Former world No. 63 Bradley Klahn spent the 2021 US Open in the commentator’s booth as he continued his rehab from a third back surgery, which took place in December 2020. Klahn, a three-time All-American in both singles and doubles at Stanford from 2010-12, drew rave reviews for his work in the booth on social media, as the soft-spoken tour veteran followed in the footsteps of fellow America Mackenzie McDonald, who spent his 2019 US Open working as an on-air personality while rehabbing from surgery on his right hamstring tendon.
Klahn, who turned 31 in August, hopes he can battle back like McDonald, who has since reached a career-high ranking and reached his first ATP final this summer at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.
We caught up with Poway, Calif., native during this year’s US Open, in between commentating shifts, to talk about the state of American tennis, his injury history, his best US Open moments and his hopes for the years to come on tour.
USOpen.org: Bradley, can you bring us up to speed on your current health status?
Bradley Klahn: So I had back surgery in December. My last tournament was the challenger in Croatia, right after French Open qualifying. I hurt it in the middle of the pandemic and was able to manage it and improve a little bit, with the restart I just started having a lot of problems in New York last summer. I struggled in New York, Paris [at Roland Garros in 2020], and then by the time I got to Croatia, that was itーthat's when I really knew.
USOpen.org: So what was the next phase?
Bradley Klahn: I tried to rehab it for two months before making the decision that surgery was the best option. The rehab has come along really well. Since I've had back issues in the past and prior back surgeries, we've really brought it along slowly and made a decision that I wouldn't play this year, just really giving it the time to heal. It's a constant struggle.
USOpen.org: What are the issues you face? And what drives you to come back at this stage of your career?
Bradley Klahn: I love tennis and I want to still compete on tour, and I believe that I still have a few years left in me. But I also want to make sure that my back stays healthy for the rest of my life, so it's been a balancing act between those two competing forces. I've had issues with herniated discs since college. I've had three surgeries, all for herniated discs. The first one was back in college, the second one was in 2015 and then this third one was just last December.
USOpen.org: Sounds like you have, unfortunately, had a lot of experience with this. Can it actually help you that you have been through it all before?
Bradley Klahn: For better or worse, I am experienced. I like to say I understand what's going on, but every surgery is a little bit different, the body responds a little bit differently. There's always something new to try; it's a little bit of a trial and error. There are certainly plenty of tried-and-true methods for how to help loosen it up, but it's just finding what works for me.
USOpen.org: You plan to return next season?
Bradley Klahn: That's my goal. I'll train with that in mind but I also know that I do have to listen to my body—I can't force it. If I don't feel ready, if my back's not there then there's no harm in pushing that start date back.
I think I have my protected ranking, and I know with the way the points have been coming off, where I will still have a ranking in January, just because of COVID and the ranking system that they have. I would almost call it a modified two-year system, so I will still have some points on, but the biggest thing is that I have it protected for 12 tournaments, so I will just try and use that specifically. Realistically it's more about my own health and my own game. If I can keep myself healthy enough to compete at my best, day in and day out, I have trust that my game can get back to where it was. Not just get back to where it was but take it a little further also.
USOpen.org: What are your expectations for the years ahead, what do you think you can accomplish on tour?
Bradley Klahn: It is going to be one last run for me. I'm 31 now. I don't have as many more years in my career, as when I went through this surgery the last time at 24, so for me I think the biggest thing starting out is just enjoying being back on the tour and enjoying playing tennis. There's not going to be any ranking goal. I don't need to hit a certain ranking to feel satisfied. I'll feel content if I can play healthy week in and week out, and freely. I think that's one of the biggest things is playing freely out there and letting my game shine through. The number will take care of himself
USOpen.org: You are following in the footsteps, in some ways, of Mackenzie McDonald. I talked to him in 2019 when he was rehabbing from his hamstring injury and working on the media side. He has come a long way.
Bradley Klahn: If I could follow up the same kind of success that Mackie has had after that hamstring injury, I would be very happy with that. He's done a tremendous job coming back, I know he's worked really hard to get his hamstring back and get that fitness up. I've been really impressed.
USOpen.org: American men’s tennis is in a really good place at the moment, where it feels like we are at the beginning of something exciting, with three different generations all pushing and competing and raising their level. What are your thoughts?
Bradley Klahn: It's exciting. You do have that large generational gap, where we are having success in a variety of age groups. We still have John Isner, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Denis Kudla, Jack Sock. You have these older, very established veterans that are still thriving, and especially on the hard courts. All Americans that I know love playing in New York and find the surface really suits them well.
This younger generation is incredible. Fritz, Tiafoe, Opelka, Paul. And then even younger, it's amazing that it keeps going younger. Korda, Nakashima, Brooksby.
USOpen.org: Sebastian Korda has been quite the revelation since he made his Slam debut at the Open last summer, no?
Bradley Klahn: Korda, I think he's really established himself as a potential threat at Slams. He looks the part, he's got the game, I really don't see any weakness in there and I think he has all the tools. I think one of the biggest things with Korda is that kind of unflappable presence out there. He always looks so composed, so in the moment and you can see the belief.
USOpen.org: And he isn’t the only one in that 20 to 21 age range making waves.
Bradley Klahn: This summer with what Brooksby and Nakashima have done in cracking the Top 100, making deep runs at tour events. Nakashima back-to-back finals, Brooksby a final in Newport and a semi in D.C. Two different game styles but two guys that are really thriving.
USOpen.org: Jenson Brooksby is so exciting. Personally I find it hard to project what his ceiling is. What do you make of his talent?
Bradley Klahn: It's funny, I'm actually calling the Brooksby and Fritz match tonight [Brooksby won in five sets]. Quite frankly, I haven't seen that much of Brooksby. He has really broken onto the scene. He won that first-round against Berdych in 2019. We heard a little bit about him and then his injury in 2020.
The biggest thing is his tennis IQ and his competitiveness and discipline. I think his intangibles are off the charts with his mentality, his desire to win, his ability to figure things out live and in the point.
His ability to adapt, that's one of the biggest things on tour, changing conditions every week. It's not as much about the aesthetics of the tennis, but are you able to figure out what it takes to win each day? I think that's something he does really well.
USOpen.org: Taylor Fritz is in the slightly older group that includes himself, Frances Tiaoe, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul. What do you see in Taylor’s game that you like?
Bradley Klahn: I believe Taylor's biggest attributes are obviously his physical tools, his power and his ability to take offense from anywhere in the court. But it is that belief—he is extremely confident in his abilities and it shows.
He never believes that he is going to lose and I think that shows in his play. I think that more than anything stands out. You mentioned the movement, yes, he's not scampering around the court out there like Frances and Tommy. That is certainly something that he can continue to work on, but he does make up for that in other ways which is power and his intangibles as well.
USOpen.org: You have had to really pay your dues in your career, grinding out wins on the Futures, Challengers and qualies at Slams. Can you help give the general public a better idea of just how fierce the competition is out there?
Bradley Klahn: I think the biggest thing I got with the Challengers is learning how to win. Learning how to win is the biggest thing on tour. At the end of the day it's about figuring out how to beat the opponent on that day. Those are skills that are transferable at any level. Whether it is the Futures or the Challengers or tour level. Obviously the level gets tougher and the adjustments are more detailed and finite, but you have to build that ability to win at each level and build that competitiveness and build those problem-solving skills, and I think that is something I benefited a lot from at the Challenger level.
What helped me after my last surgery was just drawing on that experience of winning, and then I think what really worked is that I broke through when I qualified and won a round at Wimbledon. I had been piecing together matches here and there but I just realized that I had to play a bigger game style, a more aggressive game style, and use my attributes a little bit better.
It was the same thing at the Challengers. As I look back at my career, I didn't make a Challenger semifinal for my first year. It was a mental block that I just couldn't get over, and there's always pivotal moments in your career that can make or break you. I had a loss in the Wimbledon qualies where I was up 5-4, 40-love, serving in the third set. That was a pivotal moment, where I took a deeper look at all the processes that I was going through. Then I made two straight finals at Challengers, I won my first Challenger, I won a round at the US Open, and it just kind of takes breaking through that to then start to get the belief that you can do it.
USOpen.org: That will be a massive experience to look back on when you do come back to the tour, don’t you think? It will give you confidence to know you have overcome those barriers.
Bradley Klahn: You learn as much or more from the down times and learning what didn't go right, how to navigate that, and it really does—I know it's a total cliché—but it does make it a lot sweeter, when you are able to get back there, you are able to savor those wins a little bit more.
USOpen.org: What would you say was your best US Open moment?
Bradley Klahn: I would have to say it's a toss-up. I hate to say it because it has been nine years, but my first US Open as a pro was in 2012, and I qualified as a wild card. I was the first men's wild card to ever qualify and win a round at the US Open. It was my very first five-set match and I beat Jurgen Melzer in five sets. I remember playing out on Court 17 and cramping at the end of the fourth. I was up two sets to one, so close to victory. The fifth set I pretty much blacked out, I don't remember much about it at all. I was in a haze, I was so tired that I managed to relax myself out of cramping.
USOpen.org: Really? That’s a trick a lot of top pros should learn...
Bradley Klahn: I think I cramped up because of nerves. You start thinking about your first Grand Slam win, I had a former Top 10 player (Melzer topped out at No. 6 in the ATP rankings) who had been Top-10 the year before, he was No. 36 in the world at the time, and it was natural to cramp from the nerves then. But to be able to get myself out of that and then win in a fifth set, it took me like five hours to get to sleep that night.
I remember not being able to get to sleep until four in the morning. We finished at 10 p.m. It was a great atmosphere, I had a lot of my college friends there. Just in general New York has been a very memorable place for my tennis. The US Open holds a special place in my career and in my heart, because of the matches that I've played, the crowds.
USOpen.org: You said it was a toss-up, do you have some other specific memories that you cherish from the US Open?
Bradley Klahn: The last match that I played here with crowds was against Kei Nishikori in Armstrong with the roof closed. I didn't get the win but I fought back from 5-1 down in the fourth set, down two sets to one, got it to 5-all, I gave myself chances.
It's really funーI think that's one of the coolest things about this time off is that I have been able to look back at some of those times and appreciate what I've done so far and use that as motivation for more instead of dwelling on the fact that I've had three surgeries.
Everybody's career has roadblocks, nobody's career is a constant ascent. It's been especially hard for me to think about that when I initially get injured or when you are kind of in the thick of things, travelling week in and week out it's hard to step back, but with the benefit of time it has allowed me to take a more holistic birds-eye view of my career and appreciate it more for what it is.
