Served up!

Yay, went to the school website a while back and saw these pics of me in action playing competitive tennis! So yeah, I have on the SLC tennis team the past two years. We're obviously not Div I or anything remotely in the same region, so it's pretty non-competitive and fun.

It's also been crazy playing tennis on early spring nights where it can go as low as 6degC! Thankfully, tennis practice is a really laid-back affair, unlike soccer practice, which is the total opposite. The coolest part of being on the tennis team is that we get to play our conference finals at Flushing Meadows! No playing on the show courts obvously, but still, it's a fun experience.

Mid-air while serving. Good clearance, I must say!

Completing the serve motion, up and over. I think serving's the only thing which, despite my lack of proper tennis training, is pretty orthodox and correct. The rest is all a bit japalang.

Hitting a forehand. Bad positioning here, for any would-be player reading, because I'm backing away from the ball, rather than stepping forward to receive it (see how my left leg is behind my right. It should be about even instead)
That's the really really small team we have. From left, that's Coach Hassan , Vaughn, moi, Adam, Ben (who are brothers), and Eelum. Hassan was also the soccer team's coach. He's a really cool guy. He was a lawyer, but left the practice to become involved in coaching instead. Vaughn's NYC born and bred, Adam and Ben were German-born, but live in NY now too. And Eelum's int'l too, from Nepal. And that's my mini-intro of my team mates. No idea why I felt the need to do that.

Too bad there aren't many pics of the soccer team, and of the ones that were taken, I'm not in them. :( lol.

The Fed Express reaches its stop.

Nothing is forever, and this .gif (from Federer's loss to Djokovic in the worst match of the year) sums up the great Swiss presently. Can't say I'm not enjoying it! Heh.

On the subject of tennis, now that Safin is pretty much done, I'm having trouble finding someone new to support. I do like Nadal very much, but he doesn't inspire Safin-levels of passion. Murray, I really like his game - big first serve, powerful off both wings, great hands, great touch, very intelligent player with lots of variety. But that personality is a massive turn-off. Ugh.

And Maria, please get well and come back soon! The WTA needs you badly!

Newsflash: Singapore plays a part in Maria's 3rd Slam victory!

Sharapova savours sweet success
Saturday, 26 January, 2008
By Luke Buttigieg
Maria Sharapova celebrates after winning championship point

Australian Open 2008 women's singles champion Maria Sharapova says her victory is just reward for all the hard work she has put in over recent months.

Sharapova struggled with injury for much of 2007 but finally managed to shake off most of her ailments in the latter part of the year and returned to some of the tennis that she's renowned for when she reached the final at the WTA Tour Championships.

And having avenged her defeat to Justine Henin in that final in Madrid when she won her quarter-final against the Belgian world No.1 earlier this week, Sharapova completed her third Grand Slam win with a 7-5 6-3 defeat of Serbian Ana Ivanovic.

"So exciting, it's amazing," she said of her feelings about her latest triumph. "Sometimes you just … when you're putting the work in it just seems so, so hard, and you never know when that work's gonna pay off."

"When you're going through tough moments, you never know when you're going to have good moments. I'm just so thankful that I got this one."

But having been humbled by unseeded American Serena Williams in the corresponding match 12 months ago when she was the No.1 seed, Sharapova denied that she had any extra motivation this time around in an event in which she didn't drop a set.

"No, just satisfying, period, to win a Grand Slam, and to win one that you've never won before, especially after some of the tough losses that I've had," Sharapova said when asked if she was more satisfied to win it in light of her loss in 2007.

"The feeling is just so weird, because with every match you play, you finish the match and you think, there's one more to go and you've got to concentrate. Although you just beat a top player, you played really good tennis, you always feel like there's one more to go."

"And right now there's no more to go, and I just can't feel that yet, you know. I feel like I still have to get up tomorrow and play another match," a smiling Sharapova added. "But it will settle in - I hope - really soon. I mean, I don't have a match till next week."

Having come close to being ousted in the first round in 2007 when a scorching Melbourne day almost brought her undone, Sharapova was much more comfortable in the warm conditions on Saturday.

"When I was in Singapore a couple weeks ago it was so hot and humid out there," she said.

"I got to practice there for about three days outdoors. It was great, because when I got out on the court today, I was like, 'This is a piece of cake'."

"Even though it's hot, it wasn't nearly as hot as it was over there. You know, just mentally going into the match I didn't really care. Whatever it took, I was just gonna try to do everything I could to win that match."

While unsure at first whether she could say that her greater Grand Slam final experience had helped her, Sharapova did confirm that to be the case when she cast her mind back to the pivotal 10th game of the first set.

"When I was down 0-30 on my serve, when she had that opportunity to break me and win that set, I think experience definitely helped me because I didn't get impatient," Sharapova said. "I was just steady. I knew that, you know, it was for her to take."

"I mean, she's two points away from winning the first set in a Grand Slam final. You know, if you want it, take it. And she didn't. Was that experience? I was just calm. I just did the right things."

Having also revealed after her win that she has regular contact with former star Billie Jean King, and was in touch with her both before and after the final, Sharapova ominously warned her rivals she thinks her game can still improve.

"I know I've already won three Grand Slams, I know I keep saying this, but I don't think I'm at the peak of my career yet," she said. "I don't think my body has 100 per cent developed into its own."

"I've got many more things to learn, you know, in my tennis, and many things to build and improve. That takes time. It's not an overnight process. It's something that I look forward to.

Sharapova is obviously confident any time she enters a Grand Slam that she can go all the way, but two of her biggest goals for the rest of 2008 would surely be trying to complete a career slam and also success at the Beijing Olympics.

And if she can maintain the stellar form that took her to this breakthrough on Saturday, few would bet against the Russian being right in the hunt at the business end of many major tournaments for years to come.

We're glad to have helped, Maria! Really impressive two weeks of play. With this kinda of form, the French Open? Who knows! Onwards and upwards!

And thanks Novak for beating Fed~