By the time you read this, the best story of the year in men’s professional tennis could be on temporary hiatus.
That’s because Belmont University assistant coach Brian Baker’s unlikely appearance in the second round of this afternoon’s French Open runs up against 11th-seeded Gilles Simon.
But when you consider that the 27-year-old Baker was preparing to win our town’s TVOC men’s open title this time last year, the fact that the Nashville native even reached the French is — to borrow the words of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s coach Jeff Clark — “really cool.”
When Baker was forced to endure five major surgeries in six years — everything from hips to knees to wrist to a sports hernia to Tommy John surgery on his right elbow — his once-shimmering pro career appeared really cold, if not permanently frozen.
Or as former pro player turned broadcaster Justin Gimelstob told the New York Times last week: “Either one of those surgeries [elbow or hips], and you’re lucky if you’re not selling insurance.”