Delaney Ricciardo is fierce and her determined to win at any cost has not made her well liked. But by the time she retires from tennis she is a twenty four grand slam winner and regarded as the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen.
But si...
As I step through the glass doors, onto the court. The sun hits my face, the noise of the crowd reaches my ears. The noise was deafening. I look up, people were hanging over the railing on either side, waving down and cheering at me, smiling like mad as they waved their fists.
I keep walking, my face deadpanned. I stepped onto the grass, the familiar court. I look up to see stands full of well-dressed Brits with large hats and nearly half the crowd had their phones raised and pointed at me. I am flooded with the comfort of the scent of Wimbledon-fresh-cut grass and Pimm's and lemon.
I am home.
I bounce on my toes, feeling the grass and dirt beneath my white runners. I feel the jewels hanging from the bottom of my bodysuit swaying, it felt almost comforting in a way I can't explain.
I look across the court at Cami Dona. Shes young, not even eighteen.
I smile and shake her hand as we meet at the net.
She is adorable-all perky and eager. She shakes my hand with an excitement that reminds me of myself when I was younger. And I feel this sudden contentment deep within my gut.
You could not pay me enough money to go back to being seventeen. When I was seventeen, my talent was all potential and no proof. The world was a giant set of unknowns, barely any past to pull from. My mind snakes back to the night my uncle found out I was replacing him with Darren as a coach. But the second I remember it, I shake my head. Focusing on the present.
I am so grateful, right now, for every match and every win and every loss and every lesson that I have behind me. It feels so good, right now, to be thirty-seven years old. To have figured at least some things out.
To know the ground underneath my feet. To be so familiar with it
Poor Cami Dona doesn't know what is about to hit her.
She wins the coin toss and calls serve first.
I get into position and take her in two sets.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
