Make Time For Sports.
Tennis
Capping It All!
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If you were a newbie following women’s tennis when Jennifer Capriati won the Australian & French Opens in 2001 and followed it up with the Australian Open again the following year, you would not have been surprised to see her at the pinnacle of women’s tennis, holding the No. 1 ranking.
But as avid followers of the game can testify, there is a very interesting and heart-warming story behind Capriati’s success.
Capriati was a prodigy—a teen prodigy no less—and made her professional debut on March 5, 1990, three weeks before her 14th birthday.
Success was quick to follow!
She reached the final of her debut tournament at Boca Raton, Florida, losing to Gabriela Sabatini in the final.
She reached the finals of her next tournament as well, losing to none other than, in her own words "the lege", Martina Navratilova.
Quote of the day:
Whoever ceases to be a student has never been a student. – George Iles
Kings Of Wimbledon!
Wimbledon is about tradition, guts and glory and strawberries and cream! It’s also about the unpredictable English weather. It’s also about great champions who have weathered all odds to be crowned king after 2 weeks of spilling their guts out on the lawns of Wimbledon.
This show is dedicated to all the men singles champions starting with Bjorn Borg and ending with Federer. A tribute to the grass warriors!
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See SlideShow Here: Kings Of Wimbledon!
Nadal , The Ferocious!
There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded or cornered tiger and Nadal was a wounded tiger who had been licking his wounds ever since he was diagnosed with acute tendinitis in his knees in 2009. After being out for the most part of 2009 and unable to defend his 2008 Wimbledon crown, Nadal decided that it was time to ration out his appearances in the clay court season this time around. A little bit of rest and recuperation for his much abused knees could do no harm!
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Francesca hews Samantha!
Image by martin jančovič via Flickr
“And the mighty oak came crashing down, not with a single wield of the ax, but with multiple incisions made by a crafty little customer.” If Stosur was the mighty oak, Schiavone was the craftswoman who used all the skill and guile at her disposal to bring the more powerful Samantha to her knees; she was surgical in her demolition job making Stosur seem pedestrian for the most part of the match.
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Women’s Lib!
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It has been a women’s lib , of sorts, at the French Open this year with Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone bulldozing all in their path on their way to the final at Roland Garros.
Samantha Stosur , with her all court play , has ousted Henin, Serena Williams and Jankovic in quick succession. This is her best result ever in any Grand Slam. But it should come as no surprise to followers of the game as her game has improved considerably over the past year or so. She is considered a doubles specialist and it is her play at the net that has served to unnerve and demolish her more accomplished rivals.
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Indian men at the Grand Slams
With Somdev Devvarman qualifying for the French Open main draw – his second Grand Slam appearance after the 2009 US Open, let’s look at the best Grand Slam appearances by any Indian male player in any men’s professional singles Grand Slam.
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Gods of Clay!
King Of The Red Clay
With the French Open looming large on the horizon , the 23rd of May, 2010 to be precise, I thought I’d pen a few words on the French Open , tennis and my favorites for the title of King of the Red Clay at Roland Garros.
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Tennis comes into its own!
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
A few days ago, Aita announced the Indian Tennis League (ITL), which has been inspired by cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and the World Team Tennis (WTT), held every summer in the US. Initial expectations include attracting some of the biggest, recently retired names in world tennis to this event.
We’re too self-absorbed!
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What do you think?
I agree, to a large extent, that cricket, the Indian public’s passion, is not a true team sport.
Team sports are about understanding, a true choreography , a meeting of minds, hearts, souls translated into fluid motion, team action.
A similar thing could be said about tennis , specially the Indian Davis Cup team except for the doubles pair. And, mind you, team harmony does not mean that 2 players should be buddy-buddy. They just need to be civil and challenge each other to be better, to complement each other. Perhaps, that’s why we may never see another champion Davis Cup pair like Paes and Bhupathi come out of India for a long,long time.
But then, I guess, that’s why we are about genius and individual excellence. Not bad traits by themselves but then why in a population of over a billion do we have such few instances of them? Ah then, the excuses for this failing have been trotted out by our politicians for over 6 decades and hence I refuse to recount them here.
Just as we could never be another US or a Japan, but come on , China faces the same challenges as us, maybe even more! So why cannot we be the tiger we were meant to be? Our national animal is the tiger, after all!
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can then have quite a different undertone! Quite a notion! But then nations are formed of notions, are they not?
Have a great weekend!
Tennis, AITA, Mumbai University & Kalina Campus
Image via Wikipedia
The All India Tennis Association now has a Tennis Centre of Excellence at the Kalina Campus, Mumbai University.
It boasts 7 State of the art Synthetic Floodlit Tennis Courts, a fully equipped gym with trainers, professional coaching for children and adults, pay & play facilities and ample parking facilities.
The address is:
AITA Trust,
University of Mumbai,
Vidya Nagari,
Kalina Campus,
Santacruz East,
Mumbai – 400 055
Tel No: 3265 3930/2290 9415
Email:tceaitatrust@yahoo.com
PS: This is for informational purposes only. This is not, in any way, an endorsement.
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Make Time For Sports. 