Veteran
Radek Stepanek reveals the secrets to his longevity in the game, discusses an
unlikely friendship with Nick Kyrgios and why he wants to just keep playing as
he approaches 40
He has got
used to it by now. Every time Radek Stepanek goes deep in a tournament or wins
a match at a grand slam, a headline pops up somewhere declaring him the “oldest
player since Jimmy Connors” to have achieved that feat.
At 38, the
Czech veteran’s age has been raising more eyebrows than his unique style of
play that took him to as high as No8 in the world over a decade ago.
Stepanek
played his first professional match in 1995 and his first full year was in
1998.
This month,
he started his 20th season on tour, which he kicked off by reaching the Qatar
Open singles quarter-finals as a qualifier and taking the runner-up trophy in
doubles alongside his new partner Vasek Pospisil last week.
His run to
the last-eight in Doha made him the oldest quarter-finalist at an ATP
tournament since, of course, Jimmy Connors in 1995.
Stepanek,
ranked No102 at the moment, is the top seed in the Australian Open qualifying
event, which began in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Should he
secure a spot in the main draw, he’d be the oldest player in the field, and
closing in on another Connors age record.
“It seems
like I’ll be fighting Jimmy Connors on a couple of ends to change the history a
bit,” a smiling Stepanek told Sport360 on the sidelines of the Qatar Open.
But how
does he find it in himself to fight through qualifying rounds at tournaments
and even slum it on the Challenger tour after all this time, and having tasted
life on the higher end of the spectrum?
“I know
where I came from. I came from playing a lot of qualifying rounds at
tournaments when I got to the top-100 for the first time so I always did it the
hard way,” explains Stepanek.
“Even when
I got to the top-10 in the world I got injured for six months, I didn’t play
since Wimbledon until the end of the year, when I was No5 in the race and
playing maybe my best tennis but that’s life.
“I’m taking
life as it comes and I always want to fight the situation the best I can and I
think I’ve always been humble enough to realise where I’m standing and it never
took me down, even when I dropped to 400 or 500 in the rankings. I knew that
the only way I can get up there again is hard work and patience and that’s
what’s paying off. I’ve done it all, I’ve been through ups and downs in my
career so I know both ends and I think that makes it easier for me mentally.”
While being
this fit and competitive at his age is highly impressive, there are many more
intriguing things about the popular Czech.
His cunning
style on court sees him swiftly alternate between serve-and-volley and baseline
play on demand. His game is not based on power but he can keep up with the
big-hitters and trouble the top guns with his deft touches. Last year, he was
two points away from defeating Andy Murray at Roland Garros before he fell to
the Scot in five sets.
His fashion
sense involves dramatic shirts that can be emblazoned with anything from
massive golden-tongued lions to oversized images of a New York skyline.
His on-court
celebrations can range from skipping around in funny, robotic-like leaps, to
doing the ‘worm’ in an ode to the 1980s funk period.
His
off-court romances included relationships with WTA players, Martina Hingis,
Petra Kvitova and Nicole Vaidisova, whom he used to be married to.
And he
struck up an unlikely friendship with 21-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios, who
said he would like to be coached by Stepanek one day.
Leave it to
Stepanek to get someone like Kyrgios – who once said the reason he has no coach
is because he would struggle to find a mentor who would accept his erratic
behaviour and mood swings – to actually want to listen to him.
“It came
very naturally and unexpectedly,” Stepanek said of his friendship with Kyrgios.
“I think
Nick has great potential to be the best player in the world. He’s proving that
in a couple of matches throughout the season, even his titles in 2016. He has
his downs as well and I believe that if he cuts off his downs and mentally will
get on the right track, without his loops, then he can be really the one who
can attack the top guys.
Stepanek and Kyrgios are
friends on and off the court.
“When we
got on the court in Miami, I had a couple of quotes (words) to him, because we
practiced and he was smashing racquets, shooting balls out of the court. I said
‘you know what man? You see that plane up there? The next one is yours. Pack
yourself and rather take a plane and don’t bother everyone with this. Everybody
came here to support you, to do everything for you and you’re wasting it. So if
you want to play basketball, the plane is there, go home and play basketball’.
“Since then
we started to talk a little bit to each other. Obviously I feel his interest,
he told the press that he would like me to be his coach which is very nice to
hear from such a player.
“It’s not
the time for it, I’m still on the other side of the court and the one who wants
to beat him, the same way as he wants to beat me. But we have a great
relationship. He’s a great, funny guy and I have full belief that he can get
there.”
It appears
that Stepanek’s love for the sport knows no bounds. As we chat in the lounge
inside the media centre in Doha, the five-time ATP titlist could not keep his
eyes off of the TV screen behind me that was showing an Andy Murray match. He
would get distracted mid-sentence to follow a specific point and he laughed
when I asked if he ever switched off from tennis.
“I do
switch off but now I know that it’s a very important part of the match and it’s
just automatic,” he replied.
In his one
week in Doha, Stepanek played nine matches in both singles and doubles and won
seven of them. Does he treat both disciplines of the game with equal regard?
“I always
say that winning never gets old. When I go in a match, I’m going with the same
attitude in singles and in doubles. For me, neither competition is a bonus.
It’s what I love to do and I’m trying to be successful on both ends. I’m really
happy, as all of you are asking me about my age for the last three or four
years, it’s just that I’m paying big attention to my body and I’m spending a
lot of time off the court taking care of that,” he says.
Stepanek
has had the same conditioning coach for the past 15 years, and his focus on
recovery has helped him stay fit while knocking on the door of 40.
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