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Journalism of Courage
It was a thrill to play in my first final at the Tier II level. Liezel Huber and I had a great week at Amelia Island, Florida, and it was exciting to beat some of the most prolific doubles teams of the world on the way to the final. In four tournaments in which we have played together, Liezel and I have an impressive doubles record of having won two titles and have appeared in a Tier II final this week apart from a quarter final entry in the Gaz de France tournament in Paris.
Doubles is particularly well appreciated in the state of Florida and we had huge crowds enjoying the exciting fare that we collectively managed to dish out at Amelia Island. Of course, we had our share of luck, without which it would not be possible to win a single match on the professional circuit, but we also combined superbly to put it across some top-level opponents.
It is amazing how the same luck that deserted me at critical junctures in singles in the last few weeks, had the ball rolling in my favour in doubles in the recent past. This pushes my doubles ranking up by leaps and bounds.
Injuries have continued to bother me, though. I have been playing with a painful wrist for the last few weeks 8212; my arm heavily strapped to avoid further damage to my wrist and elbow 8212; till I have time to take a break from the circuit.
The plaster has prevented aggravation of the injury, but during the doubles quarter final I seem to have hyper-extended my lower back again after more than 6 months. I had to play with eight painkillers in the semi-final and as many during the final.
I8217;ve decided to skip a tournament this week in Charleston, South Carolina, and am back on India for a detailed investigation. Of course, barring serious findings, I will be in Korea next week, doing duty for my country in the Fed Cup.
Injuries are rampant on the professional tennis circuit and not something that we, Indians are unique in being afflicted with. Probably, each and every one of the top 100 tennis professionals of the world is suffering from some niggling pain, if not something more serious, and injury management is vital for every player. It is not possible to survive at the top level today without stretching one8217;s body to the very limits, and this is what causes injuries in most cases.
In fact, this is the reason why retirement age of professional tennis players has considerably reduced in recent times.
As a developing nation in the world of women8217;s tennis, we Indians are also not helped by the fact that while growing up, in most cases, we have not had the benefit of informed professional guidance in strengthening areas of our bodies that will face the maximum onslaught once we have made it to the top echelons of the sport.
This is an area that the coaches in India need to concentrate on more while working towards producing the next generation of professional tennis players.
PMG/ Globosport
