My Tennis Heroes Video clip Rating: 4 / 5
Nike Tennis – 2011 US Open Collection For Roger Federer
My Tennis Heroes Video clip Rating: 5 / five
Rafa Nadal
There was once Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg, and Roger Federer. Now there’s a new king of tennis and this time, he’s from Spain. He has been the no. 1 in tennis ranking for quite some time, and has slipped only now, thanks to a spate of injuries. His astonishing track record on clay courts have earned him the nickname of “King of Clay”. Such is his dominance on clay that many experts have been saying he is the best clay court player ever. He is none other than the swashbuckling Rafael Nadal.
He was born in Majorca, Spain to Sebastien Nadal and Ana-Marie Perera in 1986. Nadal’s natural talent for tennis was spottted by his uncle, Toni Nadal, at a very young age. Rafael was introduced to tennis when he was only three years of age. It’s a little known fact that he was also a promising football player. He won the under-12 regional tennis tournament when he was only 8 years of age. When he was about 13 years of age, he was playing football and tennis equally well. But in order to see that his studies were not hampered, his father asked him to choose between the two. He promptly chose tennis, which meant football had to be totally stopped. At the age of 14, the National Federation offered to take Nadal to Barcelona to continue his training, but his family was opposed to it. Instead, he continued his training from home. At the age of 15, he defeated Pat Cash, a former Grand Slam champion in an exhibition match on a clay court.
He turned professional the same year, taking part in two junior ITF events. By the time he was 17, he had already defeated the defending world champion, Roger Federer, the first time they were pitted against each other. This is a feat that he would go on to repeat many more times, most significantly in the finals of the French Open. By defeating Federer, he had also become the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbeldon. At the age of 19, Nadal won his first French Open title. Incidentally, it was also the fist time he had played at the Roland Garros. This was something that had not taken place in Paris in over 20 years. It was also one of the first indications of the clay court dominance that was to become synonymous with his name. Nadal has a trademark habit in which he bites the trophies he wins, expecting to leave his mark on them probably. This habit was picked up by him quite early in his career.
2005 was one of the turning points of his tennis career. He reached the 4th round of the Australian Open, but was defeated by Lleyton Hewitt, who went on to become runner up. The same year, he was defeated in the finals of the Miami Masters by Roger Federer. Following the two defeats, he totally dominated the clay court in the spring session. Since then, Nadal has won the French Open 6 times, four of which came consecutively.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams the youngest of Richard and Oracene Williams’ five daughters was born on September 26, 1981, Michigan. The family moved to Compton in Los Angeles County, when the girls were young. Serena started playing tennis at the age of five in Campton. Serena William along with sister Venus were home-tutored by their father. Serena Williams is still coached by her parents at present.
When Serena Williams was nine, the family relocated to Haines City from Capton, to facilitate her to attend Rick Macci’s tennis academy. Macci spotted the talents of the sisters. At the United States Tennis Association junior tour, Williams had a 46–3 record and was also ranked No. 1 among Under-10 players in Florida. Serena’s father pulled her out of Macci’s academy when she was in the ninth grade, and started coaching at home.
1995 saw Serena Williams entering the professional circuit. She was ranked world No. 99 in two years. She had been ranked 304 just 12 months ago. After graduating from high school in 1996, she inked a $12 million deal with Puma. In 1999, she won the U.S. Open title when she beat her sister Venus. Serena has won 23 Grand Slam titles which include 10 doubles championships with Venus over ten years. Serena Williams defeated Venus in the finals of the 2002 Wimbledon, French Open and the U.S. Open. She won her first Australian Open in 2003. This win made her one of only five women players to have complete grand slam sets. She won the U.S. Open in 2008 and teamed up with Venus to capture a women’s doubles Olympic gold at the Beijing Games.
Serena has had her share of ups and down in her career graph. Serena Williams was shocked by the murder of her sister Yetunde Price in Los Angeles in 2003. She was affected by a motivation to stay fit and was bitten by injuries. All this caused her tennis ranking to plummet down to 139.
By 2009, she worked hard to win back her World No. 1 ranking, but everything wasn’t going smoothly. In September, she shouted at a lineswomen for a foot-fault called at the end of a semi-final loss to Kim Clijsters, who eventually won the U.S. Open that year. Tennis Association fined Serena $10,000 on the spot. Two months later, she was ordered to pay $82,500 to the Grand Slam committee and was placed on two-year probation.
By early 2010, Serena gave her best to move past the incident, was gearing up for the upcoming Australian Open. Her 2011 hasn’t been that good, with losses at the semi-final level. However she has a career that only a few have matched in terms of success. She has won 27 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles– more than any other active player, male or female.
The brand of Serena Williams covers brand into fashion, television, and film. She has appeared on television shows and done voice-over for The Simpsons. She even launched her own line of clothing- “Aneres”. In 2002 People magazine recognized Serena Williams as one of its 25 Most Intriguing People. Serena Williams was deemed by the Essence magazine to be one of the country’s 50 Most Inspiring African-Americans.
Serena Williams the youngest of Richard and Oracene Williams’ five daughters was born on September 26, 1981, Michigan. The family moved to Compton in Los Angeles County, when the girls were young. Serena started playing tennis at the age of five in Campton. Serena William along with sister Venus were home-tutored by their father. Serena Williams is still coached by her parents at present. When Serena Williams was nine, the family relocated to Haines City from Capton, to facilitate her to attend Rick Macci’s tennis academy. Macci spotted the talents of the sisters. At the United States Tennis Association junior tour, Williams had a 46–3 record and was also ranked No. 1 among Under-10 players in Florida. Serena’s father pulled her out of Macci’s academy when she was in the ninth grade, and started coaching at home.
1995 saw Serena Williams entering the professional circuit. She was ranked world No. 99 in two years. She had been ranked 304 just 12 months ago. After graduating from high school in 1996, she inked a $12 million deal with Puma. In 1999, she won the U.S. Open title when she beat her sister Venus. Serena has won 23 Grand Slam titles which include 10 doubles championships with Venus over ten years. Serena Williams defeated Venus in the finals of the 2002 Wimbledon, French Open and the U.S. Open. She won her first Australian Open in 2003. This win made her one of only five women players to have complete grand slam sets. She won the U.S. Open in 2008 and teamed up with Venus to capture a women’s doubles Olympic gold at the Beijing Games.
Serena has had her share of ups and down in her career graph. Serena Williams was shocked by the murder of her sister Yetunde Price in Los Angeles in 2003. She was affected by a motivation to stay fit and was bitten by injuries. All this caused her tennis ranking to plummet down to 139.
By 2009, she worked hard to win back her World No. 1 ranking, but everything wasn’t going smoothly. In September, she shouted at a lineswomen for a foot-fault called at the end of a semi-final loss to Kim Clijsters, who eventually won the U.S. Open that year. Tennis Association fined Serena $10,000 on the spot. Two months later, she was ordered to pay $82,500 to the Grand Slam committee and was placed on two-year probation.
By early 2010, Serena gave her best to move past the incident, was gearing up for the upcoming Australian Open. Her 2011 hasn’t been that good, with losses at the semi-final level. However she has a career that only a few have matched in terms of success. She has won 27 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles– more than any other active player, male or female.
The brand of Serena Williams covers brand into fashion, television, and film. She has appeared on television shows and done voice-over for The Simpsons. She even launched her own line of clothing- “Aneres”. In 2002 People magazine recognized Serena Williams as one of its 25 Most Intriguing People. Serena Williams was deemed by the Essence magazine to be one of the country’s 50 Most Inspiring African-Americans.