Tommy Haas once had the tennis world at his feet. Unfortunately it’s been his right shoulder that has tripped him up.
Haas has been under the knife so often that he jokes having titanium in his shoulder might be the only solution to his career-long injury horrors.
But the 37-year-old Florida-based German insists he has no plans to quit a sport that has brought him joy and heartbreak in equal measure and came to its latest halt in a second round Wimbledon defeat on Wednesday.
Haas lost 6-0, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4) to Canadian seventh seed Milos Raonic, buried beneath a barrage of 29 aces and 61 winners.
However, he was happy just to be playing again after the fourth shoulder surgery of his career kept him off court from June last year to last month’s Stuttgart grass-court tournament.
In that time, his ranking slipped to 861.
But Haas has been at such a crossroads on many occasions in his career.
In 2002, he reached a high of two in the world but missed the 2003 season and the start of 2004 as he needed his first two bouts of shoulder surgery.
The same shoulder needed another operation, affecting his 2007 and 2008 campaigns.
He also missed 14 months from February 2010 until April 2011 with hip and yet more shoulder trouble.
At the end of 2010, he was down at 373 in the world while fighting back to number 12 three years later.
– Very special –
“I was joking with my last surgery on my shoulder that maybe we can put some titanium in there where I can maybe just get more speed but it wasn’t possible,” said Haas, who was trying to become the oldest man to make the third round at a Grand Slam since 39-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open.
“I’m still here, still playing. Some people have more bad luck and never can come back from an injury. Some people have no injuries throughout their career.
“Is it really the DNA? Is it, you know, what we have from our parents, our grandparents? Is it how you train? Who really knows, right, what’s the right answer to that?
“You deal with it as it comes. I’m still thankful for the opportunities I give myself and still enjoy being out there and try to train hard and, you know, give myself chances like I did today.
“Playing on Court 1 in Wimbledon at my age, my career, was very special.”
Haas was playing in his 15th Wimbledon having made his bow in 1997, with a best performance of making the semi-finals in 2009.
He also made the semi-finals three times in Australia and has collected 15 career singles titles.
“I’m heading in the right direction again. I’m definitely not there where I want to be, but more than working hard I can’t do,” added Haas.
Despite his numerous visits to the operating table, Haas has retained his sense of humour.
When asked what he has learned from his many injuries, he answered: “Try to avoid them. That would be the best thing. Surgery is not fun.”