[2] At the beginning of the 1996 collegiate season he began struggling with a back injury which by April was bad enough that he was forced to pull out of the competition.

An MRI scan revealed that he had suffered a spinal disc herniation and, then aged 21, he was informed he would never play tennis again.

[2] Soon after returning from his back injury he began his professional career on the international satellite and challenger circuits.

The closest he came to making a Grand Slam tournament was the Australian Open in 2003 where he made it to the second round of qualifying.

In 2003 he partnered Júlio Silva in the doubles and in 2004 he was given a wildcard into the singles competition, where he lost in the first round to Peru's Luis Horna.