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Nice interview, Vatsal.
Very sad indeed that injury is preventing Saketh from playing singles or doubles at Pune.

Sad but Saki can be moved to "They flitted briefly on the world stage". I wish he had achieved more.

rajitghosh wrote: ↑Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:03 am Sad but Saki can be moved to "They flitted briefly on the world stage". I wish he had achieved more.

Nice interview vatsal. I like the way you structured the questions including the rapid fire ones!

I'm not sure that saketh is done. There still is a chance that he could go deep in an ATP tour event - maybe even a slam.

Prof

I don't think Saketh is done, but I do think he has no more than a couple of years ahead as a pro. To be injured at the start of the season (after 6 weeks of no tennis activity) is pretty bad: he really needs to get a grip on injury issues, otherwise age will put an end to comeback hopes.

Based on the interview, Saketh appears to consider himself to have 3-4 yrs left given his late beginning as a pro. I hope he atleast has a lengthy doubles career (playing in ATP/GS level) - he deserves one.

For once, I am more optimistic than PKB I think he can easily have three good years ahead of him *if* he gets fit soon. I don't know how bad his injury is. But, he has less wear and tear than those that started the full grind at 19.

Saketh surely has a solid 6-8 years as a doubles pro, but credibly no more than a couple of years as a singles pro. At any rate, 2018 is the crucial year for him to get out of his injury funk and get back to top-150 if he is going to have much of a singles career at all.

Agree with PKB.

The "wear and tear" argument only makes sense if he isn't injured but if you are already prone to injury then injuries occur more frequently and recovery takes longer once you are older. Given that he has been mostly injured for over a year, the probability of him being injury free going forward is much lower than if he had been 25. Perhaps, a good analog to Saketh is Somdev who couldn't really shake off his injuries once he crossed 30.

Doubles not only requires much less fitness but is also far less likely to cause injuries since the rallies are typically much shorter and often rely on placement as much as power. He would likely have a better chance at a longer career in doubles.

The wear and tear injuries are repetitive stress type injuries, e.g., tendinitis, of the type Yuki has had. To the best of my knowledge, he does not have that type of injury. His injury was to his foot. I thought that was a freak injury. It could also be that his foot is weak and cannot take the strain. If it is the latter, then even two years is a stretch. The comparison with Somdev may be right but is not exactly right. Somdev played a grueling game. Those types of players last less long. See Nadal vs. Federer. I think Saketh had a big serve and he did not have to run a mile for every point.

Anyway, if any of us could really predict when injuries would be gone or how long someone can play in their career, we could make a lot of money in the betting markets. We can't really do that with any significant accuracy yet.

I'm pretty sure he's also had a shoulder injury which kept him out for several months right before the foot injury. At this age, expecting him to be fit in his 30s to play top level singles requires a lot of optimism...

Of course, injuries do vary a lot from person to person as they are generally attributable to genes (some folks just have stronger ligaments/tendons etc.), playing mechanics (e.g., running mechanics for the runners), and conditioning (building good support muscles sometimes prevents injuries in the joints). Furthermore, beyond the progressive (wear-and-tear) injuries to the muscles or joints, many of the injuries are also caused by impact or tears from discrete sudden movements (rolling ankle, for example) or over extension or other similar more discrete injuries. Fortunately, tennis does not appear to have as many bone injuries as we see in the more violent US sports.

So, while Saketh may have less "wear-and-tear" than some, his significant injury history is hardly encouraging and recovery does take longer in the 30's than in the mid 20's.

Good to see Saketh regain some form. I wonder if he can still use his PR to get into Challenger main draws...

This was from PKB in Thailand open thread.

Saketh has entered next week's Taiwan challenger with his PR. Hope he plays there as according to me that is his last tournament where he can use his PR. He has not used up all his PR spots but I think his nine month period ends after next week.

The week after next he has entered $25K futures in Uzbekistan. That too indicates the same. Unfortunately, he could use only few of his PR spots during the 9 month period due to further injury breaks during that period. Now, he will have to build up again from futures level.

I think with Saki, we should hope that he remains injury free. He will rise to the challenger level easily if he is fit.

Is there no process for appealing for an extension of the PR period of you have been injured and not been able to use the PR?

No, I don't think there is any appeal process. Once you come back from injury, the clock starts ticking. So, one is advised not to rush back from injury until one is sure one can play. Yuki also rushed back 2-3 weeks early, and that led to him missing Wimbledon last year. Saki will have a very long road back.

I found this in ATP rulebook-

A player who has returned to competition and re-injures himself may petition for a “freeze” of the nine (9) or twelve (12) month limit for
competing using his protected ranking. To be eligible for the “freeze” the player must be out of competition for a minimum of three (3) months, the written petition for the “freeze” must be received within this period. Upon the player’s return to competition he shall have the same number of events and weeks remaining as were available when the “freeze” went into eff ect. A maximum of two (2) “freezes” are allowed during the nine (9) or twelve (12) month period.

So, it seems Saketh had this option available to use. But,he never seemed to be out for more than 3 months as per the requirement although he had 2 breaks of about 2 months or thereabout within that 9 month period of injury protection. So, it looks like he will have to go thru the futures route now.