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Living in England, very near a university in London is where
it all began for myself and my twin brother, Oliver.
Although not identical, we have many of the same interests
and it was through Oliver’s actions that I began a tennis
career. At four years old, university students who were
researching athletic abilities asked if we would participate
in tests over a three month period to check which sports
would best suit our abilities. Over these months we
consistently scored the highest results of any of the other
kids participating. The results showed that we both had good
eye-hand co-ordination and quick hands so sports like tennis
or squash would be a good choice!
Another turning point was Oliver’s obsession for watching
tennis, as only a one year old. Most days we would go past
the local courts and if mum didn’t stop to let Oliver watch
the tennis, he would start crying and would not stop until
his demands were met. If he was at the courts, he would sit
and watch for hours and hours without saying a word! As for
me, I was more interested in my milk bottle.
Naturally, mum encouraged Oliver to begin playing tennis,
and soon he was playing all the events at local clubs.
Oliver was doing well, winning a few things here and there,
which he would show off to me and that was all okay, until
one day he brought home what I remember to be a teddy bear
of some kind. But it wasn’t just a teddy bear to me at that
point. I WANTED that damn bear! Brotherly rivalry began.
| When we moved to New Zealand we could walk to
the local club and just hit together all day,
everyday. No coaching, nobody there playing, the
club was basically deserted except for two small
boys. We would sometimes be on the court for ten
hours, just coming home to eat breakfast, dinner and
sleep. If the day wasn’t long enough for us, mum
would drive up to the car park, lights on full so we
could continue at night. I suppose this was a dream
for mum. Just put us on a court with some food and
we were satisfied for the whole day. The only
problem she had was getting us off the court! |
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Then, we started school. We would sleep according to
hours of daylight to practice and play before and after
school, playing tournaments on the weekends whenever we
could. School was the last thing on our minds, and it went
from skipping homework to skipping classes to play on the
school courts. We discovered there was a school that
actually allowed you to skip classes to play tennis without
getting into trouble! Obviously we transferred, and were
able to combine school work and tennis at the tennis academy
during certain times of the day. At this point we were
meeting each other in the finals of basically every
tournament we played and so we started playing in age groups
much higher.
| These opportunities developed our talents so we
were able to qualify for the 12’s New Zealand
Nationals. Only eleven at the time, I won the event
and I was thrilled with that achievement. This began
a journey which has enabled me to continue playing
for New Zealand in the 14’s World Youth Cup the
following year, to playing in Davis Cup as the
youngest player in history at 17. Thank goodness
for Oliver’s tears and obsession with tennis from an
early age as we both continue to pave our way to
successful tennis careers.
Rubin |
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