“THERE IS NO WAY AROUND HARD WORK. EMBRACE IT.” – Roger Federer.
It’s so mesmerising and peaceful to see youngsters doing so well and making a career out of sports. All you need to do is just keep on working on it till you achieve the desired spot in your desired sport.
And when it comes to tennis it’s just like everything else, you work on it and you’ll improve.
Also while we talk about tennis how can we forget about the most important matches associated with this sport.
That’s the GRAND SLAM.
The grand slam tournaments are the most important annual tennis events also known as majors. They offer the most ranking points, greatest prize of all time, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of the field, greatest number of “best of” sets of men, which is 5.
The grand slam itinerary consists of:
• Australian Open in mid-January.
• French Open around late May.
• Wimbledon in June-July.
• US Open in August-September.
Each tournament is played over a two- week period.
The Australian and US tournaments are played on hard courts.
The french on clay.
The Wimbledon on the grass.
Wimbledon is the oldest, found in 1877.
US Open in 1881.
French Open in 1891.
Australian Open in 1905.
This was all about grand slam that one needs to know. Now, we should see who were the 5 youngsters to get into grand slams this year who not only knew what tennis is but also how to embrace the sport.
1. BIANCA ANDREESCU
Bianca Andreescu defeated Serena Williams 6-3 7-5 in the final to win the US Open women's title.
She became Canada’s first grand slam singles champion against 23-time major champion Serena Williams in US Open finals.
Records
• US Open in 2019 won the title in 1st attempt. Stands alone.
• Grand slam tournament 2019 in which fewest grand slam main draw appearances before winning. Player tied was Monika Seles.
• Grand slam tournament 2019 won title at 1st attempt at any Grand Slam. Player tied was Rafael Nadal.
2. COCO GAUFF
Gauff, who turned 15 only a few months ago, is already the youngest player to have come through the Wimbledon qualifying tournament and the youngest to reach the second week here since Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
She lost at the 2nd round of qualifying at the french open, after which she qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon.
JUNIOR GRAND SLAM FINALS
SINGLES
• Lost the 2017 US open on hard surface by Amanda Anisimova by 0-6,2-6
• Won the 2018 french open on clay surface by Caty McNally by 1-6,6-3,7-6
DOUBLES
• Won the 2018 US open on hard surface partnering Caty McNally by Hailey Baptiste and Dalayna Hewitt by 6-3,6-2
3. ASHLEIGH BARTY
Barty is an Australian professional tennis player and a former cricketer. Barty has won 6 singles titles and 10 doubles titles on WTA tour, including 1 grand slam singles title at 2019 french open and one doubles title at 2018 US open partnering Coco Vandeweghe.
CAREER STATISTICS
SINGLES
She played Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open from which she won French open and went in Australian Open quarterfinal.
DOUBLES
She played Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US open from which she won the US Open.
4. ZACHARY SVAJDA
Svajda defeated Govinda Nanda 6-7,7-5,6-3,6-1 to win the USTA Boys 18s national championship. This victory earned the 16-year-old the wild entry to the US open 2019 making him the youngest player to play in the men’s US open since Donald Young in 2005.
Despite succumbing to full body cramps in a five-set first-round loss to Paolo Lorenzi he drew attention as a future prospect in American tennis.
He is homeschooled and coached by his father, Tom.
5. FABIO FOGNINI
The high ranked Italian men since 1979, Fognini is set to make his debut for Team Europe in 2019. In career-best form is singles, the 32-year-old is also an accomplished doubles player with a career-high ranking of No.7. He is the only man to beat Rafael Nadal in a five-set Grand Slam match after losing the first two sets.
He played 19 singles in ATP career finals (9 titles, 10 runner-ups) and 14 doubles (5 titles, 9 runner-ups).
In his master 1000 finals, he played 1 single (titles) and 3 doubles (runner-ups).
GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENT FINALS
Won 1 double (title) in 2015 partnering Simone Bolelli against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
Age is just a number, not a barrier and these gems have proved this through their records. We wish them all the luck for the future and they will turn out to be an inspiration for other future generations.
