Brian Baker says reaching the second week at Wimbledon was the highlight of his surprise season.(Photo: Susan Mullane, US Presswire)
Story Highlights
- Brian Baker was a surprising success story in 2012; he’s looking for an encore in 2013
- Baker says reaching the second week at Wimbledon was the highlight of his season
- Goals for 2013: “I just have to go out and hopefully stay healthy and do the best I can”
Brian Baker’s seven-year, injury-riddled banishment from tennis ended with a triumphant return to the sport in 2012. Healthy again after a rash of ailments and surgeries, including three in 2008 and five in total, Baker climbed as high as No. 52 in the world after making the second week of Wimbledon.
Baker earned $376,262 in 2012, almost two-thirds of his career total ($584,450).
But the 27-year-old still feels he has some unfinished business to take care of on the ATP tour.
LOOK BACK: Top 10 moments from 2012[1]
With one of the most remarkable comeback stories in recent tennis history in his rearview mirror, Baker has been honing his game on the practice court in Florida, spending ten days with Todd Martin in Ponte Vedra before heading to Saddlebrook in Tampa to grind through workouts with a group of fellow Americans that includes Robby Ginepri, Bobby Reynolds and Tim Smyczek.
USA TODAY caught up with Baker after a recent workout to see what he was planning for an encore in 2013.
What have you been up to in the offseason?
Baker: I took a couple of weeks off and then I hit some in Nashville. Then the Sunday after Thanksgiving I left to go down to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and was there for about 10 days training. I did an exhibition in Indianapolis, then flew down to Florida, but this time to Tampa at Saddlebrook.
You’ve played so many matches in the last year and a half. How did the body respond to a little bit of rest and how are you feeling overall?
Baker: I definitely needed some time off after the year. It was a lot more matches and a lot more time on the road than I had experienced in the last seven years, so I definitely needed the physical break and the mental break from tennis, and now I feel pretty good, pretty refreshed and excited about trying to get some good training weeks in down in Florida to get ready for Australia.
What’s your schedule for the Australian summer?
Baker: Starting with Brisbane, then Auckland, then the Australian Open.
Do you think that now that you are 27 going on 28 that you are in a much better place in terms of maintaining your health and avoiding injury pitfalls?
Baker: I hope so. I’ve gotten to learn a lot about my body through all my injuries — maybe that’s the one good thing that can come out of it. I’m older now and don’t have quite as much pride. I can stop doing a certain workout and if I need to stop during a practice just to make sure that I’ll stay healthy I’ll do that now, whereas maybe in the past I would push myself throughout and really get injured.
Are you still going coachless?
Baker: I was down in Ponte Vedra Beach a bit working with Todd Martin. That’s not a for-sure thing yet next year, but it’s definitely a possibility. I’m not going to be traveling with a coach to Australia, but I’m still trying to find a physio-type person.
You played a lot of top-50 competition last year. How did you feel you performed against that competition, were you surprised by what it was like at all, and what were some of the things that you saw that you wanted to improve upon going into 2013?
Baker: Last year was a really interesting year. I had a really unbelievable European summer where I had two really good events at Nice and at Wimbledon where I beat a lot of guys top 50 and beat a ton of guys top 100. I don’t feel like I played quite as well against the top level after that time. I had a couple of good wins here and there, but I wasn’t as consistent. Some of that was you know you’re not going to sneak up on anybody any more. People know that you are playing well and that they have to play a good match to beat you.
I would say that up there you have to play your best tennis at all times. You’re not going to beat a lot of these guys by playing your B and C game. Maybe if you’re top 10 in the world you can do that, but I can’t. I need to be playing at the top of my game to be able to beat these guys.
I think that was it. I dropped a little bit on my level and maybe lost a tad bit of confidence, and that’s all it takes.
Of all the great moments you had in 2012, and there were a lot of them, which one sticks out to you as being the most special?
Baker: Obviously you can’t take away the Wimbledon second week. That’s always going to shine a little bit more than the others, but I was pretty excited when I won my semifinal match in the Savannah Challenger that guaranteed me the wild card into the French, because that was kind of the start of everything. It wasn’t even really on my mind going into that tournament and it kind of caught up to me, a lot of emotions, just knowing that I’d be playing a Grand Slam after not playing one for seven years. Nice was unbelievable as well and getting to play on Chatrier at the French Open second round, playing a five-setter against Gilles Simon, that was awesome, too.
But I would say that Wimbledon obviously has to be No. 1 and the start of all of it, the Savannah Challenger was huge, too.
I know you’re really close with your family. Your siblings played a large role in your development and your father is a huge fan. I’m curious: who would you say is your biggest fan?
Baker: Oh, man. People would get mad if I put someone down as my biggest fan. I think they are all pretty big. But my immediate family, my parents, my brother and my sister have been there, and my girlfriend, Alathea Thompson, she was able to go to all the Slams with me and she’s put up with me not being home a lot. So my family and her have been kind of like the rocks for me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them for sure.
You’ve become a really big source of inspiration for lots of Americans and lots of tennis fans, but I’m curious to know what inspires you as a person and what motivates you?
Baker: My dream was always to play pro tennis and be successful at it. I didn’t get to accomplish that the first time around, so the second time around I don’t think I would have had peace of mind if I hadn’t at least given it another try. That was the motivation, for that peace of mind.
As far as the inspiration goes, when you look around the tour and see somebody like Tommy Haas who has dealt with and overcome many injuries, do you draw inspiration from a player like that?
Baker: Tommy’s story was a great one this year. I don’t know how many more years I’m going to be able to play, but it does give you hope that if you take care of your body, even if you’ve had injuries in the past, that if you take care of your body and do everything that it takes to be a great pro that you can play for a long time, and he’s definitely shown that.
Are you setting lots of specific goals for 2013 or are you just thinking, ‘Let me get out there and play my game and forget about the pressure.’
Baker: Probably more of the latter. Last year I think I was more successful because I was just appreciating it more, I wasn’t stressing out so much about ‘I need to be this ranking, I need to get to this round.’ Yes, goals change once you do better, but I need to go out there and enjoy it. I just have to go out and hopefully stay healthy and do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may.
I’m just curious to know what kind of a reaction did you get from all these players that you used to play against in juniors like Murray and Djokovic that haven’t seen you on the tour for seven years? Did you get a warm reception? Were players surprised to see you?
Baker: Guys that I used to play against like Dudi Sela, Marcos Baghdatis, even Novak Djokovic, seeing some of the older guys that I grew up in juniors with, I would talk to them more than I talked to other guys, but it was very warm, very supportive, very friendly. It meant a lot. That was a fun part about coming back, too.
Of all those top 20 players you faced this year — you faced del Potro, Gasquet, Tipsarevic, Almagro, Simon, Kohlschreiber, Monfils — was there any one player that impressed you the most or blew your mind a bit?
Baker: Obviously I remember more the ones that I won. All of those guys are fantastic players. I don’t know if any one match stands out the most. I know Almagro played really well against me in Nice, and I thought del Potro played well against me in Basel, too. All of those guys are up there for a reason. They are fantastic players and have so many ways to win, so you definitely have to be on your game to win. This summer I was fortunate enough to get one or two of those.
Novak Djokovic recently bought up the world’s supply of donkey cheese, Roger Federer hangs out with his twins, Serena Williams sells jewelry on the home shopping network. What does Brian Baker do with his free time?
Baker: I wish I had more to start off with. I would say typically I’ve been trying to do my Christmas shopping online. I have to get something special for my girlfriend and my family, especially for my girlfriend for missing so much time. Honestly I try to hang out with some of the friends and family that I don’t get to see when I travel all the time and then to be there for my girlfriend. She supports me so much, and I’m gone more than half the year, so it’s nice to be able to get home and be able to spend some quality time with her.
