Talent is God-given but do your part
SINCE lawn tennis is my favorite game, I followed the Australian Open and when I have spare time, I play tennis. But, as we senior partners would joke, we belong to the SWAT team — Samahang Walang Asenso sa Tennis.
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The men’s championship in the Australian Open showed that seniority is no hindrance to superiority. That’s what Roger Federer has proven, winning his record-breaking 20th Grand Slam title.
In the women’s championship, it was a sweet victory for Caroline Wozniacki because she had always reached the finals but never the championship.
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This brings me to the subject on sports talent. How come there are highly gifted people while others who try so hard to play a sport make so little or no progress?
I recall a friend who kept trying regularly and assiduously to play tennis but made so little progress. After some years, he hang up his racquet and switched to photography. It was case of loving tennis but tennis didn’t love him.
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Clearly, there’s unequal distribution of talents. Some who are born with the raw material or talent receive this special gift (grace) from God.
When Maria Sharapova won the US Open in 2006, I recall some of her inspiring thoughts worth quoting. “What tennis has brought me has been incredible,” Sharapova said. “God gave me a talent, but it was up to me to play my part in it.”
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“I don’t believe in just God-given talent, you have to work for everything you earn and I think the combination has helped me.”
Sharapova’s religious principle is worth applying, not only in sports but in all human endeavors — academics, business, career, positions of leadership.
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HEIGHT ADVANTAGE? Some probably think it is not worth joining tennis competitions since Western players have the height advantage. But height is not a drawback.
Dominika Cibulkova, 5-foot-3 and highly seeded, surprised everybody when she barged into the finals at the Aussie Open some years ago.
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“It’s not about how tall you are,” she told reporters. “You have to rea lly want something and just believe in it.”
Other successful players but not blessed with the height advantage are: Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Portuguese star Michel Larcher de Brito, 5-foot-5, and Justine Henin, who at 5-foot-5 reigned as world No. 1 for a long time. The latest of the shorties is 5 ft. 6 in. Simona Halep who became world No. 1 until Caroline Wozniacki beat her in the Aussie Open finals, relegating her to world No. 2.
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Some Asians from China, Taiwan. Japan, Thailand, India competed in the Australian Open and did well like S. Hsieh and South Korean H. Chung who reached the quarterfinals single. A couple of years ago in the Aussie Open, a Filipino, Treat Huey, seeded #12, teamed up with Dominic Inglot, and reached the quarterfinals.
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This time there was no Filipino. I wish we had more enterprising Filipino talents to compete in international tennis tournaments.
Calling Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA).
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ST. JUDE. Today join our novena to St. Jude, Saint of the Impossible, at the Divine Word Shrine, Christ the King Seminary, on E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City, after the 6 p.m. Mass.
A healing prayer and anointing of the sick will follow.