Coach Brad Stine told a pretty crazy story about Tommy Paul's season on a podcast appearance as the 66-year-old claims the American tennis star having his orthotics being stolen damaged his health and turned the season for the worse.
Across the grass season and the North American hard-court swing, Paul was limited to just four tournaments due to a foot issue and went 4-4. Considering that the American had a good start to the year and made several deep runs - including a couple of notable runs during the clay swing - it was not hard to understand that something just hasn't been right lately. And while appearing as a guest on the Inside-In podcast, his coach made quite a revelation.
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According to coach Stine, Paul and the team were preparing to depart from the Madrid Masters when they noticed that the 28-year-old's bag and all his belongings were gone. Someof the stuff missing was the world No. 15's orthotics.
"All of his stuff was gone from his locker, which included his shoes, and inside of his shoes, his orthotics," Stine said on the Inside-In podcast, via Sports Illustrated.
The team reacted quickly and found Paul another orthotics. But as soon as the American started practicing and playing with them, he started feeling discomfort in his foot. They instantly had certain concerns - and after it started to only get worse and they visited a doctor - the scans showed there was an issue with the American's peroneus longus tendon.
While Paul played at the French Open and even made the quarterfinal, Stine couldn't believe how his pupil managed to get through some matches. However, it didn't take long before the issue worsened after the four-time ATP champion completely ruptured his tendon at Wimbledon. By doing so, the former world No. 8 actually helped himself.
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Stine: The doctor told Paul that he had basically done self-care...
"When we got back to the States, he went and saw a doctor, and the doctor told him that he had basically done self-care, because he said that if he hadn't ruptured the ligament on his own, the doctor would have snipped it when he got back from Wimbledon," Stine added.
"So, he was in a boot for about 10 days, got an injection to reduce all this swelling and everything. Started hitting balls again, and that's why he missed some of the events in the summer. You know, we started in Cincinnati."
Paul last played at the US Open, where he lost in the third round to Alexander Bublik. The Asian swing officially started last week but the American hasn't yet appeared in any tournaments.
