A Woman behind the scene - Cheers to Mirka Vavrinec

It requires some guts to be a tennis player. More than in any other sports, courage and nerves play an important role here. Firstly, a tennis player, who enters the court for a match, be it a best of five setter or a best of three setter, would not be knowing beforehand how long would he be required to stay there. Throughout his presence in the court, he is all by himself. He is not allowed to converse or talk to anyone seeking an advice or a guidance.

The tennis players are literally put in a sort of an in-ring bout, watched by thousands of fans who enjoy seeing them going after one another. In fact, boxing is much better in terms of sharing emotions and getting guidance to rectify the flaws, because a boxer gets a chance to have a word with his coach, as every round goes by. But in case of tennis, a player has no such privileges at all. Once the warm up gets over and the chair umpire calls “time”, from thereon a player is left all alone and he is solely responsible for whatever happens during the course of the match.

Once a player finds himself in a tight corner and his game is dropping, it is he who has to introspect whatever is happening with him in order to correct the wrongs. Many things might be playing in his mind but still, it is he who has to decide and do what is best for him. It is worse because tennis is one of those sports which does not carry a fixed duration. Particularly when a player is being slaughtered by his opponent and he has to fight for his own resurgence, two things must be done – one, he needs to train his own mind to get over from the ongoing disaster and two, he needs to be prepared to fight for a long day, not only for survival, but also to go on and win the tie. On such occasions, any player needs to pacify himself and has to build up courage, again by himself, to face the situation.

Tennis is such a game in which the players are bound to feel pressure right till the end. So they need some motivation which provides them with positive energy and instills confidence in them to keep going. In tennis, particulary in singles, where players are deprived of any companion to discuss on various issues while playing, there are certain people, the presence of whom, as spectators, gives them the fillip to perform with comfort (to an extent).

We have been crediting Roger Federer for all what he had done in his awesome career, filled with records, but we have often overlooked a person who has always been behind the scene, helping him out during his entire career. It is time for us to give that person a well deserved applause and it is precisely with that reason this article is being written.

Not many of the tennis fans would have remembered by now that there existed a tennis player in WTA with this name, had this lady continued playing tennis. But an injury which shortened her career came as a blessing in disguise. She had her rendezvous with the young man from Switzerland (who by the way, was three years younger to her) during Sydney Olympics (in 2000) and now as a result, her name is frequently uttered in all the households of tennis fans. Little would she have realised by then that she was going to be the wife of a tennis professional, who would go down in the history books as the greatest ever to have stepped in a tennis court. Yes I am talking about Mirka Vavrinec, who tied the knot with Roger Federer way back in 2009 after many years of their continued togetherness. As a manager, a girl friend and a housewife or should I say travel wife, her contribution to his success cannot be overlooked at all.

Roger Federer, even after his unbelievable five set stunning win against Pete Sampras (the then defending champion in Wimbledon 2001 in the fourth round), was never able to use his resources to their potential. He was someone who looked all set to squander his endowments as every tour went by. But he had one person who would always root for him come what may and that was his then manager and his present wife, Mirka. This might be an exaggeration but I don’t remember watching even one match where she was absent. Still it is safe to admit she used to be in almost all his matches. When Federer finally won his first major title at Wimbledon in 2003, there was no stopping his progress and from thereon till 2007 he enjoyed an unbelievably purple patch, particularly when it came to winning grandslam titles. Even during his relatively leaner patch (from 2008 till 2009 French open), if Federer had anything as support with which he could regroup himself, it was Mirka (who he married eventually). He went on to win two back-to-back titles in Roland Garros and Wimbledon, which guided him to the top position in ATP rankings.

Then again came his decline in 2010, a year in which he had umpteen numbers of miserable performances which continued until yesterday, when he finally won a grandslam after a drought of almost 18 months. Federer had silenced his critics in the end by winning his 17th grandslam. But does that credit goes to him alone? I feel 50% of his success goes to his wife Mirka as well. No matter how good a sportsman is, if his personal life starts to jolt, he can never fulfill his potential. Those of you who have followed the careers of Agassi and Hingis (who had their own differences with the people in their respective personal lives), will understand this point.

Mirka herself was a professional tennis player to start off with. Federer was lucky t0 have her as his manager when he was (literally) an unknown face. Since she knew what it was like to be a tennis player when her own career was plagued by injuries, all she did was give him more support by travelling with him all over the world. Whenever Federer looked in doldrums, he always had this lady by his side to soothe him. She gave him a sense of security that there was someone who was backing him up to win every match. She threw that positive energy on him during his entire career and it continues do so.

Even during her pregnancy days, she would come and sit all the matches (wherever they might be!), watching Federer play and win some precariously close matches. Considering her condition, she was brave enough to watch her man playing matches of such huge proportions. She did everything to ensure Roger that she was with him and that whatever happened on the court would have no bearing on her support to him.

She was there for Roger not only when he ruled tennis with his invincible presence but also when he needed someone with him during adverse times

So, no matter how much credit we give to Roger Federer, who won his 17th major yesterday and became World No. 1, we need to give a slight pat in appreciation to his charming lady, Mirka, as well. Let her guidance and presence continue to give a big impetus for Federer to win many such titles until he hangs his boots.