, but we are not sure. To be honest, we don't know,” he added.
“I still have 10, 12 Roland Garros ahead of me to play so there’s no need to rush my return to competition,” said Arthur Fils
Fils actually suffers a stress fracture in his back for the second time in his young career. “It's part of a top-level athlete's life. It's an injury that I'm familiar with. It doesn't concern me so much. I need to undergo the right treatment, and then I'll be back on again. But I still have 10, 12 Roland Garros ahead of me to play so there’s no need to rush my return to competition. If I need to take the time to heal and be ready for the US swing at the end of the season, then it’s fine. Sure, it's a pity, because I actually had a wonderful match against Munar, playing in front of my home crowd. It was fantastic. But then, towards the end of the match, I knew that I wouldn't be able to play the next round. And it was not just cramps that was the problem, as Munar alleged. I gave everything. I couldn't go for more. At the end of the second set, I could feel that the back was not good at all.”
What’s also interesting is that Arthur Fils came into Roland-Garros with back pain. “I had problems before the tournament. We made the decision to play nonetheless, but it got worse when I played against Munar, honestly.” In light of what you read and hear Casper Ruud say here, confirmed by Alex de Minaur, about players being made to play injured, that Fils injury unfortunately gives the whole debate a new layer. Especially since Fils and team had decided he wouldn’t take painkillers to make sure not to push over the limit. But against Munar, Fils still took the painkiller offered by the doctor because he just couldn’t stand not finishing that match.
“I gave everything. I couldn't go for more. At the end of the second set, I could feel that the back was not good at all. It was one thing with the team and with the doctor, we said, ‘Okay, whatever, you have some issue before the tournament, but if you want to play, we just have to play without painkiller, so we know you can still play.’ During the match against Munar, at the end of the second set, I said, ‘You know what, I'm going to call the doctor and I'm going to take painkiller.’ But then I understood that the back was not good at all, but because of the crowd, I could make it in the fifth.” In the end, he won that match but he might have lost the next few months. Ranking, prize money, sponsors, ambition: sometimes that pressure ends creating a perfect storm and it’s the body that pays the price.
Jiri Lehecka: “It’s a bad injury”
I then asked Jiri Lehecka about it. He went through what Fils is now just starting to experience again, and the Czech was genuinely sorry for the French player. Because he knows just how rough his road is about to be.
“It's a bad injury. I'm sorry for him, but I know exactly how he feels. It's really not an easy injury, you know, not even from the physical part, but also from the mental part because it's something you don't really know how to deal with. It's something that anyone can go through differently. Anybody can react differently, you know. Someone can take a year to heal something like that, someone can take three months, someone one month… It's unfortunate, and I hope he will get back on track as soon as possible. But the worst thing is that there isn't really anything he can do that is gonna get it better immediately, so he will need to keep calm and just wait. That's the worst thing about it.”
I also asked the opinion of a very experience fitness trainer, Laurent Laffite who worked for example with Garbine Muguruza and also worked with Arthur Fils at the French Federation and during the Davis Cup ties. He told me that what’s needed with this type of injury is now a complete stop for 10 to 15 weeks. No training maintenance, nothing. “There’s just nothing to do for now. It’s a heavy injury, so there’s going to be a lot of loss in the muscle mass and so the time needed to rebuild it all could take double the time of being made to stop all activities.” Thing is that “tennis comes with a lot of constraints for the body in terms of rotations and flexions” for example. So Fils will have to rebuild everything that is about core strength. “It’s about learning how to move again.”
“It’s a heavy injury, so there’s going to be a lot of loss in the muscle mass and so the time needed to rebuild it all could take double the time of being made to stop all activities,” said fitness trainer Laurent laffite
Laffite also detailed why it’s worse to have a stress fracture than a regular one. “With a regular fracture, the bone is actually healthy on both sides and you just have to wait for it to heal. But with a stress fracture, the bone is damaged and that’s why it broke, why there’s a bone edema. The bone itself has been eroding.” I also asked Laffite if, as a professional trainer, he was getting worried to see so many mild to severe injuries happening in tennis to young players. “Sometimes, it feels like they come as series. I saw a lot of wrist injuries lately, and before that it was ankles and calves. It’s tough to say… I see regular bones injuries, for sure. But it’s like when you now watch rugby players: they’re all sto strong now that the level of intensity has consequences. Tennis players are getting so strong and so are hitting harder and harder, and so the pressure on their bodies is getting bigger and bigger.”
Finally I asked him, if he had to work with a 20-year-old player who had already suffered two stress fractures in his back: Would he feel it’s bad luck or that there’s something wrong going on. “It can be bad luck, for sure. But in any case, I’d say we’d need to entirely review everything that happened and everything that’s been done in the training to have a global idea. Posture and mobility are huge in that sport for the spine, and it’s trickier for someone like Arthur due to his arch. There are specific things to do with that body type.” Laffite then explained that having an arch is actually a good thing as it avoids to put all the pressure on the spine. The issues with an arch comes when the arch is too pronounced though, as suddenly it’s increasing the pressure on the spine. Fils, at press, mentioned that his arch was also part of the issue here.
“The Tour Is In A Dangerous Place At The Moment”
Mikael Tillström knows firsthand the cost of stress fractures, as his career was terminated by one in his back. As a coach, he’s now telling me he’s scared about what younger players’ bodies are currently going through on Tour. Read that exclusive reaction:
Sometimes, tennis life works in a weird circle. Just a few weeks ago, I spoke with coach Mikael Tillström, and you all read about how a stress fracture in his back had ended his playing career. He also told me in Madrid that young players were at risk of getting broken early these days. So I had no other choice than to ask him for a comment on Arthur Fils’ situation, and, as usual, Tillström spoke his mind.
“Very sad to hear about Arthur’s stress fracture. It’s always hard to comment on specific cases, but in general, I believe the Tour is in a dangerous place at the moment. The bonus pool is set up so you can’t miss any of the Masters events, and as they now go over 2 weeks, even fewer weeks are given for rest and recovery. Practice weeks are almost nonexistent, and players play way too much during the year.
We have to understand it’s not only the time of matches but staying out on Tour is very demanding on the mental side. This causes stress on the body and doesn’t really help the body to recover. Many players play exhibitions and when they can get appearance fees in 250 and 500 they want to grab the money which always gonna be short sighted but it’s there…
The power in the game and the toll it takes on the bodies is something that is just getting tougher and tougher. On the men’s side, there are no easy matches unless maybe for Sinner and Alcaraz, who both are in a league of their own. I’m a bit worried about what’s happening, to be honest! The player and team need to dare to say no to money to stay a year in and out on the top (I believe Sinner has done a great job here)!”