Just three and a half weeks ago, a muscle fiber in the tennis professional’s calf tore. Tim Pütz received help from an old friend during his recovery.
Frankfurt – Anyone who meets Novak Djokovic on the tennis tour has to look closely to understand him. The exceptional Serbian professional gathers a complete staff around him: trainer, fitness coach, physiotherapist, video analyst, consultant and manager. Experts see the fact that stars like Djokovic, as was previously the case with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, move in their own cosmos at tournaments as a reason for an extremely successful career. In terms of Grand Slam titles (24), Djokovic is currently the most successful tennis player ever.
For Usinger professional Tim Pütz, the team that accompanies him at tournaments around the world is more manageable. Of course, to a certain extent, doubles partner Kevin Krawietz and the respective coach of the two are included, but usually only one comes along, as was the case at the ATP tournament in Paris-Bercy recently, Pütz’s trainer Dominik Meffert.
That should actually be enough, apart from visits from the family – Krawietz’s wife is expecting their second child, Pütz is already a father of two – and her parents. And when things get really hot, Usinger still knows Matthias Sauer. The Bad Homburg physiotherapist works in a practice opposite the Kurhaus and usually looks after Pütz during his stays in Usingen’s homeland. But Pütz couldn’t wait that long recently.
Exactly three weeks ago, Sauer’s cell phone rang. His friend Pütz was on the other end of the line. He had just hobbled off the court in Antwerp. When the score was 6:1, 0:2 in the first round match against Andrés Molteni and Matwé Middelkoop, the 36-year-old felt a stabbing pain in his left calf and announced his retirement seconds later after a brief consultation with Krawietz. It’s just a shame that the last highlight of the season for the Davis Cup doubles is just around the corner: the ATP Finals in Turin. The German combination had almost certainly qualified for the year-end tournament of the best eight. Because of her great successes this year – finals at the US Open, quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and at the Summer Games in Paris – Usinger Pütz was recently nominated as a member of the Eintracht club for the city of Frankfurt’s athletes’ election. “Tim had to use crutches for three days,” reports Matthias Sauer. After an injection treatment by the Bad Homburg orthopedist Dr. Jan Wolff he started physiotherapy. A race against time. A very painful one at that. First, blood had to be squeezed out, then he used massage to ensure that the scarring became tough, as the expert says, so that it couldn’t tear open again straight away. Ouch.
Sauer traveled to the ATP tournament in Paris-Bercy, where Pütz/Krawietz had registered, so that he could still try in an emergency. But when it became clear after the first day of the tournament that they had secured the starting place for Turin, they were able to withdraw their start. Sauer also had his hands full in the southeast of Paris (“A game there would actually have come too early for Tim”) – and was enriched by a few impressions from the world of professional tennis. When stars like Carlos Alcaraz just walked past you, it was special, said the Homburg physiotherapist, who lives in Schöneck and once met Tim Pütz through a Bergen-Enkheim tennis connection.
Sauer is now back home and Pütz has set off for Turin with Krawietz. The German duo will meet the top seeds Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) and Mate Pavic (Croatia) in their group on Monday at 10.30 a.m., after which they will face Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori (Italy) and Rohan Bopanna (India)/Matthew Ebden ( Australia).
When the German doubles play, Matthias Sauer will be watching on TV again and will at least follow the live ticker on his mobile phone on working days. And he will be even more happy than usual about every point he wins.
