Guga Not Rushing Rehab
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Guga Not Rushing Rehab
ASPWorldTour/Francine By Richard Pagliaro
11/10/2004
A second arthroscopic hip surgery hasn't stopped Gustavo Kuerten from
tournament play ?but this tournament features splashes instead of shots and
Guga has been watching rather than playing.
The three-time Roland Garros champion took time off from his ongoing physical
therapy to take the recent Surfing World Championships Tournament in his
hometown of Florianopolis, Brazil.
An avid surfer and fan of the sport, Kuerten chatted with his favorite
surfer, Kelly Slater, and witnessed Andy Irons win his third WCT title.
"It is great to see all the best surfers in the world, here in my city,"
Kuerten said.
The Brazilian beach was a long way from the training table in Pittsburgh
where Kuerten has been spending time rehabbing his hip. The former No. 1
underwent arthroscopic surgery on his hip on September 21st at the Center of
Sports Medicine in Pittsburgh. Bone spurs blocking Kuerten's hip movement
were removed and the anterior capsule of the hip was tightened to strengthen
the joint’s stability. Dr. Marc Philippon, a member of the surgical team
that conducted the procedure, prescribed a rehab program that could span four
to six months.
"The surgery was successful. We were able to remove all the injuries that
were causing pain and blocking the movement," said Dr. Philippon.
Since the surgery, Kuerten has been splitting time between Philippon's
Pittsburgh rehab center and his Florianopolis home. Late last month, Kuerten
began walking without crutches and has recently increased his regiment of
walking though he cannot run yet.
"I spend some weeks here and some weeks in the States, and everything is
going fine," Kuerten said. "Once I got off the crutches, about 10 days ago,
and started walking again I have been feeling much better. I am able to walk
for some hours but I am still not running."
Kuerten is currently entering phase two of a three-phase rehab program for
Kuerten. Phase one featured rest and light exercise to permit the tissues
around the joint to heal. In the second phase, Guga will engage in a more
rigorous, supervised exercise program in an effort to strengthen and
stabilize the muscles around the hip. The third phase of rehab will prepare
Kuerten for a return to competition.
Magnus Norman, Kuerten's opponent in the 2000 Roland Garros final, recently
retired after spending recent years struggling with hip problems. While
Norman's hip injury is thought to be more severe than Kuerten's, Guga is
proceeding with caution and does not want to rush the rehab process and risk
re-injury.
"I am not gonna rush anything. The doctors are happy with my progress, but it
is a slow process," Kuerten said. "I am putting all my efforts into the rehab
but I am also enjoying my time with my family and girlfriend (Leticia), and
seeing some life outside the tennis tour, enjoying the trips without the rush
of the tournaments. It is hard to put any dates or time to be competing
again, but I will be back next year, very motivated and I should be ready and
in shape to play Roland Garros and even the tournaments before."
When he's not relaxing watching surfers ride the waves, Kuerten spends some
time surfing the 'Net. Guga was one of the first prominent players to
recognize the power of a personal web site to reach tennis fans. Kuerten has
maintained his official web site Guga.com since 1997 with the current format
in place since 2000 and characterizes his official site as a "crucial" source
of communication with his fans.
"I think it is something that has become very important," Kuerten told Tennis
Week in a recent email interview. "Through the web site all the fans can be
well informed of where I am, how I am playing, what I am doing when I am not
competing, etc., and they can be sure it is official news, not rumors. Then,
I get involved directly on recording some messages to the fans and giving
ideas such as when I have to be off the tour for some weeks, to show how my
physical therapy treatment was going to be like."
Kuerten has undergone two hip procedures in the past two and a half years.
On May 26th, 2002, Kuerten underwent arthroscopic hip surgery in Nashville
and returned to tournament tennis two months later. Though he went on to win
his first career title in Brazil on hard court in September of 2002, the man
many players regard as the premier clay-court player of his generation has
not surpassed the quarterfinals in nine Grand Slam events since his surgery.
He has won three tournament titles — Auckland and St. Petersburg last year
and his second career Costa Do Sauipe championship this year — in the past
two years and was runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2003 Indian Wells final.
His best Grand Slam result since his initial surgery came last spring when
the charismatic Kuerten beat top-ranked Roger Federer en route to the Roland
Garros quarterfinals where he suffered a
2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(6) setback to David Nalbandian. In the aftermath of that
match, Kuerten conceded he was not 100 percent healthy.
The gregarious Guga will be home throughout the rest of November, spending
time with his family and friends, celebrating the birth of his niece Larissa
(his brother Rafael’s daughter born last week) and his grandmother Olga
Schloesser's 83rd birthday, before returning to Pittsburgh in December for
more rehab. He plans to maintain his connection with fans through Guga.com.
"I really hope they have fun and that they can get a real idea of myself, of
what I am doing, of my activities and that they can feel close to me,"
Kuerten told Tennis Week.
Guga說他恢復得很好，雖然Norman因臀傷而退休，然而Guga的傷勢本來就比較輕微。
Guga說他希望重回賽場，至少明年一定會回去Rolandgarros，甚至是參加之前的比賽。
Guga說雖然無法打球，但是他很享受跟家人、還有女友Leticia共度的時光！:DD
而且Guga最近花了很大的心力在他的官網，為了他的球迷(淚)
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好想看看他女友，Guga結婚吧！XD
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