Nicole wins over hearts

Nudging each other and whispering excitedly among themselves, the young tennis players gathered at the DLTA Complex on Wednesday made no pretended attempts at organisation. Despite the repeated calls to order and the requests to fall in line, they had eyes only for the tennis star in front of them.

Nicole Vaidisova, who is in India for a short visit, was scheduled to make an appearance at the Reebok Tennis Clinic to dispense a few tips, and she didn’t disappoint. Accompanying her was Indian Olympian Sunitha Rao, and the duo spent a few minutes hitting a few shots around court as necks craned to catch a glimpse of the players. On the occasion, Vaidisova and Rao also gave away a few tennis scholarships, funded by Reebok, to budding talents in the sport.

National women’s champion Ratnika Batra, Ankita Bhatia and Tarannum Handa were the recipients of this two-year benefit, and for the icing on the cake, they also got their chance to have a few extended rallies with the players.