After painful shoulder injury, Kwon 'very thankful' to be back

Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour

Soonwoo Kwon’s smile spoke for him Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The South Korean defeated Alexandre Muller in straight sets to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 match win, having previously been 0-6 at the elite level. The 26-year-old has thrived on the ATP Tour, winning two titles and ascending to No. 52 in the PIF ATP Rankings in November 2021.

But after a painful struggle with a right shoulder injury, he is now World No. 863. Every victory is sweeter than ever, and this was his first at any level since Doha last year.

“I'm very happy that I won the first round. I was out of confidence because I hadn't won a match in 13 months,” Kwon told ATPTour.com through his coach, Daniel Yoo, who translated. “Winning first round is actually big confidence for me. And I'm very happy that I'm able to play with this level now. I'm happy, I'm very thankful for what's going on right now.”

Just 14 months ago, Kwon seemed poised to reach new heights. The South Korean triumphed at Adelaide-2, where he emerged victorious as a lucky loser. Kwon played five three-setters that week between qualifying and the main draw, and defeated the player to whom he lost in qualifying, Tomas Machac.

Watch highlights of Kwon's Adelaide title:

But after Adelaide, his luck would run out. Kwon hurt his shoulder in Doha the following month and would not compete again until the US Open six months later.

There was a lot of pinching and stress on his shoulder, which caused painful inflammation.

“He couldn't lift his shoulder up at all, like he couldn't lift his racquet couldn't hit a forehand, couldn't do this motion,” Yoo said, demonstrating forehand technique. “As soon as he does that, it was hurting him like poking with a knife.

“He really thought about doing surgery. And actually his right shoulder bones are longer than the left, so it was stressed easily. You need a space in between to be able to move around like that. So he was pinching a lot and it was tough.”

Kwon even became afraid of doing rehabilitation exercises because they hurt. During the worst of his struggles, he was unable to bench press the 45-pound bar alone.

But the South Korean returned at the US Open, where he lost in the first round to Christopher Eubanks. Then he played Davis Cup and the Asian Games.

At the latter, Kwon needed to win a gold medal to earn an exemption from mandatory military service for males in South Korea. But after an early loss, he will enlist at the end of this year.

“I tried to come back earlier than expected. I wasn't really fully recovered, but I only had one shot, so I tried to come back,” Kwon said. “But I was having a tough time coming back and I felt a lot of pressure.”

Kwon hurt himself again by rushing back and did not compete again the rest of the season. It was tough for him to return to the court, but now he is back and enjoying it.

“He realised that he loves tennis, he likes to compete. Then he was like, ‘I want to be out there again, can we work?’” Yoo recalled. “He hasn't really worked that much, so we had to come back and start doing the training and all that and that happened after the Australian Open pretty much. I'm very happy that I saw the game today that I saw before.” 

It was an emotional moment Thursday when Yoo watched his charge win his maiden Masters 1000 match. That is what he has waited for since his pupil’s struggles began.

“I almost cried as soon as he won that first match. It was hurting me so much. I know how tough of a time he went through last year. He was going to stop and he was going to just get a surgery. He said no more,” Yoo said. “And for me, [I had] to try to get him back up [and say] ‘No, we've got to keep going. There's no time for that’.

“He couldn't listen to that. But I didn't let the string go. I was like, let me know when you want to get back in again. I think it was in December. It wasn't that long ago.”

Kwon will hope he has found his form quickly, with Top 10 star Alex de Minaur looming in the second round in Miami. But for the South Korean, just being on court is a victory in itself.

“I'm happy that I'm here, not thinking about those things,” Kwon said. “I just feel very thankful this situation right now.”