POLASEK Filip

General
RETIREMENT AND COMEBACK
He retired in November 2013 due to injuries to his back, spine, and left leg. He worked as a coach in Slovakia and in 2017 started playing for league teams in Germany and Slovakia. About the same time he got a chance to train with the US tennis player Mike Bryan, and in 2018 he turned professional again. "Mike was in town because his girlfriend [now wife] is Slovakian, so we hit the ball around a bit. I didn't feel that great. But he was like, 'You hit well!' I wasn't so sure. I was hitting with one of the best players in the world. I didn't play amazing, but that week was the first time I realised, 'Okay, I can still play'. I started playing some local Futures and then Challengers and I was doing pretty well. I was surprised with how well my body held up. I had some trouble, but it was different. My muscles were sore and they were not that flexible, but that was it. It wasn't anything close to what it was before. After a little more than a month, I decided to keep pushing. And by the end of the September, I was inside the top 200. That was just four months after I started competing again." (nytimes.com, 21 Feb 2021; atptour.com, 18 Feb 2021)

SPECIAL VICTORY
He became the first male Slovak player to win a Grand Slam title by claiming victory in men's doubles at the 2021 Australian Open, but he had considered not competing at the tournament. "My partner was pregnant. The due date was February 19th [during the event]. There was quite a lot of discussion, but we decided to play the tournament. My partner gave me the okay. We made a deal. She said, 'I will hold it up, and if you make the final, then you can miss it'. We reached the final on Thursday and my daughter was born on Friday. She is my second daughter and she is so beautiful. I am sorry I missed that day. But for it to end up this way here, it's very nice." (tennisnet.com, 24 Feb 2021; nytimes.com, 21 Feb 2021)

He became the first male Slovak player to win a Grand Slam title when, together with Ivan Dodig, he claimed victory in men's doubles at the 2021 Australian Open. (spectator.sme.sk, 21 Feb 2021)