Week 9 - WTA International ($250K) - Monterrey, Mexico Hard

PaulM · Tennis legend

Week 9 - WTA International ($250K) - Monterrey, Mexico Hard

HarryGem · Club Coach

Not really sure where Jo goes from here in all honesty.
The knee is obviously chronic and though she played well at times I can't see any way she can get through more than 2 or 3 matches per tournament.

She had chances tonight to break serve but either hit the ball long or wide on pretty much every break point.

A good tournament considering how the year has gone but one which raises more questions about her knee than answers.

Maybe she should just take a 6 month break and see if it can be helped with real rest and rely on a protected ranking to come back.

PaulM · Tennis legend

I wonder if she might try and manage it to the Olympics then have surgery?

If she is able to kind of deal with it week to week, she may want to try and get through to Wimbledon and Tokyo (if it goes ahead).

At 28 it's potentially a big road back if the surgery is major.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

HarryGem wrote:
Not really sure where Jo goes from here in all honesty.
The knee is obviously chronic and though she played well at times I can't see any way she can get through more than 2 or 3 matches per tournament.

She had chances tonight to break serve but either hit the ball long or wide on pretty much every break point.

A good tournament considering how the year has gone but one which raises more questions about her knee than answers.

Maybe she should just take a 6 month break and see if it can be helped with real rest and rely on a protected ranking to come back.

To be honest she seems to have had a long break as it is. At the time of the Australian Open she said surgery wasn't an option.

Michael D · All-time great

Well it seems Jo is going to have to face some stark choices now. I don't see how she can continue her tennis career this way. If having surgery is not any kind of option - and I'm not wholly sure why - then playing these intermittent tournaments doesn't seem to be an answer either. Jo's had three good wins this week, the first for a long time, and something to be celebrated, but last night's performance shows clearly her knee can't cope with as many matches in a week.

SF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 2 16 lost to BOUZKOVA, Marie (CZE) 57 CH=53 12/8/19 3-6 4-6

ROSAMUND · Futures level

This might be a tasteless but with the Corona virus being worldwide perhaps it might be a good time to have surgery if that is possible. Roger Federer was taking time out for knee surgery wasn't he?

HarryGem · Club Coach

Michael D wrote:
Well it seems Jo is going to have to face some stark choices now. I don't see how she can continue her tennis career this way. If having surgery is not any kind of option - and I'm not wholly sure why - then playing these intermittent tournaments doesn't seem to be an answer either. Jo's had three good wins this week, the first for a long time, and something to be celebrated, but last night's performance shows clearly her knee can't cope with as many matches in a week.

SF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 2 16 lost to BOUZKOVA, Marie (CZE) 57 CH=53 12/8/19 3-6 4-6

I think this is absolutely correct. Have to say I feared what happened yesterday might transpire following her previous long and tough match.

As to her knee problem has it ever been stated openly and categorically what the actual problem is? If it isn't operable then where does she go as she has had quite a bit of time off and it doesn't seem to have made a difference. others on here who follow the media and socai media more closely than I do may have some better info but I've only hear ofit refered to as a knee condition which she is managing.

For a player who has been ranked as high as 4 what is the motivation to carry on playing if all you can ever manage is a couple of wins at a few torunaments a year and the rest of the time you are not fit to compete? I really think retirement might be on the cards.

Michael D · All-time great

It's difficult to find out exactly what this knee injury is. In a Guardian article by Kevin Mitchell last Dec there is this comment.

"I had to look into how I wanted to keep going. I had more tests done [to discover the injury is similar to tendinitis] and took the decision to take time out to rehabilitate it to be back in time for Moscow and Zhuhai [towards the end of the season] maybe."

So her condition would seem to be Patellar tendonitis and indeed in this article it is saying the main treatment is pain reduction, rather than being able to achieve full recovery (other than through long rest).

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321294

The Mayo clinic suggests a possible additional set of measures... umm can't say any of them look too inviting. The referenced cortisone injections are usually relatively short lived in their effects.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/patellar-tendinitis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20376118

Jo is going to need to take complete break at some point, I don't think she will have another option.

-- Edited by Michael D on Sunday 8th of March 2020 10:46:28 AM

Peter too · Tennis legend

If the knee problem is permanent and she wants to continue playing then the other option is the one followed by many players before her in a similar position, switch from being a singles player to a doubles player.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Michael D wrote:
Well it seems Jo is going to have to face some stark choices now. I don't see how she can continue her tennis career this way. If having surgery is not any kind of option - and I'm not wholly sure why - then playing these intermittent tournaments doesn't seem to be an answer either. Jo's had three good wins this week, the first for a long time, and something to be celebrated, but last night's performance shows clearly her knee can't cope with as many matches in a week.

SF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 2 16 lost to BOUZKOVA, Marie (CZE) 57 CH=53 12/8/19 3-6 4-6

Well unless Jo is in a complete state of denial, I daresay she might be addressing this issue at the moment. Re the knee problem the first time I can remember it being written about was mid September when it was cited as "slight knee pain. " By the time we got to near Christmas she admitted the pain had started at Brisbane which was December 2018. She admitted that she was dealing with an overuse issue -either tendinitis or one of its close relatives., as reported in the Daily Telegraph 20th December 2019. Mike Dickson reported it as knee tendinitis on 22nd January. That's all the reports I have read on the actual knee condition.

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Hopefully it won't be as bad as everyone fears for Jo - I was looking forward to Jo playing my favourite overseas player in the final, Arantxa Rus in the final, and Jo's knee and Svitolina, who won in double quick time against Rus, put pay to that.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

It might be forgotten now but Sam Murray beat Bouzkova at Manchester last year.

Nix · Futures level

ROSAMUND wrote:
Michael D wrote:
Well it seems Jo is going to have to face some stark choices now. I don't see how she can continue her tennis career this way. If having surgery is not any kind of option - and I'm not wholly sure why - then playing these intermittent tournaments doesn't seem to be an answer either. Jo's had three good wins this week, the first for a long time, and something to be celebrated, but last night's performance shows clearly her knee can't cope with as many matches in a week.

SF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 2 16 lost to BOUZKOVA, Marie (CZE) 57 CH=53 12/8/19 3-6 4-6
Well unless Jo is in a complete state of denial, I daresay she might be addressing this issue at the moment. Re the knee problem the first time I can remember it being written about was mid September when it was cited as "slight knee pain. " By the time we got to near Christmas she admitted the pain had started at Brisbane which was December 2018. She admitted that she was dealing with an overuse issue -either tendinitis or one of its close relatives., as reported in the Daily Telegraph 20th December 2019. Mike Dickson reported it as knee tendinitis on 22nd January. That's all the reports I have read on the actual knee condition.

One of the players in the football team I support had knee tendinitis, which he tried to rehabilitate by resting as much as possible to avoid an operation. In the end, he needed the op after breaking down each time he tried to return to playing. He's managed to play all season. If an op is necessary, I'd rather she had one sooner rather than later, as it doesn't seem to be settling down on its own. She definitely was hampered in yesterday's match.