“The recovery for my right knee was about 18 months,” said the 2024 All-SEC selection. “I was three months into play, getting back to everything, and then I hurt my other knee. It was a completely separate injury, not related to the other one. But it was the same exact injury.”
Just when the right knee was recovering, she had to go through it all over again with the left knee.
“After the first surgeries, I wasn't allowed to run for nine months, so it was a really long recovery from that one because we had to make sure that the cartilage was healed and a part of me again,” she said. “The second one wasn't as long, but it was still kind of gruesome. Same recovery, having to get the range of motion back, learning how to run again, getting confidence in my knees, being able to squat and do all of those things.”
Most players would be hesitant to compete again or might at least play a little differently with the history of injuries, but just the opposite is true for Bennett. Two surgeries before her 18th birthday did not deter her from the dream of playing collegiate tennis.
“My physical therapist back home was great,” she said. “Once I started getting back out onto the court, I became more confident just in knowing how well my surgeon did with both my knees, and I didn't really have any problems once I started playing again with confidence and not worrying that it was going to happen again.”
Despite the missed playing time, Bennett reached as high as No. 4 in her recruiting class and a blue-chip recruit according to Tennis Recruiting Network. She officially signed with the Tigers in November 2021 before finishing her high school career with a Florida individual state championship in 2022.
