Contender: Keeping faith on long road back

By CLAIRE TREVETT

At the end of a rigorous international tennis season, Lee Radovanovich found himself spreadeagled on a bed in a wintry New York.

As 2001 drew to a close and the world reeled from the terrorist strike on the World Trade Centre towers, Lee spent four weeks gazing at the ceiling of his brother's apartment, immobilised by pain.

"My back went funny on me" was his own diagnosis.

The diagnoses of various doctors revealed it would not be just a one-off funny back.

Lee had been hit with the inflammatory disorder sacroiliitis - apparently incurable, unpredictable and bearable only by "eating painkillers like M&Ms".

Behind him was the path he had scythed through the junior tennis world.

On his shelf back in Auckland rested the silverware which was evidence of the talent that left sports commentators pondering whether maybe, just maybe, New Zealand tennis had its new, bright young thing.

He had taken the under-12, under-16 and under-18 New Zealand championship titles.

He had clean sweeps of the junior titles from the Australian Championships.

He had left his footprints on the juniors Grand Slam courts - Wimbledon, the French Open and the United States Open.

He had just started to play the full gamut of senior tournaments needed to break into the world rankings.

Lee made it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, was picked to play in New Zealand's Davis Cup team in 2001 and made it to the finals of the doubles in two US$15,000 ($25,725) tournaments in Asia, just before his back gave in.

Since that winter in New York, his attempts to get back to where he left off have been stifled by sporadic flare-ups of his funny back.

Lee's last coach and mentor David Mustard - a former Davis Cup and Grand Slam player - said Lee's attempt at a comeback last year was very nearly successful.

"That's the sad thing, because you've got a guy who has a lot of potential. Before Christmas, when his back got sore again, he would have been going well enough for the Davis Cup team."

Mustard said it would take a huge effort for Lee to get back to where he left off.

"He has already done a lot in tennis and he's still quite young - he's 21. But to go out there and be hungry again will be quite a mental hurdle for him."

Now, after about 18 months and with two long breaks behind him, Lee is re-acquainting himself with the game he had played since he was a 10-year-old, bashing a ball around with his older brother.

Last week he started working on his game again, easing his way in with hour-long daily training sessions.

He plans to play this season for Pompallier Lawn Tennis Club, where he also coaches for about 20 hours a week.

This season will be a do-or-die one for him.

"I'd like to be able to play to 100 per cent again. I haven't been able to for a while. And it would be good to be able to play pain-free. I'm trying to assess whether to go down the tennis route or not. I've got the motivation to, as long as my back holds together."

In an ideal world, the inflammations would vanish. Lee admits the chances are "pretty slim" and said he would not go on the international circuit again unless they did.

But he wants to have another go.

"It's what I do. It's what I'm good at and it's what I wanted to do since I was young."

He's leaving his options open, though.

He is taking some papers in property development and management at Auckland University and has coaching to turn to as a back-up in case his attempts on court come a cropper.

Lee said it was a possibility he could take up coaching as a career, focusing on the Bermuda Triangle of New Zealand's tennis world - the junior grades.

"I would like to be involved with the good juniors because that's where every player from New Zealand seems to give up or stop progressing. If I had the opportunity that's where I would want to target because that's where everyone falls down in New Zealand tennis for some reason."

Mustard said Lee had what it took to make a good coach.

"I think that will probably always be part of his life and I think he will be very good at it. He has been there at that level and can pass on that information to the younger kids."

But Lee is well aware he has to earn his stripes to get there. For now, he's coaching adults and children at his club.

"It can be difficult, though. It's quite hard to control a group of 5 to 10-year-olds. It's quite hard work."

But what started as a way to earn some cash has become an enjoyable job.

And as a player aware of the pressures of a life spent moving from one hotel room to another in search of a boost up the rankings tables, it is a job Lee is highly qualified to do.

* If you know of a worthy contender - a young, talented New Zealander with great promise - let us know. Email the Herald News Desk