Oscar Hernandez retires; announces his swan song as a professional tennis player – Tennis News
On Friday the 22nd of July, Oscar Hernandez announced his retirement at an emotional press conference. The retirement conference was held in Barcelona, Spain and had many famous professional tennis players were present;
such as Tommy Robredo, Albert Montanes, Marcel Granollers, Pere Riba, Alberto Martin, Oscar Serrano, Marc Lopez, and last but not the least Albert Costa.
Oscar who broke down into tears at the conference said, “This reminds me of the first time I quit tennis, when I started working as a bar man because I couldn't live for tennis". He then added that this was not a swan song from
tennis itself but would continue to impart his knowledge, skills and experience to the young Spanish talents while working along with his coach Marcos Roy.
Oscar Hernandez had suffered from lower back pain in 2010, doctors had diagnosed it as a herniated disc that needed immediate surgery otherwise it would’ve cost him his career. Therefore, on the 24th of November 2010 he had his
surgery carried out, however after a week of rest he was still not better and thus suffered post-surgery problems which culminated into a rare complication that happens to one in a thousand patients. This was shocking news for Hernandez as he was very passionate
about the game; his coach recalled and said, “He was pretty depressed at the beginning at not being able to move.” The doctors eventually advised him to retire from professional tennis and only play it as a hobby on Sundays.
Born on the 10th of April, 1978, Oscar Hernandez, also known as “Guindi”started his professional tennis in 1998 and reached his career high ranking of world number 48 on the 8th of October 2007. Although he
has contested in one hundred and ninety pro matches, he has won only sixty five. Although, this year he has not played at all due to his injury, the Spaniard has bagged an ATP World Tour doubles trophy at the Moyistar Open in Vina del Mar during 2007. He also
finished runner up at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy, Bucharest in 2004. Last but not the least; He has won ten singles titles on the ATP challenger Tour.
The 33-year-old Barcelona native and a clay specialist will be missed by fans, players’ colleagues and the entire cadre of tennis.
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