Zimmerman Overcomes Adversity to Lead Racquetmen

It's been a long trip to the Rolex-ITCA Indoor National Championships for men's tennis team captain Michael Zimmerman.

After pulling a hamstring last May, Zimmerman had to endure an emotionally and physically painful four months before returning to tennis.

Though his comeback has certainly been successful (culminating in his rise to the semifinals last weekend), the road to recovery was long.

Zimmerman, currently ranked as the second best tennis player in the ITCA, initially injured his hamstring in a match last spring. Considering the injury minor, he continued to play on it. Zimmerman further aggravated the injury while playing against top-ranked Matt Sanler (Dartmouth) in the NCAA's.

"I just continued to play on it," Zimmerman said. "I think adrenalin just kept me going through the season."

"There was really nothing else a player could do at that point," Men's Tennis Coach David Fish said. "It was the middle of the season and Zimmerman decided to tough it out."

After aggravating the hamstring, Zimmerman went through almost four months of physical therapy that included acupuncture, yoga and sonograms.

"It was frustrating in that the hamstring allowed me to do just about everything but play tennis. It was a tough injury mentally," Zimmerman said.

"Summer is often the most active time for competitions and the best opportunity for players to intensively improve on their game," Zimmerman said.

He described the whole recuperation process as equally trying.

"None of it really worked. Each one [of the therapies] provided some short-term alleviation of the pain but none of them provided any long-term results," Zimmerman said. "The injury just got better on its own."

Zimmerman described his first two weeks of practice into the fall season as much more helpful. "It was good to get back into the feel of the game again," he said.

Other elements of Zimmerman's physical therapy, which started at the beginning of the fall season, included one and a half hours in the training room bicycling, leg stretching and ultrasound. Meanwhile, Fish gradually increased the amount of time Zimmerman spent on the court.

Although he continued to practice intensively for the duration of the fall, Zimmerman stayed out of all regular-season tournaments and was forced to sit out two national competitions as well.

"It was really frustrating seeing other team members make it through while I had to stay out," the Mather senior said.

A Tough Competitor

It was only in mid-November that Zimmerman made his first steps back onto the court. Competing in the Rolex-ITCA qualifiers, Zimmerman managed to capture second place and earned a bid to compete in the national indoor championships held last weekend.

Fish called Zimmerman's recovery and participation at the mid-November qualifiers tournament "an incredible comeback."

"I really can't explain it. My hamstring just started getting better on it's own as the championships came up," Zimmerman said. "From then on I just weaseled my way through the tournament."

Fish was less modest. "He really toughed it out. He really is tough competitor."

Other team members commended the strength Zimmerman exhibited by keeping out of regular play and potentially aggravating his hamstring.

"It's really tough to not go back out there and play. He did a great job of just staying off the leg," said team member freshman Andrew Rueb. "It's really tough in tennis to take time off. You just loose it after a while."

Zimmerman said that he actually couldn't help feeling somewhat grateful for the injury.

"It's funny not being able to do something you're used to doing everyday," Zimmerman said. "Those four months were a time when I realized how big a part of my life tennis was and how much I should appreciate having other things to fall back on."

Zimmerman was also thankful for the support he got from team members and the somewhat "overcautious" treatment Fish gave him.

"I mean `overcautious' in a good way," Zimmerman said. "He didn't want to risk losing me for the year."

Zimmerman hopes that with the injury behind him, he'll be actively engaged in play for the duration of the season.

Last weekend the injury seemed to be a distant memory. Zimmerman made an impressive run to the semifinals of the Rolex-ITCA Championships.

And if his recent performance is any indication, Zimmerman should enjoy a prosperous spring season.