At the end of October, a tearful Viktor Axelsen declared that he felt like “his badminton career had come down to a single match” in front of TV cameras after his highly dramatic win in the quarter-final of the Denmark Open against Thailand's world number three, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, 13-21, 21-12, 21-18.
It was a highly surprising statement coming from a man who has basically won everything there is to win within the world of badminton, Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships, BWF Tour season finals, All England, Thomas Cup, you name it…
The Denmark Open is a highly regarded tournament on the BWF Tour (especially among the Danes), but it doesn’t carry the prestige of the tournaments listed earlier. However, such were the circumstances around the quarter-final and, not least, the months leading up to it, that Axelsen’s very emotional reaction and his bold statement were thoroughly understood by everyone who has followed his awe-inspiring career over the years.
Forced into back surgery
Viktor Axelsen underwent back surgery in April 2025 for a herniated disc. The surgery, performed in Germany, followed months of pain and led to his withdrawal from the 2025 BWF World Championships as the recovery period proved to be longer than expected.
Initially, Axelsen, who won World Tour events in India and Germany this year but lost his opening match at the All England Open Badminton Championships, hoped the issue would resolve itself as has been the case with previous back problems, either naturally or, as in a recent case, through an injection that relieved the pain.
But as X-rays revealed that surgery was needed, Axelsen activated the protected ranking mechanism, which allows athletes sidelined for three to 12 months to retain their tournament seeding.
On top of his physical problems, Axelsen had the mental stress of going through a divorce as he announced in the middle of August that he, along with his wife Natalia, had decided to split up. Before that, on June 30th, Axelsen and father-in-law Henrik 'PK' Rohde, who also had served as his coach, decided to end their cooperation as former number one, Peter Gade, took over the coaching responsibility.
Troubled comeback
In his first competitive match exactly 182 days after his operation, the Dane was well beaten in the first round of the Hong Kong Open in straight sets 21-15, 21-7 by Japan’s Kodai Naraoka as his eagerly-anticipated return fell flat.
The week after, he seemed to have made small strides forward but crashed out in the quarter-final of the China Masters in Guangzhou in three sets against Alex Lanier after a virtual collapse in the second set when he was otherwise leading 15-9 after having won the first set.
The performance in those tournaments led experts inside the world of badminton to speculate if we would ever see Axelsen back to his best again, but the reigning Olympic champion set all those doubts aside when he reached the semifinal of the Denmark Open and only lost narrowly in three sets to the Chinese world number one Shi Yu Qi.
After the quarter-final win against Vitidsarn, Axelsen said, “In China and Hong Kong I wanted to let everything go to hell and leave my bag in Asia and say that was it, but this has given me belief that there is still badminton left in me and that I can challenge some of the best players in the world,” to TV2 Sport.
Surprised by his level at the Denmark Open
Director of Elite Sports at the Danish Badminton Federation, Jens Meibom, tells Flashscore that he has been relieved to see Axelsen’s progress over the autumn: “I didn't really realise that he was so frustrated about not playing better at the beginning of his comeback."
"I was more concerned that he didn't relapse with his back, and I was so positively surprised that he came back so impressively at the Denmark Open. I didn't expect that. I think it would have been incredibly sad if this back injury had been the end of his career.”
“The first two tournaments he took part in after coming back were still very early in his comeback process after he had been out for a long time. After all, I'm not inside his body, and I don't think you could expect that much.”
“I think it is important that Viktor's body gets back to being able to play not just one tournament, but several successive tournaments. What is important for Viktor is that he gets his body back in shape to be able to play, not quite as many tournaments as when he was young, but at least to be able to compete in the bigger tournaments."
"If that is possible, it is still to be seen. Viktor is currently attending to injuries/body stress from his participation in the tournaments in October, but hopefully he will be ready to play again at the beginning of the new year.”
Closer to the end than the beginning
He added: “Viktor is at the stage in his career where he is closer to the end than the beginning, and therefore, he must adjust training and tournament participation based on what his body can withstand. When you have played for as many years as Viktor has, the body is pretty worn out. He is in a different phase of his career now where he must take extra care of his body, but he knows that.”
Axelsen, who has lived and trained in Dubai since 2021, will return home to Denmark to train with the national team regularly in a new agreement. Axelsen will train on average three times per week in Brondby, Copenhagen, when he is at home in Denmark.
“I am really happy about the agreement and that I can now get coaching from Badminton Denmark's coaches for the tournaments when Peter Gade cannot be there,” said Viktor Axelsen in a press release.
A mixture of joy and fear
The agreement has been put together so that Axelsen can be coached by one of Badminton Denmark's national coaches and receive physiotherapy treatment in five to seven tournaments annually.
Meibom explained: “The most important thing is that he now gets coaching assistance in some tournaments, which he wouldn't have had otherwise.
“But for us, it is also about him coming back and contributing to the training environment, in addition to increasing the intensity and quality of the training, it also gives our young players a role model that they can lean on not only in terms of what happens on the court but also outside.”
Meibom underlines that he thinks Axelsen’s opponents will look at Axelsen’s comeback and improved form with a mixture of fear and joy. “I am sure his opponents think that he will return to at least the top five in the world, judging from his performance in the Denmark Open."
"I think most players thought it was a relief that they didn't have to play him while he was out, but at the same time, I think they also thought it would be a shame if he didn't come back.
"I think mostly that they are happy that he is coming back because it is good for the sport, and that Europeans are doing well. After all, it is a sport that has a very Asian character, and it must be made more global,” ends Meibom.
