Team First

Dear Wonderful Fans,

During our lifting session today I was inspired by something in our team that has been distinctly present throughout this semester, and throughout our time together as a team thus far. A catchy phrase that we have used both seriously and jokingly sums it up: TEAM FIRST! During our more challenging lift today, it was evident that we all could feel the effects of the intensive season on our bodies. We have been working hard throughout the semester and as we move further into our ACC matches, we all realize that it is not going to get easier. However, what is remarkable (and I use today’s lift as an example), is that despite the fatigue and aches that we all feel to a certain extent, there has barely been any complaining. Instead there has been an increase in encouragement and a strong sense of togetherness. This togetherness in our team, both on and off the court, has made our season so much more enjoyable because no matter what the challenge may be, we have each other’s backs and that reassurance is enough to get us through the toughest of times.

In a sports psychology session with Greg Dale this semester we discussed our core team values and the importance of adhering to them. In amongst others such as trust and fight, “team first” came up and seems to have had the most profound effect on our team. Why? Because countless hours of hard work, determination and oodles of fight would not be as satisfying if we only did it for ourselves. Knowing that by working hard you’re also improving your team is so much more motivating and rewarding and in college tennis, this is the key to a successful program.

Yes, we are a tennis team and therefore we associate the “team first “idea with tennis related activities. But, to put your team first in tennis, you need to put your team first in other aspects of your life as well. This season has proved that we are all willing to do this. Mary Clayton is a great example of this. In doubles, I must admit that I usually have the jitters at the beginnings of matches but Mary has taken the time to figure out what she can do to try and relieve me of this problem. She uses seemingly insignificant things such as smiling more often to try and relax me and this has made the world of difference. Additionally, it is no secret that Mar has been steam rolling her opponents in the last few matches. Instead of dwelling in her victory, Mary immediately goes to another court to cheer on a teammate as if her personal success depended on it. Off the court, Mary also exemplifies the “team first” idea. All the girls will agree with me when I say that Mary is a “social butterfly” and has many friends around Duke campus because of her bubbly, friendly personality. However, she is always willing to help her team out first. I know that I not only treasure Mary’s friendship, but I also respect her for the way in which she selflessly thinks and puts the team above herself.

DWT can be described as a successful tennis team. But to us, DWT is a family where everything we do is for the benefit of each other. Every single girl is the most important part of the team and we all realize and maintain that idea. This will hopefully help us be successful this season and for seasons to come. But more importantly, I hope that this helps us in our futures where we can remain friends and help each other in times of need. TEAM FIRST!

This week we are leaving for two away matches to continue our ACC play:

On Friday we play Boston College and on Sunday we play Maryland.

Thank you for all your support so far this season. It has been really helpful to all of us!

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT

DWT on Spring Break in Arizona: Update 1

Dear Wonderful Fans,

As you all know, we’re on our spring break in Arizona at the moment. We’ve been blessed with amazingly warm weather over the past few days and as a result, we have a few burnt faces on our team. In amongst practicing, the last couple of days have been really relaxing and a good break from the bustle of our really demanding lives at Duke. Here is a summary of what we have been up to...

On Monday, we started off with a good practice session that started us on the road to getting acclimatized to the conditions. It’s really dry here so the ball travels through the air a little faster. It definitely takes some getting used to. After practice, some girls went on a hike with Marc. I did not go so I don’t know the specific details but I did hear some entertaining stories. Firstly, the girls that went said that it was more of a mountain climbing experience than a hike. Liz’s scratched-up running shoes are proof enough. Despite the evidence that indicates how strenuous this hike was, apparently Mary was on a role and practically ran up and down the mountain. But, the person who was the most prominently spoken about after this expedition was our awesomely funny freshman- Hanna! We all know that cactuses are not something that one can just touch and I’m sure you’ll all agree that there is a clear difference between a cactus and a rock. Well, apparently dear Hanna tried to grab onto a cactus for support while climbing down the mountain. When asked what inspired her to do this, she simply said that it looked like a rock to her. A rock? A green, prickly rock? Thank goodness that she didn’t manage to grab hold of it or else things may have ended badly. This story has evolved over the past three days. Today, the consensus is that Hanna jumped on a cactus. I don’t know the real truth but I must say that the story is extremely entertaining. Go Han!

Yesterday, we went on a shopping expedition to an outlet mall five minutes away from our hotel. I’m sure all the girls will agree with me when I say that it was successful. We all walked out with multiple bags in our hands. Reka and Ellah were late coming out of the mall because apparently they got “lost” – in a circular mall with numerous signs indicating the exits. Or, they hadn’t had enough of their epic shopping spree. I’ll leave it to you to decide.

Today, we were treated to a movie— The Adjustment Bureau. It was a really good movie. But was even better (not everyone will agree with me on this one— especially not our coaches), was Reka’s commentating. “Oh my gosh, they like love each other…sigh…gasp…. giggle.” You didn’t have to be actually present at the movie to know what was going on.

As you can see, there is never a boring moment on this team. We have a wonderful bunch of girls that make the most of every opportunity to have fun while still keeping “the eyes on the prize.” Tomorrow we take on the Arizona State Sun Devils and on Friday we play California. The last few days of practice have definitely been good preparation for our tasks ahead and we’re ready to battle it out over the next two days.

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT

All the Way From Israel: Fiery Fahoum

Dearest Wonderful Fans,

As I am writing this blog, we are on a plane to Phoenix, Arizona for our spring break trip. We are all so grateful that we’ll be in a wonderfully warm and sunny area so that we can shed our pasty selves and come back to campus in a week, flaunting flattering tans. In between exciting activities that I’m sure Jamie has planned for us, we will be further acclimatizing to outdoor conditions, ending the trip with two dual matches against Arizona State and California. Spring break is always one of the most fun trips of the season so we’re all very excited to see what the week holds in store for us.

In the last two blogs I introduced to you our two amazing freshmen— Big Ray and Han. In this blog, I’d like to introduce you to our third and final newcomer of this year— Nadine Fahoum (or purely Fahoum as she is known to us). In her few months at Duke, Israeli-born Fahoum has brought a diverse array of essential dimensions to this team. Tennis enthusiasts always say that the two most important characteristics that a tennis player needs in order to succeed are mental strength and heart. Fahoum is one of the most passionate players that I have ever come across. She is not only out there to play a good game of tennis and win, but she is also out there to play the game that she loves. No matter how insignificant a match may be, Fahoum’s heart is always in it. There is no doubt that everyone enjoys winning. But Fahoum also loves the fight and this is why it is such a pleasure to watch her out there.

An important thing to note about Fahoum is the fact that she is an international, transfer student. Not a lot of us can relate to this. I can assure you that this can make entering a closely-knit team such as ours a lot more challenging. However, from the first day that Fahoum set foot on Duke’s campus, one would think that she had always been a part of our team. Her spunk and fiery personality make her an outstanding teammate, and above all, an amazing friend. Whether one needs advice or just someone to talk to, Fahoum will stop what she’s doing and direct her full attention to you. Additionally, she is someone that you can trust with anything. I know that she has earned our respect for her ability to mediate any conflicts without betraying any trusts.

Evidently, Fahoum can be a mature and serious person when that is what is required. However, she can be a total goof as well. One thing that Fahoum will never live down within our team is her denial of the fact that she has an Israeli accent. Try and tell her that, and she’ll deny it with a heavily accented “Don’t tok tu me.” I cannot describe to you how entertaining this is. Additionally, Fahoum has an “interesting” music taste. On our team, it is often described as flat out atrocious. Personally, I do like some of the songs that Fahoum likes, with the emphasis on “some.” But generally, her music cannot be described as our team’s “songs of choice.” Before a practice about two weeks ago, Fahoum sent out a mass text saying that she had a really good, new playlist to play during our practice. We all were really excited, because seldomly does anyone create a playlist for the sole purpose of practicing to it. As practice began, so did the first songs. By the fifth song we had all had enough. Not only had none of us heard these songs before, but also some of them were not even in English. These instances of Fahoum’s international flavor and humor bring us so many laughs and we all love her for it.

GO FAHOUM!

As mentioned above, we are playing Arizona State and California this week. This blog has been updated weekly so far, but because it is our spring break trip, I will try to keep you all updated on a more frequent basis so please follow us on the blog site: http://duketennis.blogspot.com/ or on the Facebook Duke Tennis page.

Go Duke!

Yours in Tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT.

Hands + Hard Work + Humor = Hanna

Dear Wonderful Fans,

Last weekend we played our hearts out at the National Indoors. Unfortunately we lost to Florida in the semi-finals. But, it was an amazing run and I think we all learned a lot from the experience and we look forward to our next matches. We moved up to number 4 in the ITA National rankings so we’re all really excited about that! But, the hard work definitely does not stop there and we’re all working super hard as we move into our first outdoor matches this week.

I want to use this blog to introduce to you our other amazing freshman, Hanna Mar, or “Handsy Hanna.” Now if there is anyone’s touch that I envy, it is definitely Hanna’s. From absolutely amazing volleys to her “tweeners” (and I can’t explain this term to you… you’d have to see it for yourself), Hanna can basically hit any shot in the book. As I’m sure you all know, it’s an absolute treat to watch her play because of her vigorous on court energy. I know we can all learn from her diverse game.

Like Big Ray, Han brings her own special dimension to our team. First and foremost, she is one of the hardest workers on our team. No matter what she is doing, one can trust that she will give it her all. For example, when we have our Howser conditioning sessions Hanna does every drill, no matter how seemingly insignificant it seems, at 110% effort level. She also never complains. I have yet to hear an “agh, I don’t feel like this” or an “ I can’t” from her. This is a remarkable trait that I know I envy, especially because she’s still a freshman. She pushes us all to work harder.

However serious Hanna is about working hard, she is equally really witty and fun to be around. Firstly, it is important to note that Hanna is a math GENIOUS! This is no joke. But what makes us laugh is the way that she applies her mathematical skills to everyday situations. Actually at National Indoors last weekend we were practicing serves and instead of saying, “let’s switch sides” Han said, “let’s change angles.” Once Jamie indicated that he had no clue what she had said, Hanna tried to explain by using some mathematical lingo and trying to depict an angle with her hands. I can’t really express in words how funny this was but we all couldn’t breath we were laughing so hard.

Yes, Hanna has an amazingly mathematical brain but play a Taylor Swift song and you might want to put some earplugs in. I experienced this when I roomed with Hanna at a tournament in California last semester. I played “You Belong With Me” in the room and no sooner had it started playing when Hanna broke into really loud song. However, instead of keeping in tune, Han was about 5 tones off. This was HILLARIOUS! There have been many such instances. But what is even more amusing is the fact that Hanna actually admits to her “not -so -awesome” singing and does it in spite of everything. I know that we all absolutely treasure her goofiness!

GOOO HAN!

This week we’re heading into 2 matches. On Wednesday we play Wake Forest at 3PM at home.

On Friday we play NC State at 3PM away.

Please come out and show your support on Wednesday at our first outdoor match!

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT

Big Ray with the BIG Game, but an even BIGGER Heart…

Dear Wonderful Fans,

As promised I’d like to start introducing our Duke Women’s Tennis stars to you so that you can get to know them a little better. This week, I’d like to introduce to you a girl that has not only brought with her a beastly game to our program, but a girl who holds a very special place in all our hearts. To you all she is known as the star freshman, Rachel Kahan. But to us she is known as BIG RAY!

Yes, I could probably spend hours talking about Rachel’s absolutely amazing tennis—one that all of us marvel at— but that is not what this blog is about. So from now on, I am going to refer to her as Big Ray because that’s exactly what she is to us!

As soon as Ray made her first appearance at Duke, we all knew that she was going to be an absolute sweetheart. Initially, she was a meek girl who brightened our days with her delightful smile. However, very soon we learnt that Ray not only had a beautiful smile, but she also had a beautiful heart. Hampered by an ankle injury last semester, Ray wasn’t able to showcase her outstanding tennis abilities. While others would dwell in their sorrow and be completely disheartened, Ray took to impacting the team in the only way that she could- huge amounts of support. Ask any of the girls and they will tell you that Ray is the epitome of a team player.

I remember one practice where Ray came up with the idea of filling up all our water bottles, even if they were not yet empty. Soon she was hobbling back and forth filling our water bottles AND adding ice to them (Something that no one else would think of doing) for the whole 2 hours. No one had caught on to what Ray was up to for the first hour, but after a while we all realized that instead of emptying, our water bottles were filling. When confronted, Ray answered, “do you need more water? Anybody? I’m going there anyway.” This was so out of the ordinary that we were all completely gob smacked. Who would ever volunteer to fill our water bottles, especially when they were still recovering from an injury? Only Big Ray.

This is only an example of many other instances where Ray has gone out of her way to help us. She not only helps in her actions, but in her words. When Ray cheers for us, our spirits are lifted. When you need to be comforted, Ray offers such kind words that you immediately feel better. And what does she do this for? For absolutely nothing. In fact Ray completely shies away from praise even though she well deserves it. She’s barely been here a semester and a half and already she has impacted our team in ways that we, ourselves don’t even realize.

So, when you see Big Ray around remember that she not only has a Big Game, But a Massive heart and that’s what we all should cheer for! GO BIG RAAAAY!

On a separate note, we are off to the National Team Indoors for this weekend where we will face some of the top teams in the nation. We have been training really hard since our close fought battle with Florida on Sunday and we’re ready to take it to them and bring home the tournament title. Our first match is at 12:30 PM on Friday against Tennessee.

Here is a link to the draw:

http://www.itatennis.com/Assets/ita_assets/pdf/Women$%2127s+National+Team+Indoor/2011+Women$%2127s+Team+Indoor+%28Wisconsin%29/2011_WTI_Draw.pdf

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of Duke Women’s Tennis

Duke Tennis's HUGE Weekend

Dearest Wonderful Duke Fans,

Even though this goes without saying, I would like to start off by thanking all of you for your superb support so far this season. The encouragement has been outstanding and the Duke Women’s Tennis team is tremendously grateful to all of you. On our part, I must say that we haven’t been good enough at touching base with you on a regular basis. However, this is about to change.

Obviously, you know us for our on court tennis skills as this is all you see…But did you know that the same Ellah Nze who conducts herself with utmost professionalism and seriousness on court can be easily plunged into fits of giggles? And, did you know that the team’s warrior, Reka Zsilinska, who completely wears her opponents down with her unmatchable consistency is a crazy nutter off the court? Yes, we want you all to get to know our off-court selves better so that when you watch us, you’re not just supporting an awesome tennis player but you are also supporting a unique personality. Hopefully, through this blog we can achieve this aim.

This week, we’ve all been intensely preparing for our HUGE match against Florida this Sunday. In our locker room conversations, we’ve been discussing how happy we are that we’re playing the Gators at home rather than having to travel there. For one, we don’t have to miss additional days of class but most importantly we’re going to have all of you behind us! THIS MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE! Having reassuring faces to look up at and hearing our names being shouted out is a huge factor in getting us through matches. I’m not just saying this; it’s absolutely true. One of the team’s personal favorites is the slow clap on match points… This not only pumps us up to win the point, but it actually gets rid of some of the match point jitters that we experience. Your faith in us is both flattering and significantly motivating.

I would also like to use this introductory blog as an opportunity to clarify that tennis IS a LOUD sport. Don’t be shy to cheer and chant as much as you like. Obviously, insulting the opposing team isn’t the way to do this, but “Go Duke”, “Go Devils” and anything else you come up with are all acceptable! And we love loud clapping so please please please don’t be shy!

This weekend is a wonderful opportunity for Duke Tennis in general:

The Duke Tennis Men’s team is playing #3 Tennessee tomorrow at 6PM. I know that they’ll very much appreciate your support as they battle it out and hopefully come out on top!

And then on Sunday, the Duke Women’s Tennis team is taking on the #2 Florida Gators at NOON. Please come out and show your support and don’t be shy to cheer as LOUD as you desire!

Best in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of Duke Women’s Tennis

P.S I’ve attached a photo of us in practice earlier today! Thumbs up to us crushing the Gators (sorry about its blurriness).

GO DUKE!

Duke Women's Tennis Update

Dear Royal Blue Members and Tennis Supporters,

I wanted to thank you for all the support you have given both teams at the start of our seasons and of course wanted to thank you in advance for the rest of the year. I thought it would be nice to give you a quick update as to how our team was doing and some different things we have been working on. After our Northwestern and Indiana matches last week we felt we really needed to do a better job with our doubles and have been working hard all week. We have tried to emphasize to our girls that doubles is a lot about attitude and if you walk on the court believing you are going to win your match that is 90 percent of the battle.

There is a huge difference between saying “ I could win” vs “I should win” and we are working to instill that mindset into our team. You may seem some new doubles combinations in our next few matches, our goal as a team is to find the combinations that give us the best chance of winning the doubles point, not just trying to find one great team. In singles both Marc and I feel like we are getting better every time we go on the court. We having been working on being more disciplined and trying to have our team understand the differences in the types of errors they are making. We have been talking a lot about physical errors vs mental errors and in that of course trying to eliminate the mental errors. Everyone in the world makes physical errors on the tennis court (missing a forehand for example) what we want our team to look at is where they missed that forehand and was it because they made a bad decision on where to hit it. Hopefully this weekend and over the course of the next few weeks you will see a highly energized, disciplined team!!

On a personal note I want to add how much we love working with this group of girls. They put a lot into making all of us in the Duke tennis family proud and I hope when you walk away from a match you recognize that. We always talk about giving our fans an exciting product to watch and I think this group is getting better at that every time we walk on the court. Thank you for being such great supporters of both the men’s and women’s tennis teams here at Duke and hopefully we see you out at our matches.

All the Best,

Jamie Ashworth

Duke Women’s Tennis