Tennis: The incredible story of this sick French player
Published on May 14, 2024 at 2:50 p.m.
Holder of a Master’s degree in sports journalism, I fell in love with tennis since childhood and have always loved reading the great stories of this sport. Today, I want to tell them about them, take full advantage of my passion and be as close as possible to the aces of the circuit.
It’s the French player who bursts into the limelight this week and there was no better timing a few days before the start of Roland-Garros. Indeed, Alexandre Müller, 109th player in the world, achieved an incredible performance by signing his first victory against the top 10 on Monday in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Rome. The 27-year-old Frenchman also reached the round of 16 in the Masters 1000 for the first time in his career, having suffered from a terrible illness since adolescence.
All players command respect for their efforts and sacrifices and the case ofAlexandre Müller, 71st in the world at his best in January 2024, is absolutely incredible. Indeed, the Frenchman achieved a fairly late breakthrough into the top 100 at the cost of enormous efforts since he has had to play with Crohn’s disease for years, a chronic intestinal disease which can be very painful and which is not necessarily compatible with high-level sport.
Good potential
Present at the professional level for ten years, Alexandre Müller has struggled to make a big breakthrough and it came quite recently. Indeed, in 2023, he played his first final on the circuit ATPhas Marrakech on clay. HAS Rome, he has just achieved the best shot of his career. “A lot of people say that I have all the weapons to “piss off” the top 10. I have a bit of proof of that today, with this victory over the 6th in the world. Now it’s up to me to believe it even more. I believe in it, but perhaps from time to time a little less than I should. It’s not simple. Sometimes there are more complicated periods. This week in any case, I’m in a great tournament and I’m going to try to make the most of it,” he confides to L’Equipe.
A disabling disease
Alexandre Müller must also manage another important parameter: Crohn’s disease. In the columns of L’Equipe, the Frenchman explains that he has to go to the toilet very often. “I can’t be 100% all the time, I’m more fragile. Before a tennis or weight training session, I think only with my stomach. It’s automatic, my brain thinks like that. Before a match, I go to the toilet five, six times at least. When you empty yourself and lose two or three kilos, you leave with a small energy handicap. And when, after three hours of match, I can’t drink more than four sips of water without feeling like I’m going to puke on the court, I inevitably pay for it. At times, the symptoms are not pretty. Defecating blood is commonplace for me,” he continues.
Back in the top 100
Thanks to his journey to Rome where he plays his round of 16 against Nicolas Jarry this Tuesday, Alexandre Müller will return to the top 100 and above all, he should receive a wild card for Roland-Garros quite logically. The native of Poissy could have given up tennis and sport at the age of 13, he is today one of the greatest fighters.
2024-05-14 12:50:00
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