Walt Landers

[Marie]

I apologize in advance for posting this here if it is in the wrong place (feel free to remove/relocate my post, admins/moderators), but I wasn't sure where else to put it.

"Walt Landers, who worked with Agassi, Sampras, Safin, Kafelnikov and Hewitt among others, died last week of complications resulting from a brain tumor."
Source: www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-10-09/d.php

Condolences to his family and friends. On a related note, I never knew why Marat stopped working with him...can someone shed some light on this for me, please? Thank you.

[lau]

That`s really sad.
My condolences to his family and friends.
R.I.P.

[SAFINNO1]

Absolutel shocking - Hard to belive only last year he was in Marat's box at AO

RIP Walt Landers


ATP TRIBUTE

October 11, 2006
Ljubicic Pays Tribute to Walt Landers

ATP World No. 3 and Player Council president Ivan Ljubicic today paid tribute to physical trainer Walt Landers, who passed away on October 6 due to complications resulting from a recently diagnosed brain tumor. He was 53 years old.

Ljubicic wore a black armband during his second round win over Florian Mayer at the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna and later paid tribute to Landers.

“His passing came so unexpectedly and left us ill prepared for this task. We never had a chance to say goodbye to Walt in person, never even had an inkling that something might be wrong with him,” said Ljubicic.

“I know I’m speaking on behalf of all the players when I say that Walt will be sorely missed. So many generations of players have come up the tour ranks while Walt was one of the most familiar faces in the locker room and the player lounge.

“He was the one person that always approached everyone, and always had a smile ready for everyone.”

Landers was a Polish-born physical trainer and massage therapist who worked with many of tennis’ elite performers on the ATP circuit including Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Lleyton Hewitt.

Darren Cahill, a former ATP pro and coach to Agassi and Hewitt, said: “Walt has touched our lives in so many ways over the years.

“He has been a permanent fixture in our sport for the last 17 years and his longevity alone attests to the amazing job he has done for his players over the last two decades.

“To his friends, Walt was known as 'Hurricane'. He lived life at a fast pace, trained himself to the point of exhaustion, and never shied away from a days hard work.

“His love of fitness and physical recovery was well known to all us, and while at times he would attempt to carry the worlds problems on his shoulders, he was a kind and generous man and his heart was always in the right place.

“He deserved a much better hand than the one dealt to him during the last month.”

[Elisabeth]

I remember when I saw him doing his jogging earlier this year at Roland Garros. He was nice with fans and was always smiling.
As u said Ily, it's hard to belive only last year he was in Marat's box at AO.
I was very sad to hear this news.

My condolences to his family and friends.

[carole]

It's an awful news... He was a such an interesting and passionate person, he will be missed a lot...