C

em>Christopher '€œChristo'€ Rungkat reached a career-high Emirates ATP World Tour ranking of 241 in singles on April 8, 2013. What happened next occurs all too often in professional tennis. It would take Christo exactly two years to rediscover his winning edge, which he did in Tegal, Indonesia on April 5. Today, Christo is in the final preparations to defend his SEA Games gold medals. This is his story.

The professional tennis tour is often compared to an emotional rollercoaster. The ups and downs, thrills and anxieties all spin together week in and week out for roughly 30 weeks per year.

Many young men have journeyed on the professional tennis tour only to have their dreams of greatness crushed on the rocks of reality. Amid the constant travel to far-flung locations like Namangan, Uzbekistan and Arequipa, Peru, young men scour the world in search of those precious ATP points that are more valuable to them than gold.

While the joys often last less than 24 hours, or a weekend at best, the heartbreaks linger and often fester only to come back time and again to haunt the player in future matches.

Few players know this better than Christopher '€œChristo'€ Rungkat of Indonesia. I first met Christo when he was a promising 17-year-old junior player. At the time, I was on the ATP World Tour with the Ratiwatana brothers of Thailand.

It was agreed that Christo travel with us at times as a hitting partner. Christo would join us at grand slams and other ATP events, oftentimes sleeping on the Ratiwatanas'€™ floor. He practiced not only with the Thai team, but also with other professional players who were always seeking someone to warm up with or just as a practice partner. During that time, Christo was rewarded for his efforts when he won the French Open junior doubles event. And then later that year and the next he won numerous professional doubles events. All the while his singles game was developing.

A couple of years later, I was hired by the Indonesian Tennis Association (PELTI) to coach the national teams and, specifically, Christo.

During that time I had the opportunity to observe his play in countless national and international matches, singles and doubles and hundreds of hours of training sessions. What struck me was how once or twice a match he was able to '€œsnatch'€ a point away from his opponent just as all looked lost for Christo.

Whether it was singles or doubles, Christo had the uncanny ability to come up with some incredible pick-up or sneaky poach and deal a deathblow to his opponent. For this unique talent, his peers gave him the nickname, the Bandit. The name has stuck.

Since the age of 17 years, Christo has been his country'€™s number one male player. That was both a blessing and a curse. Being number one in a country of nearly 300 million has certain benefits when it comes to media and support. However, on the developmental side, not having an active older player to show the road ahead, where the dangers and pitfalls are located, is a detriment.

Still, Christo managed to succeed, highlighted by his triple gold-medal performance in the 2011 SEA Games (men'€™s team, men'€™s singles and mixed doubles), and then he led the Indonesia Davis Cup team to Group I with an incredible victory over the more experienced and superior Thai national team.

Success followed success for Christo as his ATP ranking climbed steadily. Christo could be forgiven for naivety in believing that his journey to stardom would be nothing but clear, smooth sailing. Everyone thought that Christo had arrived and it was only a matter of a year, or at best two, and he would be playing at the grandest venues and cashing paychecks for six-figure
prize money.

Then disaster struck. Slowly at first, then all of sudden, Christo'€™s world came tumbling down like a house of cards. A little injury here, a nagging sprain there and then the losses started to pile up. Panic began to set in.

The tournament wins and points gathered would have had to be defended soon, or Christo'€™s ranking would begin to fall. As is the case of most young men in this situation, Christo started scheduling out of emotion: running all over the world chasing points.

To make matters worse, he lost his sponsor. Now, Christo was on a fine line and living on a razor'€™s edge. He was about to enter a world of pain as only those men who live and die in an individual sport can testify.

Christo'€™s ranking plummeted, his bank account went dry and his fitness dropped to an all-time low. What had taken him a lifetime to achieve was all lost in less than a year. Such is the life on the professional tennis tour circuit.

About a year ago, Christo decided to make a comeback. He would have to start at ground zero. He would have to qualify just to gain entry into tournaments that he used to win. He had gained weight and lost speed: not a good combination for a professional athlete. Still, Christo was determined. He traveled to Kep, Cambodia, where I live, and asked if he could begin the training needed to get back in form. I noticed a different Christopher Christo now from years past.

He had been cut bad from his experience on the tour the last couple of years and his wounds were no longer physical but emotional. The dreaded self-doubt had set in and it would take a lot of hard yards of grueling work and humbling defeats if he were to survive.

Little by little, Christo began to regain his fitness. He dedicated himself to long distance running and countless intervals of mountain bike training. There is no modern gym in Kep, so Christo worked on his upper body by taking long swims in the sea. As his body responded, he began running the local hills and doing weekly temple sprints.

Soon, he was ready to compete again and he returned to the circuit. In the beginning there were a lot more losses than wins, but eventually the scales began to balance and Christo returned to form. Except there was big difference: Christo had learned the hard way about the need to respect the game of tennis as a professional. He was older, wiser and more mature. Christo had begun to treat his body to the best fuels. Gone were fried foods and chocolate sweets and in came a high-octane mix of protein and super foods.

A quick look at Christo'€™s player activity will show that he has begun to avenge many of his losses the last year and is moving steadily up the ladder again. I have no doubt that this time around he will not only sustain his improvement, but climb to even greater heights.