Roger Federer's Girlfriend - Miroslava 'Mirka' Vavrinec

Roger Federer met his long-time girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, at Syndey 2000 Olympics, when they both were representing Switzerland. And ever since then, they are inseparable.

Some interesting trivia:

• Mirka Vavrinec was born in Slovakia.
• She emigrated as a 2 years old.
• Mirka is three years older than Roger.
• Her highest WTA singles ranking is 76 (on Sep '01).
• Navratilova introduced Mirka to tennis when she was nine.
• Her parents own a Jewellery and live in Schaffhausen.
  

Bookmarks on Miroslava:

• Profiles for Mirka Vavrinec
• WTA player profile for Vavrinec
• ITF profile
• Pro
• Junior
• Tennis Corner's detailed profile

Compile of pictures: [click on a picture for a bigger one]










Thanks to getty images and several MTF'ers.

Interesting News Burb:

In 1987, when Mirka was nine, her father took her to watch a tournament at Filderstadt in Germany. The event coincided with Navratilova's birthday, and Mirka's father, a huge fan, managed to hand her a present. He had his daughter by his side and Navratilova asked the youngster if she played tennis. No, she'd never tried it. Navratilova said she looked athletic and ought to give it a whirl.

There the exchange might have ended had it not been for Navratilova's immense generosity of spirit. When she discovered that the Vavrinecs - who originally came from Slovakia - lived in Zurich, she phoned a friend there and arranged Mirka's first tennis lesson. Later, she sent one of her rackets from America for Mirka to use. And her instincts proved remarkably astute. By 2000, Mirka was in the top 100 players in the world and in Switzerland's team for the Sydney Olympics. It was there that she met Federer.

A year later, Mirka was forced to retire because of a persistent foot injury, but Federer enjoys the story of her introduction to tennis. He likes the idea that it was Navratilova who, in a way, brought them together.

Source: Independent Article

More: Pics of Federer and Mirka together.

Feel the touch !!

Roger Federer's line of cosmetics (RF Cosmetics) is now available in continental US. Yeeha !!!



Tennis Express is the official distributor of the goodies. Goodies include: After Shave Balm, Body Wash, Deodorant Stick, Eau De Toilette Spray. Or if you are feeling lucky, you can go for the Limited Edition Set.

Roger Federer Limited Edition Set includes the Eau De Toilette Spray, After Shave Balm, Deodorant Stick, and Body Wash. Also includes an autograph card personally signed by Roger Federer as well a can of four Roger Federer US Open tennis balls ...

Take a look and who knows, maybe it just was the thing that was missing out here !!

My Match Against A Good Tall Player

Hi again,



Played a buddy of mine yesterday. He's a very good player with an old school game. By that I mean he plays with fairly flat groundstrokes ,has a terrific slice backhand, comes to the net a lot, and is a great volleyer.



Often when people come to the net against me ,especially on the backhand side, I can hit a well-placed slice down the line forcing my opponent to move way over to the line in order to volley it. Then ,on the next shot ,I usually have a lot of court to shoot for.



But my tall buddy can easily reach most of these shots and angle them off so it's not that good a strategy against him.



Instead, I realized that against him I needed to go more for a winner on the first shot instead of playing the usual 2 shot sequence.



Same with lobbing. Because he's so tall, lobbing is not that good a strategy against him.



All this to show that the tactics may vary subtly against every opponent.



Until next time,



Glenn

Author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES --the EBOOK on tennis strategies and tactics that will help you become a smarter player fast.

Disguising Your Shots

Did you ever notice that when you take a lesson no one ever talks about disguising your shot?



And yet we all know there are certain players whose shots we can see coming right away and other people who we can't read well.



Obviously, there's tremendous value to disguising your shot but it's not something that's focused on.



Next time you're on the court ask your partner to tell you if he can read where you are going to hit the ball or serve. You may be tipping away your direction.



Until next time,



Glenn



author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES -the Ebook to make you a smarter tennis player .

Introducing Roger Federer.. (aka bio, biography or profile)

Here's an attempt to sketch Roger Federer's non-tennis personality.

Born: August 8, 1981 at Münchenstein, Basel, Switzerland
Residence: Oberwil, Switzerland

Height: 186 cm
Weight: 84 kg
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Brown

Nicknames: Rogi, Federer Express
Hobbies: Sports, Movies, Fishing, Skiing, Playstation, Cards

Favorites:
Food: Mozzarella di buffala, Gnocchi, Gorgonzola, Sausage, Cheese
Cereal: Rice Crispies
Ice Cream: Strawberry
Colors: Blue, Red, White
Artists: AC/DC, Lenny Kravitz
Movies: Good Will Hunting, Entrapment, Enemy of the State
Sportstars: FC Basel, Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti, Michael Jordan, Lennox Lewis, Peter Forsberg

Qualities Most Admired: Smile a lot, Friendly, Helpful
Personal Motto: It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice

Funny Tennis Memory: "I was playing a friend named Marco when I was 14. Playing in Basel. And it was like six o' clock. And this bird just goes on the net. My friend - he didn't see the bird - and he starts serving. And he serves...and the little bird, Boom! Right on the body. The bird fell on my side of the net. And it was on the ground, like shaking, then, Boom, dead. Feathers all over the court. He didn't know what happened. I'm like, Stop, stop! There's a bird on the net. And he goes, Boom, and just hits it. That was unbelievable."

Early Tennis Memory: "I remember always loving to play against the cupboards, against the doors at home. With any kind of ball...soft ball, tennis ball. My mom always got pissed off at me, because, Bang, bang, bang!, all day long."

For a detailed tennis biography of Federer, visit jockbio [Link]

INTRODUCING A NEW TENNIS BLOG

Greetings fellow tennis lovers!



My name is Dr. Glenn Sheiner and , like yourselves, I am a tennis fanatic. And as I always like to say - At least it's a healthy addiction!



This blog is going to be about the tactical side of tennis and specifically club tennis. I hope to explore and investigate the thinking part of this great game. I'll let the other tennis web sites discuss stroke production.



Just so you'll know who I am -- I've been playing for about 30 years now and have reached a pretty good level.

I'm also the author of INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES which is an Ebook totally devoted to the tactical side of tennis and which has been sold in 36 countries in just the past 6 months.



Actually you can learn more about my philosophies, and comments by people who've read my stuff, by checking

out the Ebook site for INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES .



Next time we'll dive in with a few comments.



Until then,



Glenn Sheiner M.D.

Who Coachth the Federer?

A brief stub on Federer and his coaches/clubs.

Coaches:

• '89 - '91 - Seppli Kacovsky
  
• '92 - ' 94, '97 - '98 - Peter Carter
  
• '99 - '03 - Peter Lundgren
• '05 - current - Tony Roche

Tennis Clubs:

• '87 - '89 - Ciba Klybeck, Allschwil, Swizterland [Link, More]
  
• '89 - '94 - Old Boys Tennis Club, Basel, Swizterland [Link]
  
• '95 - '96 - National Tennis Academy, Ecublens, Swizterland [Link]
• '97 - '98 - National Centre of Swiss Tennis Association, Biel, Swizterland [Link]

Who is Peter Carter?

Any tennis fan who loves Roger Federer, can associate Roger's love for his former tennis coach, Peter Carter. Here is a tribute along with some snipets on Peter Carter.

Peter 'Carts' Carter (Aug 9, 1964 - Aug 1, 2002) grew up in the Barossa in a tennis loving family of Bob and Diana Carter. He would trail along to the courts with his parents and two older brothers. When he was 12, he was playing A grade, then at 15 he moved to Adelaide to live with coach Peter Smith, the man who played a part in many famous careers, including John Fitzgerald, Darren Cahill, Brod Dyke and Lleyton Hewitt. In words of his coach, Peter Smith, "He was a little younger than Fitzy and Brod Dyke but in terms of Mark and Darren who were about the same age, I think people considered him to be the best of that particular group." One of Peter's most memorable wins was when he defeated John Alexander while he was still at school.

He then went on the ATP circuit, but dogged by injury, he eventually ended up coaching in Switzerland, where he met the young Roger Federer. His dad, Bob, recalls: He said to me one night when he rang "Oh, have I got a young boy here who looks promising, "he's only about 12 or 13". He said, "I think he's going to go places.". And that was Roger Federer.

Peter coached Roger through his formative teenage years till he turned pro. He was popular in Switzerland and eventually became the country's Davis Cup coach and captain. His mom recalls: "And the team actually refused to play unless he was the captain, at one stage."

Peter's life seemed complete when he met his wife swiss-born, Sylvia, but shortly afterwards she was diagnosed with cancer. After a 12-month battle last year she was cleared of the disease. They travelled to South Africa to celebrate. But, while travelling in separate cars, Peter died of injuries sustained in a car accident, as his Land Rover crashed near the Kruger National Park . He was 37 by then. Roger Federer was playing in Toronto '02. After losing in the first round to eventual champion Guillermo Canas, he learnt of the sad news. Roger said: "I was very shocked and very sad when I found out. He was a very close friend. This is the first time a close friend of mine has died." ... [source]

Peter Carter is now remembered as part of the Carter Altman Penfold Fund. The charity known as CAP helps children with disabilities play sport and remembers two other tennis players, Nick Altman and Jeff Penfold. Also, the clash of Australia & Switzerland in Davis Cup is named as Peter Carter Trophy, which Australia won in Dec '03 Davis cup final.

Bob Carter on Federer: "Obviously Roger [Federer] has got enormous talent, but I am sure, and I can see it in his game, what's there Peter would have taught him. The serve volley and the slice and the variety in his game, that's how Peter played. I'm sure that is showing out in Roger now." [source]

Federer on Peter Carter: "Peter wasn't my first coach, but he was my real coach. I made trips with him. He knew me and my game, and he was always thinking of what was good for me." [source]

Adapted from: Partick Emmett's Report

More Info:

• Sunday Times Report of the accident [Link]
  
• Peter Cater's Player Profile & Matches [Link]
• SwissInfo Article on Peter Carter [Link]
• BBC Article on Peter Carter [Link]
• Roger talks about Peter after winning Wimbledon [Link]

Federer Schedule for 2005

Jan 03: Doha
Jan 10: Kooyong
Jan 17: Australian Open
Feb 14: Rotterdam
Feb 21: Dubai
Mar 07: Indian Wells
Mar 21: Miami
Apr 11: Monte Carlo
May 02: Rome
May 09: Hamburg
May 23: Roland Garros
Jun 06: Halle
Jun 20: Wimbledon
Aug 08: Montreal
Aug 15: Cincinnati
Aug 29: US Open
Sep 23: Davis Cup
Sep 26: Bangkok
Oct 17: Madrid
Oct 24: Basel
Oct 31: Paris
Nov 12: TMC Shanghai

Good luck, Roger !!

Update: Schedule for second half of 2005 has been out at RF.com

Cool Sites

If you want a gmail account.. add your name and email address to the comment. I will send an invite ASAP. If you want to know what is gmail, visit gmail.com

Also see, Roger Federer Foundation

Roger Federer Over the Years !!

A Trophy Collection of Roger.. Arranged chronologically.



(click on thumbnails for a bigger smile from federer. aka. a bigger picture)



















Federer's titles: 22 and counting.

2001: Milan

2002: Sydney, Hamburg, Vienna

2003: Marseille, Dubai, Munich, Halle, Wimbledon, Vienna, TMC Houston

2004: Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, Hamburg, Halle, Wimbledon,

Gstaad, Toronto, US Open, Bangkok, TMC Houston

Original idea from a post from a great federer fan, Mrs. B of MTF.