Dear Member,
Ramadan Kareem! We hope you enjoyed a relaxing mid-term break. The new term started this week across all venues and runs from April 11th to July 10th 2021. Please contact your coach to register for the new term or for more information about lessons and classes please email info@racketsacademy.ae or call/WhatsApp 052 992 8595. Take advantage of our ‘Early Bird’ prices when you pay within the first month.
In this week’s newsletter we bring you all the results from the finals of the Rackets Academy Spring Championships 2021 which concluded last weekend. We have an interview with Rackets Academy Ladies League Player, Heather Drake and a Rule and Tip of the Week from Coach Sarah……Read on!
Rackets Academy Spring Championships 2021 – Results
Thanks to everyone who took part in our Rackets Academy Spring Championships 2021, which turned out to be a fantastic tournament. We even had our first ever official match between two siblings when the Kahi brothers (Elliott and Enzo) went head to head in the Under 18 Quarter Finals, which made for a really exciting match!
Congratulations to our Spring 2021 Champions, see results from the finals below:
U14 Girls & Boys Singles – Zein Ionescu beat Raed Rizvie 6-3 6-1
U16 Girls & Boys Singles – Anthony Moukarzel beat Elliott Kahi 7-6 (3) 6-1
U18 Girls & Boys Singles – Hussein Nada beat Ethan Milgan 2-6 6-2 1-0 (8)
U13 Girls Singles – Lilian Sihler beat Saida Ismail 6-0 6-2
Mixed Doubles – M. Schneider/J. Munoz Abreu beat R.Matharoo/K. Reybuyas 6-4 6-4
Men’s Doubles – P. Sheaves/S.Roberts beat P. Kaucic/J.Munoz Abreu 5-7 6-4 1-0 (8)
U12 Girls & Boys Singles – Ernest Yakubovskiy beat Chris Jovan Gubza 6-2 6-3
Ladies Singles – Anna Lajos beat Riya Matharoo 4-6 6-3 1-0 (4)
Men’s 35+ Singles – Oleg Geraskin beat Michael Maksoudian 6-2 6-1
Men’s Singles – Simon Roberts beat Jordi Munoz Abreu 7-6 (2) 6-3
Interview with Heather Drake
This week’s interview is with our lovely Rackets Academy Ladies League Player, Heather Drake.
1. Who is your favourite professional player (male & female)?
My favourite female tennis player is Serena Williams. I admire her power and skill and it’s always interesting to see what she’s wearing on court. John McEnroe was such a talented player in his day. Watching him as a child was thrilling to see when he was going to misbehave.
2. Who is your favourite Rackets Academy Coach?
George has been my regular coach for all the time I’ve been at Rackets Academy. He really knows how to get the best out of everyone whilst making every session enjoyable. He has to be my fav! But I also love Simon as a coach as he is always really encouraging and has a great sense of humour.
3. Why do you love tennis?
I love tennis because for me it’s the perfect sport. I get to exercise and challenge myself in a friendly environment.
4. How did you get into tennis?
I got into tennis so I could play with my husband which backfired, as now I’m a golf widow. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder!
5. How long have you been playing tennis for?
I’ve been playing on and off for 13 years. You’d think I’d be better by now!!
6. List 3 things you like about Rackets Academy:
- I’ve made some great lifelong friends at Rackets Academy
- The opportunity to play league matches for my lovely team – The Rackettes
- Excellent quality courts and fantastic coaches. Is that 4 things?!
Coach Sarah’s Rule of the Week
Volleys range in their degree of slice. In some situations (rarely happens however), I have experienced seeing it more in doubles matches than singles, the degree of slice is more than usual, the ball is relatively high and it bounces right after the net. So given the extreme rotation of the sliced ball, it bounces first in your court then tends to bounce back to your opponent’s court, in this case, you’re allowed to hit the ball before the second bounce, regardless of where the second bounce lands. However, as a general rule of tennis, we are not allowed to touch the net whatsoever with our rackets, clothes, body parts or shoes. So you can tip over the net and hit the ball from your opponent’s side without touching the net!
Coach Sarah’s Tip of the Week – Serve: Flat, spin, slice!
“To hit a flat serve, throw the toss around your 12 o’clock, slightly in front of you, then imagine you’re standing in the middle of a clock, follow through your racket with a 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock direct trajectory. It could slightly variate toward 11 o’clock or 1 o’clock depending on the tactical direction.
Spin, the racket trajectory changes. It goes from 7 o’clock to 2 o’clock, so the racket passes by 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1 and 2 o’clock. In this case, a toss slightly to your 11 o’clock would generate more spin and you will see the racket is hitting the ball from its left side.
For a slice serve, the toss is thrown between 12 o’clock and 1 o’clock, the racket’s trajectory becomes, once again, more from 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock, however opposite to the spin serve, the racket hits the ball from its right side. …Good luck!“
Mrs Miyagi’s Ladies League: Season 7 – W/c 4th April: Results
Just the one match last week for our Division B ladies due to the Spring Break, but Spinderellas and Baseliners were keen to bring a match forward from June to make the most of the lovely weather before it gets too hot! Congratulations to Spinderellas who won their match. See score below.
Division B:
Spinderellas vs Baseliners:
Line 1: 6-1 6-1 (winner: Spinderellas)
Line 2: 6-4 6-0 (winner: Spinderellas)
Overall Winner: Spinderellas
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Have a great week!
Rackets Academy