other minority players.
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Sunitha Rao is here to stay
RACISM is an ugly word in the United States, but is also a fact of life. For a 16-year-old Florida-born Indian tennis talent wanting to make a mark out there, options are limited - either tolerate it or ignore it. Sunitha Rao has chosen the latter path, turning professional on her father Manohar Rao's advice and working her way on the highly-competitive Futures circuit, the ITF women's tournament in Mumbai being her first event in India.
"Sunitha was born and brought up in the U.S. At one stage she was one of the top juniors in her age group and even toured with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) squad to all the junior Grand Slams," informs Manohar, a one-time amateur footballer in Chennai, who was also into amateur boxing before moving to the U.S. for management studies. "She reached the junior Australian Open semifinals last year, so playing for the U.S. is not ruled out, but there is discrimination against her, maybe because of her colour."
"The USTA is supportive, but there are people behind the scene working against her, promoting white players", he said. "The support from American corporates too is not as expected, compared to what the other American tennis players are getting. So we thought of turning professional, so that Sunitha can work out her own future without coming under any sort of control. We contacted the Tata Open people for an entry, but were told it is a men's event. That is how we became aware of an ITF Futures women's tournament in India."
Sunitha, who feels there is still time for her to decide which nation she will represent, came to the Mumbai event as the eighth seed, ranked 460, reaching as far as the singles final, beating wild card Sania Mirza, qualifier Aiko Nakamura, fourth seed Dominika Luzarova and fifth seed Camilla Kremer on the way. China's Shuai Peng foiled her title aspirations on India debut, but there is no doubt that Sunitha Rao is here to stay on the women's circuit.
The Mumbai traffic was a culture shock for her, having grown up in the laidback environs of Bradenton, Florida near the Bolletierri Tennis Academy, where the family moved in 1991 from New York. "The cars on Mumbai roads always seem to be in a hurry," remarked Sunitha, who loves Indian food. The American influence is very strong in her tennis, the power play, mobility and aggression on court, a refreshing change from what has been described as women's tennis in India.
"I have been taught to play that way," observed Sunitha, who bounces about on court, is athletic enough to get within range of every return and hit punishing ground strokes. Comfortable slugging it out from the baseline or catching rivals off-guard at the net, her battle for a point begins with the serve or service return. "I used to admire Steffi Graf, now I like Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic, both attacking baseliners like me. My father is a big influence, now as coach."
"She was always peculiar as a child, hyper-active at parties even at night when other children would be sleeping. At three, she used to hit the balls when I played recreational tennis. Within no time she got a hang of it. So at six, I got her tennis evaluation done to find out her aptitude. The results were encouraging," says Manohar, who quit his job in the New York garment industry to set up base in Florida, where he got into retailing business, so that he could find time for Sunitha.
Johnnie Brown is her personal coach and after turning pro, Manohar intends setting up a website in Sunitha's name to put out all information about his daughter on the net, the site address being www.sunitharao.net. "All this costs money. Last year alone, I spent about $80,000 on Sunitha's tennis. I am hopeful of Indian corporates with American connections or the other way round showing interest," said this Master of Business Administration from the University of San Diego, now a tennis father, convinced the stars are in his daughter's favour. "She was born on a full moon day. I believe in astrology and consider that as an auspicious sign."
The runner-up cheque of Rs. 46,800 will come in handy for Sunitha to partly offset the India expenses of the duo. A title would have been the ideal way to make a mark but finishing second (for four WTA points) has certainly sparked off curiosity and interest in another father-daughter team on the circuit.
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Sunitha Rao is here to stay
RACISM is an ugly word in the United States, but is also a fact of life. For a 16-year-old Florida-born Indian tennis talent wanting to make a mark out there, options are limited - either tolerate it or ignore it. Sunitha Rao has chosen the latter path, turning professional on her father Manohar Rao's advice and working her way on the highly-competitive Futures circuit, the ITF women's tournament in Mumbai being her first event in India.
"Sunitha was born and brought up in the U.S. At one stage she was one of the top juniors in her age group and even toured with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) squad to all the junior Grand Slams," informs Manohar, a one-time amateur footballer in Chennai, who was also into amateur boxing before moving to the U.S. for management studies. "She reached the junior Australian Open semifinals last year, so playing for the U.S. is not ruled out, but there is discrimination against her, maybe because of her colour."
"The USTA is supportive, but there are people behind the scene working against her, promoting white players", he said. "The support from American corporates too is not as expected, compared to what the other American tennis players are getting. So we thought of turning professional, so that Sunitha can work out her own future without coming under any sort of control. We contacted the Tata Open people for an entry, but were told it is a men's event. That is how we became aware of an ITF Futures women's tournament in India."
Sunitha, who feels there is still time for her to decide which nation she will represent, came to the Mumbai event as the eighth seed, ranked 460, reaching as far as the singles final, beating wild card Sania Mirza, qualifier Aiko Nakamura, fourth seed Dominika Luzarova and fifth seed Camilla Kremer on the way. China's Shuai Peng foiled her title aspirations on India debut, but there is no doubt that Sunitha Rao is here to stay on the women's circuit.
The Mumbai traffic was a culture shock for her, having grown up in the laidback environs of Bradenton, Florida near the Bolletierri Tennis Academy, where the family moved in 1991 from New York. "The cars on Mumbai roads always seem to be in a hurry," remarked Sunitha, who loves Indian food. The American influence is very strong in her tennis, the power play, mobility and aggression on court, a refreshing change from what has been described as women's tennis in India.
"I have been taught to play that way," observed Sunitha, who bounces about on court, is athletic enough to get within range of every return and hit punishing ground strokes. Comfortable slugging it out from the baseline or catching rivals off-guard at the net, her battle for a point begins with the serve or service return. "I used to admire Steffi Graf, now I like Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic, both attacking baseliners like me. My father is a big influence, now as coach."
"She was always peculiar as a child, hyper-active at parties even at night when other children would be sleeping. At three, she used to hit the balls when I played recreational tennis. Within no time she got a hang of it. So at six, I got her tennis evaluation done to find out her aptitude. The results were encouraging," says Manohar, who quit his job in the New York garment industry to set up base in Florida, where he got into retailing business, so that he could find time for Sunitha.
Johnnie Brown is her personal coach and after turning pro, Manohar intends setting up a website in Sunitha's name to put out all information about his daughter on the net, the site address being www.sunitharao.net. "All this costs money. Last year alone, I spent about $80,000 on Sunitha's tennis. I am hopeful of Indian corporates with American connections or the other way round showing interest," said this Master of Business Administration from the University of San Diego, now a tennis father, convinced the stars are in his daughter's favour. "She was born on a full moon day. I believe in astrology and consider that as an auspicious sign."
The runner-up cheque of Rs. 46,800 will come in handy for Sunitha to partly offset the India expenses of the duo. A title would have been the ideal way to make a mark but finishing second (for four WTA points) has certainly sparked off curiosity and interest in another father-daughter team on the circuit.
