Almost every tennis player has suffered from a sprained ankle at some time in his/her career. It is the most frequent injury in sports with side-to-side movements. The most common ankle sprain is the outer ankle sprain: an overstretched ligament and partial or complete ligament tear. You need a lot of patience to rehabilitate an ankle sprain properly. Sprained ankles can be a tough injury for many reasons: 1) They can be extremely painful. 2) They prohibit you from training and competing during long time periods. 3) After you have recovered (or so you think so), your ankle is weaker than normally and you can easily sustain another, even more serious sprain. Immediately after the ankle sprain happened apply R-I-C-E: rest, ice, compression (mild) and elevation. If the ankle does not respond quickly to this treatment, it is probably best to visit your sports physician.
