Tennis

From heartbreaking, match point-missed opportunities against arch rivals, to ecstatic come-from-behind record-setting victories, there was no shortage of roller coaster emotions that accompanied growing up as a die-hard Roger Federer fan over the past couple decades. In the Kumar household, waking up at 3am for Australian Open finals was expected when Roger was competing, as was yelling at the TV when he shanked a seemingly short backhand on a big point. I’ll never forget the

I grew up in a household where sports were played constantly. My siblings and I began to play sports as soon as we were able to run around. We all participated in The Catholic Youth Organization sports for our grade school, Immaculate Heart of Mary. My parents both played division I college tennis; my mom played at Miami of Ohio and my dad played at University of Texas and later on played professionally. I began to start taking tennis the most serious by the time I was in 5th

Background: 2009 and 2010 were two of the best years of my life – my junior and senior year of high school. I remember back in 2008 when my high school teammate, Michael Farley, and I were chatting on AIM after school one day. Yes. AIM. The good old days. Michael Farley was a year older than me who ended up becoming an HSE doubles legend with Max Crouse. Look them up. They went 25-0 at #2 doubles and dropped just 11 games the entire 2009 regular season. Anyways, Michael and I

Frustration, Anger, Confusion, Sadness, and lots of questions continue to circulate through my mind as I think about the recent events unfolding across our nation.  These events are nothing new to me personally.  I am a Black man that has experienced oppression and racism on many fronts, and at times without much support from people outside of my family and close friends.  The killings and treatment of people in the Black community are tragic, dehumanizing, and violate the hu

I first wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of the coaches involved in my progression as a man, and as an athlete. Mark Noe, Mark Woldmoe, Brian Smith, the entire Epkey family, Hector Clavijo, Brandon Currie, Bren Vasalakis, T.J Greggs, Spencer Piston, Scoville Jenkins, and Russell Toliver. (Just naming a few sorry if I left anyone out!) Thank you for putting up with my attitude, and I hope this story can highlight where a lot of that misguided anger came from.  I gue

The late great Wilt Chamberlain once told Michael Jordan, “the difference between you and me is that they had to change the rules so I couldn’t dominate. They changed the rules for you so you could dominate” and that’s how I feel talking to these younger Carmel cats. I don’t want to get stuck focusing on prior to the match but to truly understand what happened that day y’all are you going to have to get an idea of who I am. This may take a bit to get out so sit back, enjoy th