Name: Caz.
Date of Birth: 19th May 1979.
E:mail: peter.harding@net.ntl.com
Hi, I’m Caz! Aside from being a Magüi Maniac, I am also a 21 year-old student of Hispanic Studies, at the University of Liverpool, in cold, rainy, England. I am just about to start the third year of my degree course, for which I have to spend the forthcoming school year as an ‘alumno visitante’ (a ‘visiting student’) at the University of Barcelona.
I am a big fan of Martina Navratilova, who, in my eyes, IS the greatest female tennis player ever. When I say this, I’d like to make it clear that I am not saying that I necessarily believe that she is the greatest female SINGLES player ever, but the greatest all-round female player.
As far as singles go, I think it is a close contest between she and Steffi Graf, with maybe Steffi having the edge, however, for me Navratilova is the greatest all-round female player, as, during her career, she totally dominated singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, winning many Grand Slam titles in each discipline, and even, for a while, simultaneously held the top spot in both singles and doubles. While maybe it could be argued that Graf may have been able to do the same, had she tried to, she didn’t, therefore, for me, Martina Navratilova will always be the greatest.
Out of the current players, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario is my fave, followed closely by Magüi and Monica Seles.
I guess I first really took notice of Magüi way back in the 1997 French Open, when she took on the then defending champion, Steffi Graf. Though eventually falling to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 loss, during the first set of their match, this 18 year-old unheard of Spanish girl, had certainly given the mighty German a scare.
The next time I really paid attention to Magüi’s career, was when I was researching for my A-Level Spanish oral exam, for which I talked about Spanish tennis. My Spanish friend who gave me loads of information on the subject, told me all about Magüi’s game, and had me predicting to the examiner that Magüi was the next great hope for Spanish womens tennis – two weeks later, as if to support my claims, Magüi defeated Mary Pierce in the 1998 French Open 3rd round.
Anyhow, to cut a long story short, I decided that since, by this point, I already knew so much about her career, I really should take the time to watch her play a few matches, and so I began to follow her career, at first just out of interest, and then after watching her play a bit, because I genuinely liked watching her play – she seemed to be a nice person, with a great game, a lots of potential.
Then came 2000! In 2000, I had arranged to meet up with some Arantxa fans from all over the world at Roland Garros, Eastbourne and finally Wimbledon.
For Roland Garros I met up with Stacey and Beatriz, and a group of Spanish people who Beatriz had met at the tournament in Madrid, and together we went around supporting all the Spanish players, attending several of Magüi’s singles and doubles matches there, and having great fun.
Then at Eastbourne, due to Arantxa and Conchita Martínez’s lack of presence, Magüi became the only player in the tournament who Stacey and I really wanted to support. We had fun cheering and clapping for her there, and got to talk to her after her doubles loss. Again, she came across as being a really nice person, and we became bigger fans.
However, it was at Wimbledon where ‘Magüi Mania’, was really to take hold!!! It was there where the six of us – myself, Beatriz, Caroline B., Mel, Paula, and Stacey – were all to meet up as a group, essentially as the Arantxa support group, but then, during the Magüi vs. Mary Pierce match, we turned into ‘Magüi Maniacs!’
In fact, ‘Serna Mania’ was the name bestowed upon us by the BBC commentators during the telecast of this second round encounter, however, Mel though that ‘Magüi Mania’ sounded so much better, and so ‘Magüi Mania’ was born!
Throughout the course of the tournament, we pretty much made a lasting impression upon SW19, in our united efforts to support Magüi and Arantxa, as we attended every match they played, cheering so loudly, and having so much fun, that we ended up with virtually no voice, and mentally exhausted after supporting both of them in one day!!
The Mary Pierce match was, for me, at least, most definitely the highlight of the tournament. I don’t think any of us truly believed, until the second set tie-break that Magüi actually would win the match, but nevertheless we were resolved to cheer her on as loudly as possible. When she actually took the match, we were exhausted, but so very, happy and excited.
The other highlight of the tournament came when, after her quarterfinal loss to Jelena Dokic, Magüi picked up her towels, came over to where we were sitting, gave us her towels, and thanked us for cheering for her. It was such a sweet gesture on her part, and really made us feel that our efforts had been appreciated.
In conclusion, after 9 nights of sleeping on the streets of Wimbledon, queuing for tickets to go and support both Arantxa and Magüi, although being essentially very different people, we became a pretty tight knit little group, and definitely aim to repeat our tennis experiences as son as possible, and to unite in our aims to support Magüi as much as possible, whenever possible!
