ROSAMUND wrote:

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Simon Briggs in Daily Telegraph 8th May says Katie faces a lengthy lay-off because of a suspected spinal stress fracture.   Get well Katie. 

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That sounds more than a month layoff sadly, and throws in doubt any likelihood of Katie being able to play the grass season. It may effectively mean that she does not have much of a season at all this year, considering apart from the Fed Cup she's played very little. Get well indeed Katie.  

Coup Droit wrote:

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Oh, Lord.

Isn't that what Evan Hoyt had? (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Took him ages to get through it.

Really feel for her. Especially given all the illness problems she had a couple of years ago.

(She is tall and very slight, does anyone know if that makes the problem more likely?)

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Yes. 

'Spondylolysis is a back stress fracture. It is a common cause of structural back pain in children, adolescents and active young adults... 

Spondylolysis tends to occur in two distinct stages of your skeletal development:

1. Early childhood - when a child is learning to stand or walk.
2. Early adolescence - high-risk active sportspeople with immature bone structure.

The condition is more common in males; 2:1.

The treatment results for spondylolysis is based on your history and symptoms. In most cases, spondylolysis symptoms will resolve within 6 to 12 weeks.

Non-surgical conservative treatments successfully relieve pain in approximately 80-85% of children and adolescents with acute spondylolysis. However, the potential for recurrence is high in individuals who do not address the risk factors that led to the initial injury. Spondylolysis is a condition that will recur if you overstress your lower back. The main reason it is thought to recur is due to poor muscle control or insufficient rehabilitation.

Edited highlights from: https://physioworks.com.au/injuries-conditions-1/spondylolysis-pars-stress-fracture

Priesty wrote:

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What awful luck for Katie after all her hard work to establish herself in the top 100.


Will she be entitled to a PR when she returns?

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It's really sad that after the Fed Cup success  and the promising future as a result,  that Katie has picked up a serious injury. It's to be hoped that it doesn't derail her career like Laura's wrist injury.

It's not just British players having careers upset by injuries. Other examples are Cici Bellis  and  the Croatian player Ana Konjuh. Ana was a junior contemporary of Belinda Bencic who's also had injury problems but seems to be back to top form.  Regarding Ana Konjuh, she won Nottingham 2015 at the age of 17, beat Jo in the 2017 Fed Cup qualifiers  and ranked at No. 20 in the world in July 2017. However throughout her career she had elbow  problems and after her 4th operation in 2019 looks like she's contemplating retiring for another career. She finished 2017 as the 2nd youngest player in the top 50 after Cici Bellis. There is another player only just 20 who hasn't played for a year. Not sure the WTA shouldn't be concerned about long term injuries to the most promising youngsters.