Gerald Melzer: "I am uncertain whether this will be anything at all"
Gerald Melzer has only played three professional matches since October 2018. The 29-year-old had to cancel his comeback last May due to a persistent ankle injury. The ankle continues to cause problems to this day, so the continuation of his career is uncertain.
by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Mar 01, 2020, 07:39 am
Last week Melzer traveled with his brother Jürgen to the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai to act as a hitting partner. In the weeks before, he was also seen on tennis training on social networks. Is Melzer's body ready for use again?
"It is difficult to answer this question," he told tennisnet . "I train a lot, but unfortunately very limited because the ankle still doesn't fit."
In summer 2018 Melzer tore a ligament in his ankle at a Challenger in Padua (Italy). Nevertheless, he initially decided to play other tournaments. The reform in the ATP ranking system more or less forced him to do so .
The ligaments recovered again, but the pain did not want to go away even after a break of months. Melzer therefore had surgery twice in the past year. "That didn't really help. It just got worse, ”says Melzer.
Only a visit to a specialist at Chiemsee brought a new treatment - and improvement. "That helped me a lot. I also thought it was going to be something now. Unfortunately, the last piece is still missing, ”explains Melzer, who still cannot completely move his ankle today. "It's better, but still far too little, to prepare myself seriously for a tournament."
Gerald Melzer: "In the worst case, I can't play anymore"
In late autumn 2016, Melzer was number 68 in the world due to a lack of appearances beyond the top 1000. “I train a lot, so I'm fit. It is extremely slow. I am still uncertain whether this will ever happen again. "
Because the training is still painless even 17 months after the original injury. Now he is trying to learn to compensate for the ankle limitation, explains Melzer, who has a protected ranking of 245.
“At some point I have to make a decision, but it doesn't look that bright at the moment. If the pain disappears completely, I will play my first tournament in six weeks. In the worst case, I can no longer play. I can make absolutely no forecast. "
During his compulsory break in 2019, Melzer completed an apprenticeship to become a tennis trainer, specially tailored to top players and professionals. He also took care of his "Happy Place", a leased fishing pond in the Tullner Basin.
"Unfortunately, after not playing, I was able to spend far too much time there," says Melzer. One of his better-known fishing partners is ski professional Manuel Feller. Melzer knows the ÖSV athlete from joint training sessions with fitness coach Gernot Schweizer, who also looked after Marcel Hirscher in the past. "If the time permits, we go fishing from time to time."