Reich Returns from Medical Leave to Help Tennis Team Beat Ridge

Senior tennis player had hip surgery.

Westfield (N.J.) Patch—May 12, 2010

Adam Reich not only won his first match back after returning from surgery to both hips, the Westfield High senior had to rally to do it.

Reich beat Ridge's Howard Sherman 6-4, 7-5 Tuesday and helped the Blue Devils win 3-2 in Basking Ridge. The match was Reich's first in six months because of hip surgery he had March 5 at Hospital For Special Surgery in New York City.

"He looked rusty and certainly not tournament tough,'' said Westfield coach George Kapner, adding that Reich's strokes were sold. "However, he moved better as the match went on and he was moving well in the last four or five games."

"The more he plays, the better he will get,'' he added.

Reich was the team's No. 1 player last year when they made the Tournament of Champions final for the third straight year.

The five-hour surgery was done by New York Mets' team physician Dr. Struan Coleman. Dr. Coleman repaired the damaged labrum that surrounds the socket of the hip. The impingement caused the labrum to be torn. He had felt the discomfort last fall. Because of the surgery, Reich wasn't sure he would be able to return this year.

"After the surgery they told me I would probably miss two or three months, I figured it would be very close to the end of the season,'' he said.

But there he was Tuesday, helping his team hold off a very good Ridge team.

Read the full story at westfield.patch.com.