Tennis: Vernon's Vasek Pospisil retires with 'no regrets', but stays in fight to protect players

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Vasek Pospisil was always up for a good fight on the court, or off it.

Whether competing against Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) elite, fighting for players’ rights to combat suppressed earnings and off-court opportunities, or growing the game in his home province, the Vernon native met challenges with vigour.

The 35-year-old Pospisil is retiring after accomplishments that include a 2014 Wimbledon doubles title, helping Canada capture the 2022 Davis Cup crown, and a string of strong singles and doubles finishes on the Grand Slam circuit.

He received a main draw wild-card entry for the National Bank Open in Toronto next weekend for his final farewell.

Pospisil, who turned pro in 2007, rose to a No. 4 raking in doubles (2015) and No. 25 (2014) in singles and finished with US$7.2 million in career earnings. He also endured a lot of pain. A trio of elbow tears, herniated disk surgery in 2019, and then another back setback last summer, in the long grind to keep mind and body in sync.

“There can always be a little bit of bittersweet, no question about it,” Vasek told Postmedia on Sunday. “Tennis has been my whole life and all I ever wanted to do, and there’s going to be a little difficulty saying goodbye, but I’ll keep it in perspective. I’m ready to move on to the next thing. There’s so much I want to do.

“The last three or four years have been very tiring and it’s quite safe to say I’m burned out to a point where I’m not getting as much enjoyment out of training or being on the court. It’s incredibly exhausting, and all year long, you’re always on and always travelling.

“A lot of times, it’s a very lonely sport with enormous stress. Eventually, that weighs on you and burns you out. I definitely feel like a shell of the player I was. The injuries played a huge factor especially the last three years. It gets very discouraging and you have to be realistic.”

However, it’s also rewarding, if you put in the time to get to a rare level, and have the will to press on as the career clock ticks.

Pospisil advanced to the Wimbledon singles quarterfinal (2015), fourth round of the U.S. Open (2020), and third round of the Australian Open (2014, 2015). In doubles, he also made the quarterfinals in the French Open (2015), Australian Open (2016) and third round of the U.S. Open (2013, 2014).

It spoke to longevity and longing to always get his game to the next level. Does Pospisil believe he left it all out on the court and did the best under different circumstances?

“I do,” he stressed. “Until 2022, I did everything I could. I left no stone unturned and confident to say I have no regrets.”

Pospisil was named the ATP’s comeback player of the year in 2020 for advancing to his first singles final since 2014, collecting his seventh doubles title and getting to fourth round of singles at the U.S. Open.

Home is where the heart is

Pospisil didn’t have to look very far find his work ethic.

Two years before he was born in 1990, his parents Milos and Mila, along with older brothers Petr and Tom, escaped Communist Czechoslovakia by driving unlawfully to Austria. They worked long hours at low wages to save money for an eventual move to Canada and arrived in Vernon in the summer of 1989.

Milos worked two jobs and took to tennis because his older sons started playing. He would coach on outdoor courts and a three-year-old Vasek tagged along as ball boy at practices. He even dragged a mini tennis racquet around the house and seemed destined for the sport.

At age six, Pospisil won an Under-12 tournament and by 2002, it became apparent that the family had to move to Vancouver to find the right coach for the prodigy, who was home-schooled. They found the mentor in Vadim Korkh, who worked with Andrei Chesnokov while also a professor at the Central Sport Academy in Moscow.

In November 2002, Vasek went to Florida and won the Prince Cup, beating several of the best under-12 players from Europe. In 2004, he won the Canadian Nationals at the U14 level, to become best player in the country in his age group. His father saw the obvious potential and returned to coaching his son.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for my parents and family and what they sacrificed,” said Pospisil. “It made me the man I am today and I’m forever grateful for the tennis career I had. I still look back to this day as it’s a family project. This is just so much — my dad quitting his job so he could coach me.

“I’m so lucky. They mean everything to me and this is a very important week.”

So, when will Pospisil pick up a racket again?

“It might take a while,” he laughed. “It will be for fun, but who knows? I will say, I do have a love-hate relationship with the sport right now, but it is a huge part of me. I know that. I still love the game so much and when I’m hitting balls with my friends, it’s so much fun.

“It won’t take me too long to pick up a racket again.”

How about the Oldlum-Brown VanOpen that returns in 2026? Pospisil won the singles title in 2013.

“Maybe that will be it,” teased Pospisil.

Fighting the good fight off courts

Pospisil’s connection with the game is now a higher calling to protect players’ rights.

He formed the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) with Novak Djokovic in 2019. In March, a dozen players sued the sport’s four major tennis organizations — they oversee four Grand Slam events and men’s and women’s pro tours — to contest economic restraints placed among competing players. 

The PTPA alleges the organizations suppress tournament earnings and withhold opportunities for players to have additional opportunities to supplement incomes away from the courts. Potential earnings with name, image and likeness (NIL), are also reportedly under fire because organizations have players sign over the NIL right without compensation.

“It’s one of the contentions with my injuries and eventually burning out,” said Pospisil. “It (lawsuit) is for the right cause and something I really believe in. When you look under the hood, it (tennis) is very broken. It was important to stand up for what I believe in. It’s something I’ll continue to work on. It’s in hands of the lawyers right now.”

In 2024, a Spotrac list of 100th-ranked players of salary and incomes in a variety of sports had the ATP and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) ranked seventh globally.

The NFL was first at $17.3 million, followed by the NBA ($14M), Major League Baseball ($13M), European Professional Soccer (EPL, $8.1M), NHL ($7.7M), PGA, LPGA ($3.1M) and ATP, WTA ($1.2M).

“Those (tennis) players are also paying their own expenses,” added Pospisil. “Team sports have everything paid for and there’s something wrong with it. Tennis is definitely broken.”

bkuzma@postmedia.com