VIENNA, June 28, 2017
Andreas Haider-Maurer has returned to the tour after nearly 19 months on the sidelines due to a right heel injury. The 30-year-old Austrian underwent surgery in July 2016 and started to compete at ATP Challenger level, having played the clay court events in Prostejov, Caltanissetta and Todi over the last couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, Haider-Maurer took a flight to London in order to prepare for Wimbledon next week. The current World No. 1025 entered the main draw of the second Grand Slam of the season with his protected ranking of World No. 63.
“I feel ready to compete at the bigger events again. I am looking forward to Wimbledon meeting all the players and coaches again,” Haider-Maurer stated. He will be joined at his journey to the All England Championships by his coach Daniel Huber as well as his trainer Stefan Mair.
Andreas Haider-Maurer
Haider-Maurer battled through the qualifying in Todi last week and advanced to the second round, gaining his first ATP ranking points of the season.
“The most important thing right now is to play some matches getting back to rhythm. I’m not far from what I had played before the injury. My shots work during practice sessions quite well. Now it is necessary to implement this in the matches, too.”
The Innsbruck resident will continue to make use of his protected ranking after Wimbledon, entering the ATP events in Umag, Hamburg as well as the US Open.
“Obviously I hope for the one or the other wild card in order to climb up the rankings again as quickly as possible. However, I have not set a concrete goal at which position I would like to be at the end of the year. This would put me under unnecessary pressure.”
One wild card has already been awarded to Haider-Maurer at the Bucher Reisen Tennis Grand Prix in Meerbusch, held from 12 to 12 August 2017.
“He is a great guy. He clinched the title here in 2015 and I am looking forward to his return,” Meerbusch tournament director Marc Raffel said. Haider-Maurer lifted nine ATP Challenger trophies and reached a career high ranking at World No. 47 in April 2015.
