When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher! Damir Dzumhur was born right in Sarajevo amidst the chaos of the Bosnian War. He grew up tough, and it shows every time he steps onto a tennis court. That grit carried him all the way to history: at age 32, he became the first man from Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach a Grand Slam, landing in the third round of the 2014 Australian Open. By 2018, he’d soared to a career-high World No. 23—the best, ever, for a Bosnian player. But his troubles weren’t contained to the court.
On August 10, Dzumhur opened up in his first ‘My Point’ essay, calling life after Roland Garros 2022 “probably the worst moment of my life.” Just days after losing to Fernando Verdasco in Paris, a sharp stomach pain struck. Doctors quickly diagnosed acute pancreatitis and rushed him into intensive care. For six painful days, he relied on strong medication just to sleep. He admitted that without his youth and good health, he might not have survived.
The cause? Still a mystery. The current world No. 56 noted doctors couldn’t figure out why it happened, especially to someone healthy who doesn’t drink heavily or eat poorly. “It just happened suddenly,” he explained. While the odds are tiny, for Damir Dzumhur, it became a terrifying reality. On his 30th day in a French hospital — far from home and with tennis the last thing on his mind — he could only think of his newborn son, Luka, born the previous October.
Instead of enjoying those precious first months, he lay in a hospital bed, uncertain about his future. Longing to be near family, he asked to be moved to Belgrade to see a trusted doctor. Paris doctors refused, warning he was too unwell to travel. They ultimately saved his life — but the weight of what could have happened lingered. As he concluded in his essay, “Three years ago I nearly died. Now I get to do what I love.”
“Three years ago I nearly died. Now I get to do what I love.”@DzumhurDamir writes a first-person essay about his battle with acute pancreatitis and how the near-death experience changed his perspective.
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 10, 2025
Now, back on the court, he’s working hard to climb back to that level. This season, Damir Dzumhur’s posted a singles record of 17 wins and 17 losses so far. He reached the quarterfinals at the Chile Open and made a notable return to the main draw of Indian Wells after five years, winning his opening match against Roberto Bautista Agut. While a title still evades him, he’s shown promise by taking a set off Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open!
And this isn’t the first time he’s opened up about the illness that changed everything. Dzumhur has spoken about this incident before and how he got past it!
Damir Dzumhur on going back home after treatment
On April 28, Damir sat down with Clay Tennis and pulled back the curtain on a comeback story packed with grit. The road back, he admitted, came with rules. “When I came back to Serbia, when I continued my recovery,” he said, “the doctor told me that I have to be very careful and I have to take care of what I’m eating.” The thought of keeping his body in shape for one of the most physically demanding sports in the world? Nerve-wracking — the kind of uncertainty that can make an athlete question everything.
The doubts were real. “He was very sceptical that I would be able to get back on the court soon. So, if was going to be a very long time away from the courts, I didn’t know what was going to happen.” Missing a month might sound short, but in the cutthroat world of tennis, it’s an eternity — especially when clay season rolls in. The surface spares no one. If you’re not at peak fitness, it will chew you up and spit you out.
And Damir Dzumhur? He was far from his fighting weight. “I lost eleven kilos in just few days. For my height that’s a lot! I’m normally in 66 or 67 kilos, I had only 55 at that point. It was a difficult time, but I think after that, when I started playing tennis again, I was enjoying tennis much more. When I look back, I feel happy that I got a second chance.”
By 25 July 2022, he dusted off his racket at the Zug Challenger in Switzerland. The result — a quick first-round exit to Santiago Rodriguez Taverna — didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was back in the fight.
The fire returned in September, when he battled his way to the final of a Challenger in Romania. The trophy didn’t come his way, but the belief was back, stronger than ever. Sure, the last title was Antalya 2018 — but streaks are made to be broken.
Now, with the Cincinnati Masters underway, he’s staring down a round-of-64 showdown with none other than World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz. Could this be the shocker that flips his script? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The post 33-Year-Old ATP Veteran’s Emotional Confession on Life-Threatening Crisis: ‘I Nearly Died’ appeared first on EssentiallySports.
