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Brian Baker

55K views 317 replies 39 participants last post by  PortlandTimbers 
#1 ·
I watched Brian lose to Malisse in 4 sets at the 2005 US open after he had beat Guadio in straights. Unfortunately, shortly after that he suffered a hip injury (I think the same one that has plagued Kuerten) and wasn't seen again until this week in Nashville, his home town, where he lost in the second round to Kendrick 6-4 7-6(4). I figured that he was only playing because the tournament is in his home town, but he's appeared in the Champaign qualifying draw. Does anyone know if he's coming back full time? He was a promising young American before he got injured and it'd be nice to see him back on track.
 
#186 ·
Last year's spirited late-bloomer Brian Baker battled what he described as just enough wind to be troublesome in his outer-court match against Russian qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. and let a two-set lead slip away before prevailing 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (0), 3-6, 6-2.

He moves on to face 20th seed Sam Querrey, who is the top-ranked U.S. player here because of Isner's absence. It's the first time Querrey has carried that mantle in a Grand Slam event, but he'd rather not look at things that way.

"I don't feel like I am,'' said Querrey, who dropped a first-set tiebreak to Spanish qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava but played efficiently thereafter and smacked 27 aces in a 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory. "I feel like the No. 2 American even though John's not here, which is unfortunate. I haven't even thought about it; everyone keeps asking me about it, but it's a complete nonissue.

"I mean, Serena is probably the real leader,'' he added. "I guess on the men's side, a lot of the younger guys are here, so I guess so, a little bit. … I'm just doing the best I can. I'm cheering for the other guys and they're cheering for me, so we're all in it together, but I don't feel like too much of a leader.''

That togetherness will have to be suspended in the second round. Querrey and Baker have gotten to know each other fairly well off the court, but they've played only once before, last year in a Challenger-level tournament on clay where Querrey won in three sets. "We haven't hit too much, so it'll be a little bit of a new scenario,'' Querrey said. "I'm just going to try to keep serving well and dominate with my forehand, and hopefully that's enough to get by him.''

Chris Hyde/Getty ImagesRyan Harrison showed good form on Day 1, but next up, his task might be a little trickier. He takes on world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Baker called his offseason "necessary" after an exhilarating but wearing 2012 season that saw him reach the fourth round of Wimbledon and climb to world No. 52 at age 27 after various injuries and surgeries cost him six years away from the elite ranks.

He spent two weeks working with two-time U.S. Open finalist Todd Martin at Martin's home base of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and said the former top-10 pro doesn't plan to travel much but will continue to advise him.

"If anybody would probably understand some of the injuries I went through, he would,'' said Baker, currently ranked No. 57. "He was always a thinker out there, played a cerebral game, and if I'm going to be successful, I'm not always going to beat people on physical tools -- I'm going to have to be smart out there as well. "I think we have the same general demeanor, too. Not afraid to get fired up, but for the most part pretty low key. A lot of those things add up to making us jell a little bit. Hopefully it'll turn out to be a good partnership.''
http://espn.go.com/tennis/aus13/story/_/id/8842337/australian-open-tim-smyczek-jumps-opportunity
 
#188 ·
Life is so unfair.

Ben Rothenberg ‏@BenRothenberg

RT @Bonnie_D_Ford: Baker: "Something rubbed back and forth and... I couldn't straighten my leg. I've never had knee problems in my life.''
Beyond The Baseline ‏@SI_BTBaseline

Tough scenes as Baker is wheeled off the court in a wheelchair. Says he's never had problems with his knees. #ausopen
Matt Cronin ‏@TennisReporters

Brian Baker's 5 surgeries prior 2 comeback: Left hip, hernia, right hip, left hip again, Tommy John elbow. Now knee, maybe ACL? Bad luck
 
#193 ·
Hoping for a speedy recovery!

MELBOURNE, Australia -- After being sidelined with injuries for nearly six years, Brian Baker was finally back on the court with a second chance at a professional career.

Playing in his first Australian Open at the age of 27, Baker had just won the first set in his second-round match against fellow American Sam Querrey when his body gave out on him again.

He crumpled to the court after hitting a shot long and shouted in pain, grasping his right knee. After limping awkwardly and then hopping to his chair, he sat down, ripped off his headband and shook his head in frustration.

Baker retired several minutes later and was pushed off the court in a wheelchair. As the crowd applauded, a woman shouted from the stands, "Don't give up, Brian."

"He said he kind of just felt his knee almost buckle and kind of heard like a pop or a snap," No. 20 seed Querrey said after the match. "He didn't know if it was bones or a tear, but he couldn't straighten it, couldn't walk."

Tournament organizers said later that Baker had a torn meniscus. He is expected to be out about four months.


While the injury could have been worse, the setback is no doubt a heartbreaking one for a player who has undergone five major surgeries -- but never had a knee problem until Wednesday.

"He's the last person that deserves anything like that," said Querrey, who has become friends with Baker as they've both come back from injuries over the past year. "He does everything right, treats his body great, just trying to come back, and then something like that happens, it's just so unlucky."

Baker's injury elicited messages of support from other players who have followed -- and admired -- his comeback.

"It's a shame," said fellow American Tim Smyczek after his second-round loss to Spaniard David Ferrer. "He's such a good player. He's got so much talent and he's got great tennis IQ. He's just had the worst luck."

Baker was once the No. 2-ranked junior in the world and a boys French Open finalist in 2003. He recorded his first top-10 victory at the U.S. Open in 2005 when he upset then-No. 9 Gaston Gaudio in the first round. He lost his next match against Xavier Malisse -- and then didn't play another ATP-level match for seven years.

Any of the surgeries Baker underwent during that time could have ended his career: left hip (2005), sports hernia (2006), right elbow reconstructive surgery (February 2008), left hip again (April 2008), right hip (June 2008).

Baker took a job as an assistant tennis coach at Belmont University in his native Nashville, Tenn. But he never ruled out a comeback on the pro tour.

Baker got his chance at a small ATP tournament in Nice last May. Ranked No. 216, he qualified for the main draw and then made it all the way to the final, beating 13th-ranked Gael Monfils along the way. Weeks later, he qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon and reached the fourth round, pushing his ranking up to 76th.

Baker started the new year full of promise, closing in on the top 50 in the rankings. He beat Russia's Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the first round at Melbourne Park -- his first-ever five-set victory -- setting up the second-round encounter with Querrey.

"He has been so unfortunate in the last six years, seven years," Querrey said. "So, you know, I think if he can heal quickly or if it takes a year, I think he can get right back where he is right now. He's talented; he's good enough. No matter what happens, I still think he can come back to where he is now."

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/01/baker-injures-right-knee-taken-wheelchair/46019/#.UPcZmWc__4w
 
#194 ·
Knee injury dooms Baker

MELBOURNE, Australia -- By rights, Brian Baker should have gotten all of his bad fortune out of the way. Multiple surgeries on his hips, one on his elbow and a hernia repair kept the former top junior out of the elite ranks for six years.

One area of his body that had never given him any trouble was his knees -- until the injury gods hurled another bolt of lousy lightning at him Wednesday.

Chris Hyde/Getty ImagesBrian Baker grimaces after injuring his knee in the second set of his match against fellow American Sam Querrey.

Baker had won a first-set tiebreak from compatriot Sam Querrey in their Australian Open second-round match on a breezy outer court whose surface, Querrey would later say, was the quickest he's played on at a Slam. Tied 1-all on Querrey's serve in the second, Baker went to fetch a backhand, took a step or two back toward the center of the court and appeared to stumble, then seize up, grimacing in pain. He couldn't put weight on his right leg and hobbled toward his chair.

Moments later, the two friends shook hands and the chair umpire announced the match was over. Baker told Querrey he thought he heard "a pop or a snap" and that from one second to the next, he couldn't straighten his knee. Baker slumped dejectedly with a towel over his head, waiting for a wheelchair to ferry him away. A sideline microphone picked up some of his conversation with the trainer as he described the sensation of "something rubbing back and forth."

"How does this happen?" Baker said at one point.

How indeed? Bad enough that two American men had to collide this early in the draw in the first Grand Slam event of this transitional, post-Andy Roddick era, but Baker had hiked an awfully long way up the mountain to backslide through no fault of his own again.

The 25-year-old, 20th-seeded Querrey is the top U.S. player in the draw thanks to John Isner's injury-related withdrawal. But Querrey made it clear to reporters after winning a four-set, first-round match against Spanish qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava that status isn't weighing on him.

"Whatever pressure he feels is what he puts on himself," said his coach, David Nainkin. "He's got his own goals. He's well-prepared, he's healthy, he's in a good place.

"Today, the court definitely favored Brian. Sam likes a higher bounce. It was good, clean hitting, and Brian has great timing. I thought their level was getting better through the [first] set. It would have been a good match. It's just a shame."

Querrey has never thrived at this event, reaching the third round twice in six previous appearances and bowing out in the first round three straight times from 2009 to '11. Much as he'd like to go deeper, Wednesday's sequence of events was the opposite of the scenario he would have wanted.
American Sam Querrey now faces Switzerland's 15th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, who also advanced because of a player retirement.

"I feel awful for him," Querrey said of Baker. "He's the last person that deserves anything like that with his five or six surgeries already. He does everything right, treats his body great, just trying to come back, and then something like that happens, it's just so unlucky."

An MRI revealed Baker has a torn lateral meniscus that will require surgery and roughly three to four months of rehab. Tournament director Craig Tiley said Baker likely will fly back to the United States in the next day or two......
http://espn.go.com/tennis/aus13/sto...es-compatriot-brian-baker-retires-knee-injury
 
#198 ·
Not sure, but I think you have to be out at least a year to use protective ranking. Brian doesn't have much to defend until May so hopefully he will be back by then. Even if his ranking drops off, he will probably receive wildcards into the American tournaments. So I think he should be okay.
 
#207 ·
ATP - Brian Baker says knee is getting better

27 year old American Brian Baker is continuing his rehab from knee surgery which he underwent last month after injuring his knee at the Australian Open.

The 27 year od Baker was one of the more memorable stories of the 2012 season as he rebounded from five surgeries in six years to break into the top 100. But bad luck struck again in Melbourne where he injured his knee.

Baker is blogging for USA Today while he does his rehab and in his latest blog, he spoke about how his rehab is going.

Rehab is taking a big chunk of time out of my days. I have been leaving my house around 8:30 every morning (weekdays) and not getting home until about noon. Since I am used to being very active, I've actually enjoyed getting out of the house for several hours each morning. I'm still limited with what I can do with my knee, but I have been amping up my upper-body and core workouts. It's amazing how quickly your conditioning vanishes when you stop working out. I thought I did a fairly moderate upper body workout on Monday which consisted of bench press, pull-ups, dips, biceps curls, push-ups, and various shoulder exercises. To my surprise, I'm still quite sore! I figured that I wouldn't have lost that much muscle endurance from taking four weeks off. I guess it proves that it takes a lot longer to get in shape than to lose it.

The toughest part of my rehab each day occurs at the beginning and end of each session. During these times, my therapist works on my knee extension. After surgery, the knee joint tends to get tight due to the excess fluid, and this makes getting full extension a struggle. Although it's extremely painful, I can already see the improvement, and my knee feels better.
 
#211 ·
Happy to see Brian up and active :)

Brian Baker ‏@BBakesTennis 4h

@RhyneWilliams it took all my strength to get this guy out o the water. Almost snapped the line #professionalangler pic.twitter.com/tL0bSGtvtL


Brian Baker ‏@BBakesTennis 20 Mar

Loving how my mom and grandmom are teaming up calling me homeless bc I have a beard. I blame it on @AlatheaThompson pic.twitter.com/8IIJvbR9K1
 
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