I am proud to be a devoted tennis fan for almost 12 years. <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> <img src="graemlins/kiss.gif" border="0" alt="[Kiss]" /> <img src="graemlins/bounce.gif" border="0" alt="[Bounce]" />
I joined my dad in the TV room when he once watched one of Evert-Navratilova matches in the 80's (can't remember which one). It was out of curiousity. I didn't understand the rules but these two amazing girls were killing each other at the net and winning point by point. My eyes then were glued to the TV screen until the match was over. I told him to promise me to let me know when they played again on TV. He never broke his promises. While I watched them several times until Stefan Edberg got my attention. Surely, he was very handsome and hot. I loved his personality and how he played wiht his game. I started watching him more during Grand Slams. Nope, I wasn't a devoted tennis fan yet. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
While I watched Edberg's matches, Jennifer Capriati was in the news everywhere at age 13 and got my attention suddenly. At that time, there was no internet (sigh!), I made many efforts to follow and find out what she had been up to. I became a huge fan of her when she lost to Sabatini 6-4, 7-5 in the Boca Raton final of March 1990. Of course, I cried. <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> Finally, I watched her in her matches with great happiness in the French Open 1990 and cried when she lost to eventual champion Monica Seles. I was so mad and kept yelling at her Monica "I hate you!" <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> Strangely, I was so happy that Monica beat Graf in the final because I was so sick of Graf when she ruled and dominated in the WTA tennis. That was when it got me really hooked and become a devoted tennis fan ever since. I followed tennis daily and became more familiar with the players' names in the WTA Tour.
While I was a Capriati fan, I realized that Monica was dominating and beating everybody, I started to hate her so much, I must admit. I watched and cried like crazy when Capriati lost to her in that amazing US Open semifinal match. I amost wanted to kill Monica so badly. The most thrilling moment for me was when Capriati beat Graf and captured gold in the 1992 Olympics final. Then the year of 1993 hit me hard when I woke up and found the newspaper on my bed (my dad left it when I was sleeping) that Seles was stabbed in the front page and Capriati lost the US Open first round and left the WTA Tour. I was truly devastated. As a full-time tennis fan, I stopped following WTA tennis and was no longer a Capriati fan but checked out from time to time hoping that Capriati would come back sooner. When she came back, I thought my love for her came back but it didn't. It was not the same as before.
While I was away from WTA tennis, I kept reading Tennis magazine monthly. I suddenly spotted Anna Kournikova in a magazine at the very beginning of 1993 when she was 11 as Martina Hingis and her were in the juniors. I became a huge fan of her rignt away and followed her. I was wowed and thrilled when I first saw her on TV in Wimbledon 1994 when she was in the stands watching one of women's matches. Showing her on TV was very quick. She was rubbing her forehead and looked back in the audience as one person said that she was playing as a junior and future tennis star. The most memorable and thrilling moment was when Anna beat Paulus in the US OPEN fourth round in 1995 at age 15. I suddenly became no longer a Kournikova fan last February when she lost to Mauremso. I have no regrets of being a fan of her for 8 years. She was full of excitement and all to me but not anymore. Sad but true.
While I was a Kournkova fan, I spotted Maria Sharapova in the Sept 99 issue of Tennis magazine. I just fell in love with her and became a huge fan when the article said that her shark teeth collection to represent her mental toughness. It was truly unique to me. I kept reading over and over. I went home and surfed like crazy on the net to get more info about her! As today, I have only one favorite player that I am watching her every move until she retires. When she retires, I will retire as a tennis fan and move on with my life unless if my future daughter (if I have one!!) is interested in playing tennis or if I get a job in the Information Systems dept of WTA Tour. Anything is possible! <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="wink.gif" border="0">
Go MARIA! <img src="graemlins/kiss.gif" border="0" alt="[Kiss]" /> <img src="graemlins/bounce.gif" border="0" alt="[Bounce]" />
[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: Sharky ]</p>