Daniel Elsner - Cruel Twist of Luck

Daniel Elsner. A name which doesn't jump out at you. I am sure many will say Daniel who?

Daniel Elsner is a former tennis pro born 04/01/1979 in Germany. Started playing at the age of six and as time went on started to climb the junior rankings in 1996/1997. He reached at high as 2 in the world. In 1996 he won the US Open Juniors and then in 1997 produced even more outstanding results by reaching 3 of the 4 junior slam finals and won the Australian Open and French Open. After those successes he turned pro. His pro career did not get off to the flying start he must've anticipated and found himself a regular on the challenger tour. It was only when the new millenium came in did a change in fortunes occur. He played in 9 ATP events and managed to rack up some victories though a 4-5 W/L would suggest otherwise. He then managed to achieve a career high ranking of 92 in 2000. From 2000-2003 he still found himself trapped in the Challenger circuit. From 2003-2006 saw a loss in form and injuries starting to take hold of his career Bicep/Back/Hamstring injuries keeping him off the circuit. His ATP record was 8-27. His golden years in 1996/1997 should've been the beginning and sadily his career never took off.

His last competitive match was a defeat to Attila Balazs in Croatia on the Clay in 2008. He lost after retiring from the match 4-0 down.

Shows that all which starts off Gold can soon rust.

It also shows that not many of these #1-#10 juniors make it as top pros - the gulf between these achievements is vast even though the promise is there to be seen from a young age. As Morpheus would say from The Matrix - "there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path!"

I was looking yesterday at the activity of guys ranked around 900-1000...some who are 26-27 years old so clearly journeymen. They have typically earnt $5000-18000 year to date...so thats in almost half of the year gone - just how are these guys surviving, yeah a bit of sponsorship no doubt as well as free racquets, equipment...but it must be very tough trying to eek out a living on the lower levels of the Future tour where the total prize money for the whole event is less than one R1 loser gets at Roland Garros!

Very true indeed lydian. I was just scanning through GS winners because I was going to do a poll for the Slam tournament likely to produce a homegrown winner on home soil. I saw his name come up and was thinking how on earth have I not heard of him on the tour in some small capacity.

Oliver Golding is making very steady progress at the moment. Post his US Open success he has moved up from 792 to 487. I hoping he doesn't go the way of Elsner!

Apparently, Brian Baker taught Tennis at the university, before coming back. He told one of his fans at Nice that he did not have anything to give because of lack of financial support.

It is a hard life for the lower echelons, and one can see that the love of the sport drives so many, for which fans like us should be thankful.

Very true LF. I think even Gilbert started coaching whilst playing. Some players get tired of the tour and playing and feel maybe a coaching role presents a less personal challenging role than that of a player.

I do wonder with the enormity of junior success with British Juniors like Murray, Golding, Robson and Watson whether the LTA can draw on their successes and experiences to pass on down to aspiring juniors. That way it keeps them interested, gives perspective and also makes them feel more respected that they would share such experiences.

Apart from sharing experiences, I would consider what Roddick tried to do for Harrison by sponsoring/supporting him and a similar support model from current professionals to upcoming juniors would be very illustrative.

How sickening it must be for these guys to watch the likes of Federer stroll to victory in his first round match despite playing (from what I've heard) a fairly average match, with errors sprayed all over the place. These top pros make beating the lower-ranked players look so easy, when in reality it is anything but.