It happened in the blink of an eye. Alex Llompart’s fall down a flight of stairs at the Malibu “Stinkies” Apartments was the one that left everyone around him seized with fear.
“I didn’t remember much of what happened after that” senior tennis player Alex Llompart recalled. “When I woke up the next morning I was in the hospital and that’s when they told me that I had a surgery.”
The fall left Llompart with a blood clot in his brain. The quick actions of his friends, who took him directly to the medical center, what saved him on the first place after the incident happened before the clot was removed. As doctors said, any hesitations could have been fatal.
Llompart spent 4 days in St. Jones hospital in Santa Monica last spring at the end of the season. After that, there was not much left he was allowed to do.
“I just needed rest in the beginning before I could slowly move up,” he said.
It took him two weeks to return to a regular lifestyle, one-and-a-half month to start exercising, three month to fully recover and four months to return back to training full time.
“The hardest task at that point was to come back to the level of fitness I used to be,” Llompart said, “I started to exercise a little by running and playing some tennis.”
Llompart is back on track of classes and practices after taking the whole fall semester off.
“We would not have nearly the same amount of enthusiasm, excitement, or commitment to our team goals without him,” Head Coach Adam Steinberg said, “He is a huge asset in the way that he plays, leads and communicates with [the coaches] and his teammates.”
Llompart has returned to college and to his team stronger then ever, ready to lead the team forward to victories.
“Alex has been playing extremely well to start off the season, but more importantly, he is our emotional team leader that constantly provides a spark to our team,” assistant coach Jason Cook wrote in an email, “His play always seems to be the best against the better teams we play. He really thrives in big match situations and seems to love the pressure and competition that comes in the clutch moments.“
“As a senior, he has the past experience to know what it takes to be a leader, but he really has impressed us with his level of maturity and professionalism,” Steinberg said.
Llompart contributed to the team’s victory in first three major matches against LMU, Cal Poly and Vanderbilt.
“We started pretty well,” Llompart said about this season. “We qualified for the National Indoor Tournament, which is a really big event in college tennis.”
“This weekend we played against very experienced teams and we lost those two that we thought we could win,” Llompart added. “We still have room for improvements.”
Most recently, No. 12 Waves faced Kentucky and Ohio State, teams that are currently ranked No. 7 and No.3 in the nation. “We have an experienced team that has gone through a lot in the past year and half so we are looking forward to having a successful season,” Steinberg said.
Although the Waves face one of their major opponents from USC tomorrow, they continue the season with positive attitude.
“We have a strong schedule against many top 10 opponents,” Steinberg said, “a win against any of these rivals would prove that all the hard work the players have put in is well worth it.”
“We would like to finish in the top 10 of the NCAA ranking, go to the Sweet 16 in Athens, Ga. and hopefully get a few players representing us in the individual NCAA tournament at the end of the season.”
Coaches’ staff believe that Llompart is an “extremely important member of the team.”
Despite all the obstacles, Llompart is starting this semester strong and with definite goals for the future.
“I am planning on playing pro tennis,” Llompart said, “And then go back home and start my own thing that would be connected with the sport.”
