Dent has back surgery; aims to return before Wimbledon

[edberg505]

VAIL, Colo. (AP) -- U.S. Davis Cup player Taylor Dent had back surgery Wednesday and hopes to return to the tour before Wimbledon.

Dent was ranked as high as 21st last year but he's only 1-4 in 2006 and has slipped to 65th on the ATP Tour. He hurt his back in Rotterdam in February.

"This is a minor procedure and I hope to be back for the grass- court season," Dent said in a statement distributed by the ATP. "I have been able to play tennis and am training every day. I am hopeful this will help take away some of the pain during serving."

He's aiming to play in Wimbledon tuneup tournaments at London, starting June 12, and the next week at Nottingham. Wimbledon begins June 26.

Dent's serve-and-volley game carried him to the fourth round at the All England Club last year, and he was a semifinalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
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Good to see Taylor will be back soon. I wonder who he will draw in the early rounds?

 

[WayneCM]

hope the surgery doesn't have any ill effects it's always terrible to lose talent in the atp...

 

[LowProfile]

Ah that's what he's been doing. I always liked his game, incredible volleying abilities, but I've always wondered why his serve (with pace in the 140's) isn't more effective.

Perhaps he'll work on losing some weight while recovering. A serve-and-volleyer must always be in incredible shape.

 

[tonysk83]

Sometimes a big serve like that can hurt him, less time to get to the net.

 

[guernica1]

he's tinkered with his motion a bit since his earlier days, doesn't step up with his right foot before serving, a la Safin and Escude's motion and just uses platform.

coincidentally he either has lost some velocity the last few years or is trying to consciously not hit as many huge bombs.

i really hope this guy comes back, he seems to be a good all around person and love watching his game if he's playing well.

 

[joe sch]

Ah that's what he's been doing. I always liked his game, incredible volleying abilities, but I've always wondered why his serve (with pace in the 140's) isn't more effective.

Perhaps he'll work on losing some weight while recovering. A serve-and-volleyer must always be in incredible shape.

Fast serves are not the most effective for a SV games since they either usually produce service winners or passes. Many of the great SV had spin and placement so they could win the point on the volley. Also, it takes less conditioning to be a SV player since you dont need the ability to run corner to corner retrieving baseline blasts. The points are usually over after the first or second volley.

 

[araghava]

One the the problems with a big server having a big serving day is they lose rythm with the rest of their game. They actually play out a point so rarely during this period that they more often that not lose the point when the ball comes back.

 

[sandiegotennisboy]

he was never all that great. you people just like him cuz he "attempts" to S&V

 

[Saito]

he was never all that great. you people just like him cuz he "attempts" to S&V

Attempts?? He's got one of the best S&V games as of recent and he attempts...... nice

Moving along back to OP, I believe if he would spend less time filling that gut with drinking and partying and spent more time working out and trimming down, he wouldn't be in this predicament. He's got the goods to do well on tour, that's for sure. His party boy tendencies and lack of conditioning is what's stopping him from further advancement in rankings. I'm not at all surprised he is having surgery on his lower back, as it almost seemed expected. If you pay attention to his serve form, he puts a tremendous amount of pressure on his lower back, which we all know is a no-no. That, combined with his lack of good physical conditioning lead to where he is now. Hopefully this will motivate him to hit the gym and take his tennis to another level. It would be nice to someone with his talent putting up a better fight against top tier players.

my $.02..........