All-conquering Medhira thirsts for more success
Over the space of just two weeks, Medhira Samarasinghe showed people all the finest qualities of her enviable brand of tennis. There was skill, perseverance, tenacity, power and grace all in prodigious and equal supply, punctuated by a fluent and emphatic victory in the girls' finals of the Asian Tennis Federation Under 14 tournament's second week.
During the opening week of the competition, Medhira cut effortlessly through much of her competition, unable only to clear the final impenetrable barrier erected by the aggressive and powerpacked play of Adithya Karunaratne. However, Medhira swiftly bounced back and calmly dispatched her ATF opening week tormentor in the second week's finals with a straight sets rout.
Away from the court, the 14-yearold's effortless skill is matched by an easy and whimsical smile, which burns several notches brighter when she talks of her love for tennis.
A lot of junior players would be smiling too if they have achieved what Medhira has over her still very young career. Apart from her most recent ATF success, which also included victory in the doubles event ( week 1 and 2) where she paired up with Adithya, Medhira has clinched the Sri Lanka Under 14 Junior National singles and doubles titles and the singles and doubles trophies of the Colombo Championships' Under 14 category.
These accolades add to a trophy cabinet which already houses Under 10 and Under 12 junior nation- al singles and doubles championships.
Much like her success, Medhira's route into tennis was unique. Her father started her off in the game after he connected her steady bastmanship in cricket with a potentially lethal backhand in tennis.
Since then Medhira's progress has been upward bound, buoyed largely by an unflagging work ethic and inspired training under Shalini de Silva and Sankha Athukorale.
"It started out as being all about fun but then it got competitive. You have to put in so much hard work," Medhira explains.
The support of those around her, most notably from her parents, grandmother, school ( Ladies' College) Principal and Vice Principal, have aided immeasura- bly to her progress she says, and without this she would not be able to freely indulge in the sport she loves.
When she was young, like all players in their formative phase, Medhira harboured dreams of wielding her racquet on Wimbledon's centre court. She has since matured her ambitions, eying instead to do the rounds of the ATF Under 18 circuit before continuing the game at the university level.
Until that juncture in time though, Medhira is quite content to step on court and keep doing what she derives a heady combination of joy and thrill from: playing the game she adores.
"Tennis is just such a fun sport. You also make so many friends and learn a lot of other things, like how to accept both victory and defeat. That’s why I love playing it."