07.06.2013 12:52:54 | MUDr. Rene Kloc has been a physician of the Prostejov Challenger for the 20th time. "I can remember the first year. At that time, they played in a hall. Karol Kucera won, Jiri Novak was nineteen years old and played for the first time. Over the twenty years, Prostejov tournament has really gone through a number of changes and it has become one of the best tournaments of its kind in the world. True, I haven't been to any other such tournament, but almost all players that have asked for my services say so,“ MUDr. Kloc says.
How has the players' fitness condition changed over the twenty years? "Considering winners from the early years, the champions were perfectly prepared. I can remember Gaudenzi, or Chesnokov who had been recovering from his injury and had regularly rehabilitated here. I could, of course, name others. However, I wanted to point out that, unlike today, then average players appearing in the tournament were in a worse fitness condition. We can say the fitness condition of the top ten players has leveled up.“
Tennis is much more demanding today. Are the players well prepared for it? "Many of them are not. In particular, they underestimate rehabilitation. There are more and more injuries caused by overloading the organism. Elbows, tendons, shoulders, muscle injuries. Moreover, the general physical preparation is more and more underestimated. Most young players can't play football, some of them are not able to do a simple somersault. Early specialization is no good for the personal development in any sport."
Has the tournaments physician's office been crowded this year too? "It's been the same as in the previous years. But it was very sad at the beginning of the tournament when Pospisil had to withdraw. Cara, like everybody calls him here, showed great effort in the qualification but virosis prevented him from participating in the main contest. I just could not recommend his appearance in the tournament. Cara has always had many supporters at the tournament and it was a bad luck for him to have fallen ill a few hours before the tournament."
Who does he wish should win title of the jubilee anniversary tournament? "It should be a Czech player, of course. Now, only Radek and Jiri Vesely have a chance. Radek is coming back after the neck vertebrae surgery. I know very well what he had to overcome. Jiri is making his way up. No matter who of the two will eventually win, I'll be happy for either of them."
