Australian Open 2014: Ross Hutchins looks to the future after successful comeback from cancer

Ross Hutchins

If you heard Ross Hutchins speak after his stunning comeback earlier this week, you’d almost not know that this was a man who’s recovered from cancer. Question after question was thrown at the 28 year-old about his illness, with everyone wanting a sound-byte from the comeback hero, but all he wanted to talk about was his tennis and the future ahead. He’d lost a year, he insisted, and was hungry to make it up in a sport which has a short life span. He was, in his words, ‘just another tennis player now’, and wanted it to stay that way.

It all started in 2012. A year after he and his partner Colin Fleming reached the quarterfinals of both Wimbledon and the US Open, Hutchins found himself in agony during Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Belgium. A sharp and debilitating pain in his back led him to see one trainer after the other, which led to a temporary reduction in the pain. However, by the time the Asian swing rolled around, the pain was back, and Hutchins was sleeping just two hours each night.

Back home, he underwent further scans and tests which finally revealed the actual problem – enlarged lymph nodes. After a biopsy was conducted, the worst was confirmed. It was Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which had spread to his spleen, his back and his legs. Chemotheraphy was imminent. He walked in for his first round on Jan 10,  2013, his world torn apart and an uncertain future awaiting.

2013 was supposed to be the year when Hutchins finally broke out, when he had his career year. Instead, he found himself confined to the walls of a hospital room, undergoing the dreaded chemotheraphy. One thing that kept him going though, was the amazing support he received from fans and players alike. People who told him how they had beaten cancer, clippings from newspapers and magazines, his friend Andy Murray organising a charity event for him at Queen’s – all these things kept his spirits upbeat in the darkest of times.

All through this struggle, he had tremendous belief in the fact that he would not only recover, but would be back on court one day. He took 8/12 treatments in his left arm in order to protect his dominant right arm, and would have taken all 12 there as well if he hadn’t been stopped by nurses. His diet was changed, cutting out alcohol, red meat and dairy products and focusing instead on beets and orange and cabbage. And it worked.

By July, doctors announced that his cancer was now in remission. Hutchins celebrated by going on holiday with newly crowned Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and a few other close friends. The cancer gone, it was now time to focus on getting back to the tennis court.

Hutchins, with the help of his father and brother, slowly found his way back on to the court. He also continued his diet, making him feel much healthier and fitter than before. And less than six months later, he was back. Where he belonged.

In the first round of the 2014 Australian Open, the usual pairing of Hutchins/Fleming wrapped up an impressive 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Marinko Matosevic and Michal Przysiezny, an impressive performance by any standards. They face the Indo/Pak pairing of Bopanna/Qureshi in the next round, and if they get through that, who knows how far they could go.

Ross Hutchins has truly defied the odds. Showing that strength of spirit and determination can make almost any situation better, he has triumphed. Now, for a man renewed and with new focus, the future awaits. Go well Ross.