Eugenie Bouchard stole all the concussion attention last fall with her infamous US Open locker-room slip. Not that this is a competition anyone wants to be involved in but Casey Dellacqua could give the Canadian a run for her money.
At the China Open last October, Dellacqua and her partner Yaroslava Shvedova were in the semifinals when the Australian fell on court, hitting her head on the cement. They still finished the match, losing in a third-seat breaker.
But Dellacqua’s concussion symptoms were intense and she was forced to miss five months of play, including withdrawing from the WTA Finals and Australian Open.
In a blog entry, she writes about the immediate onset of nausea and memory loss,eventually turning into post-concussion syndrome, which included headaches, sleeplessness, short-term memory loss and feeling stuck in a fog.
Rehabbing a brain injury takes time and patience, and that going back into competition too soon is risky. The concussion chatter is such a big health debate,especially in football, that a Hollywood film was even made about it (aptly titled“Concussion,” starring Will Smith).
In the far safer world of non-contact sports like tennis, the injury is rare but extremely debilitating. Just last week Bouchard was still apparently dealing with side effects in the final of Kuala Lumpur, months after her September accident.
But this is about Dellacqua. The world No. 4 who has reached six Grand Slam doubles finals is back this week in Indian Wells. A sick twist of fate has her (and her partner Sam Stosur) facing No. 1 seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza in the first round.