Emma Raducanu – A star is born!

 

Who would have thought that a qualifier will go on to become the queen of New York in a matter of 3 weeks? Emma Raducanu, Toronto born British teenager ranked 150 and nothing to boast off in her resume did something unthinkable that some great players have not been able to do in their entire career, only in her second outing in a major tournament. What was even better than that that she did not drop a set in her 10 matches throughout the tournament. No qualifier, men or women have lifted a major trophy before, and it is very unlikely to happen in future. Before this, Brits Andy Murray had to wait for 7 years and lost numerous grand slam finals to the big 3 to lift his first major trophy in 2012 and then adding couple more next year.

Just a couple of months back in Wimbledon as a wild card ranked 338, she went on to reach the fourth round and then eventually withdrawing from the tournament sighting breathing problems. She received a lot of flak for this from retired player and British journalists telling she can not handle pressure. She did not respond to these people and rather went back to her routine and practice.

Through all this whirlwind couple of months, what was striking was that she did not lose focus of the sight. Before this, her only big title was in Pune in 2019. She made history even before winning the final as she became the first qualifier to reach the grand slam final. Another teenager was waiting in the final and it was all teenage final where Emma fired an ace to clinch the trophy with a bleeding shin.

Amidst everything that she achieved, it was her impeccable grace on and off the court that she displayed, has received a lot of praise from all quarters. You could see her cherubic smile every time camera zoomed on her. She was enjoying the best time of her life. She was unfazed by the stage and the occasion she found herself in. From receiving a congratulatory letter from queen to getting invited for met gala, it must have been a surreal experience for 18 years old.

Whenever she was in front of the mic, she spoke with poise and confidence. Not to belittle Indian athletes but they must be taught how to speak to media. Media and social media are bigger platform now and everyone wants a piece of you when you win something big. Her twitter following increased from meagre 120K to 590K and counting in a matter of day. I hope she maintains this poise and hope she gets best advice as at this age things can go either way. Hope we are seeing a future super star and many more grand slam trophies to her name. She is just 18 and only going to get better and stronger.  

Through all this history being made, what was disappointing to see that Indian media did not cover this profusely. These are once in a lifetime event and a huge moment in tennis history and would have certainly encouraged a lot of young kids to take sport taking inspiration from Emma. I hope we encourage sports and not just Indian athletes to promote sport culture in India.

Congratulations Emma and all the very best.

Hideki Matsuyama – The Masters 2021 Champion!

Rain can be disastrous for some, can be fortuitous for some. Hideki Matsuyama found himself on the other side when the play resumed after the rain delay on Saturday. He went 11 under from 5 under and finished the day sitting good 4 shots off the lead heading into Sunday’s momentous final.

The start on Sunday was not great for the Japanese star as he dropped a shot bogeying the first hole but that did not deter his confidence as he came back on second to regain the dropped shot despite hitting his approach shot into the bunker.

He played superb golf from start to finish. He swung well and putted well. He got lucky on few occasions, but he put himself into great position to make birdies. Things got little heated on back 9 as he had couple of bogeys and Xander Schauffele made 4 birdies on the trot to reduce the lead by 2 and still 3 holes to play. Anything could have happened but triple bogey for Xander at 16 made thing easy for Hideki.

Nobody had expected him to be at the top of the leaderboard when the tournament began as there were no top 10 finishes for him recently plus English media hardly recognizes efforts from Asian players.

By this win, Hideki Matsuyama becomes first Japanese male player to win the masters tournament and only the second Asian player to win the major. He had previously won low amateur trophy at the Augusta national 10 years ago.

Hideki is already a star and followed by media religiously there in Japan and hope this win inspires other Asian players to dream big and put their names on the top in the major tournaments.

As Hideki Matsuyama sinks his last putt, celebration in Japan begins! Enjoy your Sunday drink with this master win while Hideki stops his club on his backswing! :)