Ross Hutchins, who is in remission from cancer, played his first ATP match in 14 months as he and partner Colin Fleming lost to Grigor Dimitrov and Jeremy Chardy in Brisbane. The 28-year-old Hutchins said he became emotional when walking out on center court.
Hutchins spent the first six months of 2013 undergoing chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden in London. Shortly after Hutchins announced he had cancer last January, his best friend, Andy Murray, tearfully dedicated his Brisbane title to him.
“I was thinking that when sort of 12 months ago Andy was standing up there with the crowd and said those things and I felt a little bit emotional and sort of a few thoughts were coming here and there,” Hutchins said. “A lot's happened. When I'm on court now playing with Colin, I don't even think that I was ill or what we achieved in the past. We're just looking at right now. Apart from that time, I don't think much about the illness or last year or whatever's happened. I'm pretty much now in the present and focusing on what we can do to become a successful team together.”