Xavier Healy

April 8, 2020

April 8, 2020 “The recent Australian bushfires have devastated large parts of the land I call home. This crisis had also put a literal cloud over the Australian Open, and it is deeply personal to many Australians and, increasingly, many in the tennis community. Tens of people have died, millions of hectares of land have been burnt, much of our wildlife has perished, and entire communities have been devastated after suffering through years of drought. The bushfire smoke had hit South America, and NASA estimated that it would travel the entire globe. As Australians, we live with the threat of bushfire every single summer. Our rural communities are always prepared for the worst, and our firies are true heroes. While my family home in Ouyen were safe, my parents were asked by emergency services to evacuate in December before potentially disastrous conditions could hit our town. My Gran and my cousins were also evacuated from their homes when a sudden grass fire almost struck Wodonga. I’ve also been in constant contact with friends that are firies, fighting on the front line, or who have lost their homes and businesses. While the world looked on and sent their thoughts, prayers and (more…)

Donna Vekic

April 7, 2020

April 7, 2020 “I started playing tennis when I was six years old. From four to six I practiced gymnastics. It’s one of my favorite sports, especially to watch on TV. When I started gymnastics was never to be a professional or anything. I was getting better and better but one day the coaches came up to my parents and told them I would be too tall for it. Looking back I guess they were right. The summer was approaching and my parents said I should try something else. I said, ‘Why not tennis?’ From the first day I was really into it. I remember rolling my ankle in my house before the first practice but still went. I enjoyed tennis from the beginning but probably because I was so competitive. I hated to lose and needed to win. I do really love tennis. There is nothing quite like playing a night match, especially at Grand Slams. You can tell I love tennis when I spend the whole day on site and the first think I do when I get back to the hotel is turn the TV on and watch more tennis. I remember having one of my longest (more…)

Robin Soderling

April 5, 2020

April 5, 2020 “It was extremely difficult to make the decision to retire. I played my last match when I was only 27 years old. In my head, I had many more years left in tennis. I was at the peak of my tennis career when I got sick with mononucleosis, which was around two years before I retired. For a long time before I was diagnosed I was stressed, tired and really rundown. Through this all I kept playing. I became sick all the time because my immune system was weak, but I kept pushing. Deep down in my mind I knew something was wrong, but all the tests doctors took came back fine. Even though I was playing well, it was all up and down, until I got mono. I feel like the combination of my bad immune system and seriously overtraining affected me. Mono was just the last thing my body could handle. Doctors said I first got it in Indian Wells of 2011. It wasn’t too bad in the beginning but got worse after my last tournament in Bastad. I didn’t leave my house for six months. After about a year I would begin to feel (more…)

Ons Jabeur

April 3, 2020

April 3, 2020 “I grew up in Tunisia. I started playing tennis at three years old because my mom used to play. I was the youngest one of my brothers and sisters, so she took me to the club with her. It was around this time, from 3-5 years old, I was actually swimming. I was born in Ksar Hellal and moved to Sousse at 5 and that’s when I chose to play tennis. Sousse was great but needed more resources to improve, which is when I had to decide if I needed to leave my home city at 13 years old. There was this school in Tunis that would allow me to train and go to school at the same time. It gave me the chance to train more hours, which is what I needed. It was 140 kilometers from my home. It was very difficult for me to leave my city, it was one of my biggest struggles. It has been a long process since then. Even with all the help I had to figure out a lot on my own. I made many mistakes when it came to coaching, practicing, tournament scheduling, everything. I had to figure (more…)