CHRIS SIMPSON cannot wait to get on a court again as he looks to put his injury troubles behind him. The Guernsey star takes on Jonathan Kemp this evening in the first round of the British National Championships at Sportscity in Manchester.
‘This does not count for the world rankings which, at the moment, are my focus but it is a very important domestic competition and I’m just happy to be playing in it,’ said the 20-year-old who has been blighted by a knee injury for the last couple of months and last week considered withdrawing from the event.
‘It is not a regular injury - it is to do with my biomechanics due to the way I walk and run.
‘We figured out about a week-and-a-half ago what the best remedy would be for it, having gone through a whole list of them, and we are about halfway through the process of recovery.
‘I decided just to take a step back and instead of trying to play through it, which I had been doing, stop doing everything, get it better and then start again.
‘This is like a first test of the knee since then.’
In his most recent tournament last month in Austria, Simpson’s knee had been painful during a hitting session before his opening match and he was made to pay for not being 100% fit.
‘I lost a first round match that I should have won comfortably, but I could not run,’ he said.
The Sarnian, who is ranked No. 54 in the world, has been rehabilitating since then and had a hit yesterday morning for the first time in weeks.
‘I am just really looking forward to playing, although I expect the knee will be sore afterwards,’ Simpson said.
‘I train with Kempy quite a lot. He is a good player, No. 25 in the world, and usually our games are quite close in practice.
‘It will be interesting to see if he steps up the intensity for a big match and if I can go with him.’
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