Calvin Hemery collapsed into the green dirt, limbs spread wide. It was partially in elation and partially in exhaustion, as evidenced by how hard it was for him to get up afterwards.
The Frenchman had just finished a ridiculous, come-from-behind 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 7-6(4) victory over Alexis Galarneau on the green clay of Savannah. At four hours and 21 minutes, it was the second-longest Challenger match since 2010.
Hemery had to come back from a set down. He was a break down twice in the second set. He was down a break in the third set. He let a *5-3 lead in the third turn into 5-5 *0-40 on his own serve.
Yet, Hemery persevered and ultimately triumphed, all for a measly seven ranking points and $1300 USD that likely was near-nothing after expenses.
The 28 year-old Hemery was once a promising talent. He seemed like he was set to make a later (by tennis standards) rise into the top 100 when, in 2018, his ranking peaked at World No. 116 in April of 2018.
Shortly thereafter, Hemery even got to compete in the main draw of the French Open, one of the four pinnacles of the sport. While Hemery lost his first-round match to Diego Schwartzman, he seemed as if he were on a path to success.
Yet, Hemery never made it to the promised land. By the end of the 2018 season, he was outside of the top 200 in the world. Throughout much of the rest of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, although there's a lack of clear information online, it's clear that the Frenchman was injured and playing less often than you would expect for what seemed like a fast-rising player.
In fact, in 2019, Hemery played just 35 matches all season.
Then, in 2020, any sort of momentum Hemery had was officially put to rest, as the coronavirus pandemic knocked out all professional playing opportunities for much of the year.
Perhaps, you could argue, that the pandemic hiatus came at the perfect time for Hemery. The lack of matchplay in 2019 had hit hard, as he had fallen solidly outside of the top 400 in the world. To start 2020, Hemery was just 1-1 at the Challenger level and 4-4 at the ITF level, losing to players such as David Perez Sanz and Baptiste Crepatte.
And, after returning from the pandemic, it took Hemery nine ITF events before he made a final and 11 ITF events to win a title, the $25k event in Caslano.
That August 2021 title in Caslano was the last professional tennis event that Hemery has won.
Hemery's ranking has waffled in the past couple of years. Even with the trophy in Caslano, he has been stuck between 295 and 500 in the world from June 2021 until the present, a far cry from being on the cusp of four guaranteed Slam paychecks a year back in 2018.
I bring up Hemery's history to put into context where his game, and quite possibly, his mind was at during the physical showdown with Galarneau. Savannah, like all tournaments at this point for the Frenchman, was very important for the future of his career.
Just last week, on the green clay of Tallahassee, Hemery had a disappointing 4-6, 2-6 defeat to Rio Noguchi. Hemery won just 51% of his service points and 33% of his return points, lacking the patience that clay-court tennis required. Noguchi ground him into the dirt.
And, to be frank, it seemed as if, by the time Noguchi went up 6-4, 2-0* in the second set, that Hemery had mentally given up on the match.
It seemed as if history was repeating itself in Savannah, as Galarneau survived a tough first set and surged ahead in the second.
Yet, this time, Hemery fought back.
It would have been easy for Hemery to succumb to mental demons in that second set or after blowing his lead in the third. But, this time, he showcased a steely determination.
Hemery demonstrated a will to win that can only come from the desperation of knowing that there's a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode, on the careers of players who attempt outlast the inevitable in ITF's and on the Challenger Tour.
After playing such a physically-exhausting grind of a match against Galarneau, it would have been very easy for Hemery to feel as if he'd done his "job" for the week and give a haphazard effort in his second-round match with Bjorn Fratangelo.
Yet, Hemery put together another superhuman effort, showing very few signs of fatigue in a 7-6(1), 6-3 victory over Fratangelo. Even as the first set passed the one-hour mark, Hemery never seemed to slow. He kept pounding big serves and forehands, winning 81% of his first serves and not getting broken all match.
And that's been the key to success throughout Hemery's career. Regardless of the surface, the Frenchman has always wanted to take the racquet out of his opponents' hands with his huge first serve and powerful, punishing forehand.
Where Hemery has often gone awry is with his rally tolerance, as watching one of his matches often feels like going on a water slide, with ups, downs, twists, and turns. And, just when you're at the finish of the slide, you get dunked into a big, disorienting pool of water.
In other words, watching Hemery play is a topsy-turvey experience.
Yet, at least in Savannah, it was an experience worth having.
Hemery's Savannah quarterfinal match was against top-seed Zizou Bergs. Bergs had won the Tallahassee final the previous week and was coming into this match on a seven-match winning streak, having won 14 of his last 15 sets.
Yet, perhaps due to some fatigue, but certainly due to Hemery's controlled aggression, Bergs' winning streak stopped there.
Hemery put together another stunning performance, shocking Bergs 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. The Frenchman punished Bergs' big serve, winning 50% of his second-serve return points and breaking four times.
Hemery, once again, was crushing his forehand, controlling the baseline from this wing. Bergs' forehand has been so excellent on the green clay this season, yet it was Hemery's forehand making the bigger impact in this matchup.
In the semifinals, Hemery took on a relatively unknown player in Tristan Boyer, who came into Savannah at World No. 863. This was a different ball game for Hemery. Suddenly, the Frenchman was the favorite, expected to beat the unheralded American.
Hemery had established himself, by beating Fratangelo and Bergs, as a major contender for the title and, with a seemingly-overmatched player waiting in the semifinals, a second-career Challenger title was coming into view.
But, it wouldn't be easy. After playing just one game on Saturday, severe weather delayed the rest of the semifinal until Sunday. This means that both players, if they were to win the championship, would need to essentially play two matches in one day to do so.
Suddenly, that light at the end of the tunnel for Hemery started to cloud up.
But, on Sunday, the Frenchman started well, taking the opening set 6-2. He won 86% of his first serves in the set and wasn't broken.
Hemery wouldn't win even 65% of his first serves in either of the last two sets and was broken a combined four times. Hemery had become passive from the baseline, the spring in his step was gone. The wind, the crowd, and the windy conditions had combined to create a cinder block weight upon Hemery's tired legs.
Boyer completed the comeback victory, defeating Hemery 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Even when Hemery went up a break early in the third, he never seemed to regain his form from prior days' matches, or even just from the first set.
Hemery was truly exhausted.
So, where does he go from here? Hemery's live ranking is currently at World No. 344, improving 31 spots after Hemery's semifinal appearance in Savannah.
I'm sure that it's far from where Hemery would like to be ranked, but it's a start. And, now, the Frenchman has regained the confidence in himself. He can be sure of his fitness, his serve, his forehand.
The ending of the Boyer match didn't define Hemery's entire week of tennis. The road to get there was much more important.
It's not easy in the lower ranks of tennis, playing for tiny prize pots that go directly into travel and equipment costs, and for minuscule ranking-point opportunities. Often, it can break a player down physically and, even scarier, mentally (check out Akira Santillan's meltdown).
But, through the grind, every once in a while, there's a moment that can propel a player forward. Hemery already responded to the physical victory over Galarneau well with his wins over Fratangelo and Bergs.
We will now have to wait and see where Hemery goes from here. Will this be the catalyst that helps find Hemery back within the top 200? Or merely a good story for the week, just another story Hemery can tell about a career that hasn't gone as planned?
We'll find out in the coming months. But this is certainly a step in the right direction.
