Behind-the-camera lives of tennis stars

Roger Federer flanked by ball girls after winning Mutua Madrid Masters.

It takes years of sweat, sacrifices and firm belief to make it to the world stage. It doesn’t matter where you practice, which racket you use or how fancy you apparel is; all a real tennis player needs is a dream and the strength to work towards it.

You can’t buy the goosebumps that are aroused by the cheers of the crowd, the tears that flow after winning the championship point, the surge of emotions when the national anthem is played. Hard work and destiny are the only currencies to buy them.

Tennis is a sub-cortical sport with crucial cortical inputs. A tennis player puts in effort to make every shot a reflex and not a voluntary response. But the desired direction and pace of the shot is ultimately defined by the brain. That’s why the champions are the ones with the brightest minds.

The clichéd dream of me playing the Wimbledon final never fails to wake me up from my sleep through its sheer excitement. A late introduction to tennis, sub-standard facilities and unfortunately a promising academic career kept the current champions safe from me.

But it is one thing to dream and another to live it; a pool of uncertainty, disappointments, consistency and integrity lie between them.

A question that always bothers me is – what is it that keeps champions going? After winning 17 Grand Slams, achieving everything one could on the tennis court, Roger Federer still gives his full effort on the court. After the serious injuries that Rafael Nadal has faced, what makes him play every point as if his life depends on it? A desire for greatness? For immortality? To relive the moments of glory? Or simply the love of the game? It must be an addiction to throw the body to the human limits, that they do it so often.

Centre Court, Philippe Chatrier court, Rod Laver Arena and Arthur Ashe stadium, the Meccas for a tennis fan, never fail to bless the zealous believers. When the best players on the globe put a spectacular display of tennis, there are always two winners on the court.

The paradoxes of life always amaze me. Every tennis fan wants to be in the winner’s shoes. I wonder how many players want to be the ones with shade on their heads and a cold beverage in their hands? Quite a few of us, I suppose.

What a tennis player does behind the curtains is no surprise. The claps, the cheers, the crazy screams and even the disappointments of the fans are the epithets for the appreciation of hard work they put in for making tennis what it is today!