Sport is all about miracles, and yes, they do happen. Tony Roche and the faith healer story is one such example. Roche is one of the greatest tennis coaches of all time and had the distinction of coaching Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. A Grand Slam singles and doubles champion, he, together with John Newcombe, led Australia’s Davis Cup campaign in the 1960s.
As a player, he was ranked in the world’s top three in the late 1960s. And this is a story he himself narrated to me over tea at the Jaideep Mukherjea Tennis Academy in Kolkata.
“I was in London for Wimbledon and, may I say, was in serious pain with a tennis elbow injury,” said Roche. “The pain was such that I couldn’t even brush my teeth. Anyone who has had a serious tennis elbow issue will vouch that I am not exaggerating. There was little option but to withdraw and go back to Australia. That’s when I was first told about this faith healer.
“We had gone out for dinner with friends, and a couple of common friends mentioned him to us and said I should go and check him out in Manila. I asked my wife, and she said, ‘What option do you have?’ In any case, I wasn’t playing, and it could well be that my career was over. Also, in those days, the flight from London to Australia was via Manila, and I did not have to do much to change things around.”
By then, my interest had peaked. So, did he eventually get there, and what happened?
“Absolutely I did,” said Roche. “It was this small place, and it was full of people. Everyone had come to get examined by this man, and on day one I couldn’t meet him. On day two, I met one of his students and was asked to come back the next day. Finally, I did get to meet him, and he examined me and said he was removing the blood clots from my elbow that were stopping circulation. He said to me that I would feel excessive heat in the arm and that there would also be a scar, which would settle down in two weeks. He was clear that in two weeks, I would start to get better.”
By then, Jaideep and his wife, Sharmin, had also joined us. Each one of us listened intently as he carried on. “When I finally reached Australia and mentioned it to my doctor, he was horrified,” mentioned Roche. “He said I had made a huge mistake. At the end of three weeks, I had to travel to Tokyo to conduct a clinic. I did not hit any balls and was just overseeing things.
“That was when they asked me to play an exhibition game, and my first instinct was to say no. There was no way I could play. They kind of insisted, and I stepped on court. The truth is, there was no pain. Since then, I have never had pain in my tennis elbow, and that’s the truth,” said Roche with a smile.
There was complete silence before each of us started clapping. Miracles happen, and it did with Tony Roche in 1969.
Follow Revsportz for latest sports news
