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Dominic Stricker hasn’t played a game since the NextGen Finals.
Marco PescioSport Reporter
A lot has happened since Dominic Stricker (21)’s last match on December 1st. Jannik Sinner, who is a year older than him, has been crowned Australian Open champion, his Swiss friend Leandro Riedi, who is the same age, has won two Challenger tournaments – and most recently the Italian Luca Nardi, who is a year younger, defeated world number one, Novak Djokovic ( 36), beaten.
While his generation is making a splash, Stricker has to watch from home. At the NextGen Finals in Saudi Arabia he had to give up in the semi-finals at the beginning of December, and a little later he forfeited the Australian Open, where he would have been in the main draw for the first time in his career. An injury to his lower back abruptly halted the steep rise of the tennis shooting star from Grosshöchetten BE. It is a bitter setback for the youngster, who celebrated his Grand Slam debuts in Roland Garros, Wimbledon and New York last year – and went viral at the latter location with his cool singing performance in the victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Cool, cooler, Dominic! Here Stricker sings during the most important page change (00:29)
Stricker has been waiting for his comeback for weeks. His first attempts to return to Lille (Fri) and Lugano had to be postponed, and most recently he also canceled Zadar (Kro). Now it says: Nothing will happen before April. Which means that a fixed main draw ticket for the French Open is probably out of reach, especially since Stricker has now slipped to 118th place in the ranking.
“Simply not healthy”
It’s better to wait and be careful, says the Bernese camp. Father and manager Stephan Stricker says: “Domi is still young – and it is now more important to get a clean setup than to possibly risk anything with his health.” Blick tennis expert Heinz Günthardt (65) agrees: “It is wise to wait a little longer when in doubt, especially since the back is always a sensitive part of the body.”
Günthardt, long-time captain of the Swiss Billie Jean King Cup team and ex-professional, points to the fundamental problem that tennis players sooner or later get with their backs and hips: “Professional tennis is simply not healthy for this. The constant stopping movements, the different angles and positions you get into while playing tennis can really wear on over time.
And Günthardt continues: “In addition, the side of the hitting arm inevitably gains a lot more muscle mass when playing tennis – just think of Rafael Nadal’s (37) left arm. This one-sidedness leads to incorrect strain, which often leads to problems with the hips and back.”
Stricker is currently in a similar situation to the younger version of Nadal, who also struggled with injuries early on: “Completing a career 100 percent pain-free is simply not possible at this level. This means you have to find a way to manage your physical problems. The question is: How do I best do it so that my career lasts as long as possible?”
“Hope they find the right dose”
In the case of Stricker, who had repeatedly struggled with minor injuries in the previous year, it would currently make sense to let the back injury heal long enough: “The patience can pay off for him if he can do it again during his comeback and can attack carefree. I’m sure his team will have thought this through carefully. And I hope they find the right dose for the duration of the break. Unfortunately, certain physical problems cannot be eliminated during a career.”
It remains to be seen when Stricker will actually return. However, if he were to be out for a longer period of time, at a certain point there would be a lifeline that would give Stricker support in his plight in the rankings. “Then the protected ranking could become an issue,” says Günthardt. So the “protected” world ranking position, which can be applied for if the injury lasts six months or longer.
If Stricker made use of this, it would mean that he would not play any more games until June. But for the next nine months – or the first nine tournaments played – he would be back with his old top 100 ranking, which would be around 90th place. It would at least be a small consolation after the bitter full stop.
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2024-03-18 13:53:14
#Blick #tennis #expert #Günthardt #Dominic #Strickers #test #patience
