“I was the worst in my group…”

TENNIS

Story by Lai Jun Wei. Photos by Leslie Tan. © Red Sports/soulbreath pictures

Fullerton Hotel, Singapore, December 29 2007 – Coming from a world number 6, it’s difficult to see how Anna Chakvetadze could have been one of the worst in her tennis cohort growing up. The 20-year-old Chakvetadze is in town to play Maria Sharapova in an exhibition match tomorrow night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and has won seven singles titles and one doubles title in her career. Born in Moscow, she picked up tennis at age eight and turned pro in 2003. She achieved her highest ranking of fifth in September 2007.

Anna Chakvetadze of Russia at the press conference this afternoon at the Fullerton Hotel. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Sixteen junior tennis players will meet Anna in a tennis clinic tomorrow, Sunday December 30, at 9:30 a.m. at the Keppel Club. Red Sports asked her how old she was when she figured out that she could pretty much beat everybody. She laughed and said “At age eleven, I was actually the worst in my group. As I grew older, I started to see some better results. However, I never dreamed that I could be a professional. But after I started travelling more often to take part in ITF tournaments and winning my first ITF tour, I realised that I could be professional player.” To date, she has earned over US 2 million dollars in prize money.

Chakvetadze revealed that she is currently studying for a Psychology degree, a surprise considering the intense travelling schedules of professional tennis players. “I initially did not want to start this course, thinking it was boring. But now I realise it helps me in life, as well as on the court.” She is due to complete her degree next year and also remarked that it is definitely tough to balance her studies and tennis career. Don’t we all know the feeling.

And how does she prepare for her games? “I don’t like to talk much before the match. I would sit in a corner and listen to my iPod and think about my game plan.”

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