Old, bad tennis player has no desire to quit

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/03/2009 (6237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — Frederic Niemeyer turns 33 next month. His current ranking on the ATP Tour stands at No. 412. Except for a brief period in 2003, that’s the lowest it has been in a decade.

“When are you retiring? Too late to win a Grand Slam now. What are you going to do for the rest of your life? Isn’t it time to get a life?”

Niemeyer hears ad nauseam.

“I would never tell anyone to stop doing their job. But I get that question every day,” said the native of Campbellton, N.B. “You have to be comfortable in your own skin because at a certain point — I don’t know why, maybe jealousy — people aren’t shy to make you feel that in one way or another, gently or directly.”

As a sporting public, we seem to rejoice in just the first half of an athlete’s career, the ascent up the mountain and the brief time at its peak.

That peak is obviously at a different altitude for a Roger Federer than it is for Frederic Niemeyer.

But once there, it seems, we want them to hurtle down the back side of the slope at top speed, without a sound, for their own good, really. Shuffle them off to the athletes’ retirement home, as it were.

Who knows why? Maybe it’s human nature. Niemeyer said it seems to be a particularly Quebecois trait.

“Here’s what I reproach people for. Instead of supporting any athlete until the end, saying ‘Hey, you’ve had a nice career, try to finish up in force,’ or tell them you admire what they do, that you know there have been sacrifices, people turn it into a negative.

“I just feel that sometimes we could be prouder of our athletes, or our artists, or whatever it is,” he said.

Niemeyer’s best singles ranking was No. 134. No, he’s no Federer. But he has played on the sport’s biggest stages. He has been an Olympian. He has had unforgettable Davis Cup moments. It is what he has done his entire life, something any player would give their tennis elbow to experience. And he still loves it.

Niemeyer has played club matches in Europe, and even recently flew to Japan for a lucrative weeklong contract to play in a corporate league. Those trips, and Davis Cup, cost him valuable weeks on Tour, potential opportunities to boost his ranking up to where it should be.

But he’s doing what he has to do to fund the dream. Niemeyer is going to bring his better half, Annie Desjardins, and their baby daughter with him on the road, an added expense that more than pays off on the personal side.

So no, Niemeyer isn’t retiring. Not yet. Don’t rush him.

“I adore competing. I like having that adrenalin before matches, I like to find solutions when it’s not going well on the court,” he said. “I’ve been doing it so long, I still love doing it. It’s surely not the money that continues to motivate me.”

He said he has the support of those who matter. “My wife really supports me. Those close to me understand my situation. They’ve lived all the emotions with me,” he said. “So they know why I do it and why I continue.”

Niemeyer isn’t fooling himself; he certainly has started to look at post-playing career options. He has spoken to his former coach, retired doubles star Sebastien Lareau, about it.

“I expect that there will be an adjustment time. I don’t know how I’ll react. That may be why I want to wait until I’m ready. A lot of athletes say to do it as long as you can, physically. Because of lot of them regret having stopped too soon,” he said. “You can’t go back at 50. As an athlete, you have one shot. That’s it.”

Niemeyer hopes to do well enough this spring to get into qualifying at Wimbledon, then make a move during the summer hard-court season.

So if you run into him, don’t ask him when he’s going to start coaching. Wish him luck in his next tournament.

— Canwest News Service