Young

The Indian Wells tennis tournament in California has always generated tons of excitement to me. The Desert of California poses an significant obstacle to the players because arid, windy conditions counter playability and consistency while testing fitness.  After the racial row involving Venus Williams pulling out of a highly anticipated match against Serena Williams in the semifinals of the 2002 tournament, I questioned the legitimacy of the event. They were both young.

Serena's lacerated foot after the famous Wimbledon win in 2010 and subsequent cut in a bar in Germany reminded of the Battle of the Somme.  The British were proud in all their glory but then Germans stole their pomp and circumstance at the river of tranquility. How Serena's peace was stolen, not by Hurricane Irene, but by systemic infections which threatened her life. Despite her stance against the tournament, she contemplated playing there just to be in the game.

While SW (who won her first slam at 19) was out, an upper-and-comer was emerging.  Donald Young, who was the former junior Australian and US Open Champion at 16, faced the highest ever ranked British player, Andrew (Andy) Murray.  The interesting thing about Murray was that his brother Jamie had won a mixed title with Jelena Jankovic.  What proves interesting also is the he was a student at Dunblaine in Scotland.  That traumatic event has been brought up time and time again.  There must be obvious concern for the youth of his country.  He was the youngest ever to play Davis Cup for Britain and the seventh player in the history of the game to reach the semi-finals of all-four majors in the same year.  I remember another famous Murray, James, after whom his brother may have been named. The convenor and editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. Could Andy Murray be a lexicon?  Losing to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in 2012 proved defining as a 6-4 6-2 loss seemed worse than the 7-6 6-3 loss a year to Donald earlier.  I just had to ask what was similar.  What about Indian Wells irks Murray so? The surface is slower and conditions are difficult, but we are talking about excellent service technique and athletic prowess that is a combination of the motions of a cheetah, gazelle and a long distance runner.  What caused him to lose? Well as coincidence has it, the name Garcia, which is very famous in Spain, originating from the Basque region in northeastern Spain and Southern France means young. Famous Garcias include Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Prize winning author of the book One Hundred Years of Solitude, Maria Garcia, Ms. Universe from Peru in 2005 and Andy Garcia, of the Oceans Trilogy (11, 12 and 13).

Could the Fountain of Youth be in Indian Wells?