It’s the start of 2013. Our lofty promises of being a better “me” and exercising daily are on our minds as we enter the second week of the year. However, if you’ve already fallen off the health wagon, you can take solace in the fact that the first Grand Slam of the year is upon us to provide a great distraction, and possibly even a motivation.
Most tennis players know that the biggest tournaments of the year are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. But for Filipino tennis players, none is bigger than the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open, now on its 31st year. Held at the Philippine Columbian Sports Complex on Plaza Dilao in Paco, Manila, it is the longest running tennis tournament in the country.
The first few days of The Australian Open are full on. The initial Saturday and Sunday are always chock-a-block with interviews during the “pre-tournament media days”—a great opportunity for journalists to get the players’ thoughts ahead of the tournament.
It was around this time last year that I was berating myself for having forgotten to bring two essential items on my trip to Melbourne; my sunglasses and a warm coat. You see, this was my first visit to this beautiful city, and I had little idea what the elements would throw at me.
The tennis world is a bubble, a nomadic bubble at that. Like the circus, the players travel far and wide, performing to delighted crowds the world over. Sometimes they deliver, other times they don’t.
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