A place in the top 100 seemed like a mammoth task for Spain’s Inigo Cervantes two years ago after a career threatening 2013.
It has been a rough journey for the 26-year-old. At the age of 16 he spent seven months out of action due to a herniated disc, at 20 he was forced to missed another 8 months and then he endured a nightmare in 2013. Cervantes had to undergo four operations (two within one day) on both his hips, elbow and Achilles tendon. Between November 2012 and March 2014, the Spanish player could only participate in three tournaments due to the quartet of procedures.
Reflecting on his time away from the court during an interview with Canchallena.com, Cervantes has resisted the temptation of quitting the sport he loves. He said that he never considered ‘throwing in the towel’ throughout his injury-plagued 2013. The injuries have left Cervantes with a question that will never be answered, who might of his career been like if he was injury free?
“I went through very negative thoughts, but I always had the hope of returning to the courts. I wondered what would’ve become of my career if I had not been injured, but it was useless. One appreciates the little things in life. Now, all I ask for is health”. Cervantes said.
During the hard times of his life, Cervantes looked upon Austria’s Thomas Muster for inspiration. In 1989 Muster defeated Yannick Noah to reach the final of the Lipton International Players Championships. Shortly after his semifinal victory, Muster was ran over by a drunk driver. This incident resulted in the Austrian severing ligaments in his left knee, taking him out of action for five months. The comeback by Muster was a successful one. In 1990 he reached the final at five ATP tournaments, claiming his first Masters title in Rome.
The story of Muster was inspirational for Cervantes. The Spaniard met the Austrian during a Challenger tournament in Italy, the experience was one that the 26-year-old wouldn’t forget.
“I trained a couple of days with him in a challenger in Italy”. Cervantes told canchallena.com.
“What I saw was win or lose all, and he trained many hours per day, too many for me. I noticed that he was a person of great spirit of excellence. And that helped me.”
After enduring a series of injuries, Cervantes enjoyed the best year of his career in 2015 by claiming three Challenger titles and winning the Challenger Tour finals in Brazil. The success elevated Cervantes to a ranking high of 72 in November that year.
Currently Cervantes is ranked 75th in the world. He has made a disappointing start to 2016 with only one main draw win (Pere Riba in the first round of the Ecuador Open). Nevertheless, the player labelled by Argentine media as ‘the player with a thousand injuries’ has battled against the odds to get where he is now.
Muster might of inspired Cervantes, however, Cervantes’ own journey is one that could also inspire many others on the tour.
2015 ATP Challenger Finals – (5) Inigo Cervantes ESP Vs (3) Daniel Muñoz de la Nava ESP
