THERE are few players at Wimbledon this week operating with such a spring in their step as Jamie Baker. The Scot spent yesterday afternoon practising with compatriot Andy Murray in golden sunshine and lapped up the attention.
And it is not true to say that the reporters were all there to see Murray, with Baker having a more extraordinary tale to tell than his friend. At the start of this year the 21-year-old fell prey to a subtle and dangerous virus called ITP –
Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura – while training in Florida. It had caused the platelet level in his blood to fall to a "catastrophically low" level and he ran the risk of critical internal bleeding.
His aim as he spent three days in intensive care was simply to survive, but here he is eyeing a first-round draw today against the Italian Stefano Galvani.
Even in April it was considered "very unlikely" that Baker would make Wimbledon, and, after a bright beginning when he qualified for the Australian Open, his year looked over.
"It was only about three or four weeks ago that playing here became a realistic target," said Baker yesterday. "I was doing the maximum, in a physical sense, which the doctors would let me do, but not any more than that. I was getting blood tests on a week-to-week basis, so I couldn't look any further than that.
"It's a nice surprise to be able to play. You never think (something like that] is going to happen to someone like you. If you have the right attitude it can really turn into a positive.
"There were a few scary moments when I didn't know what was wrong. There was huge uncertainty about what it was and I was told not to move off my bed in case something happened.
"I had to lie there for a good few hours before they moved me into a ward on a drip and I was there for 24 hours. They were worried that if I moved and it affected my head, it could be fatal."
Baker admitted that the illness had made him take stock of his life and tennis.
"I definitely have a different perspective of how important tennis is now," he said.
"Being break point down in the first set of a tennis match anywhere in the world isn't so important now. I've had a really good day."
