The Wimbledon season last month has reawakened my interest in tennis. Watching the preliminary rounds made me nostalgic for childhood memories of my dad bringing me to his tennis games on Saturdays. I learned to serve well, hit forehands and backhands decent enough for my age then. I remember even joining junior tennis tournaments in the community, but I didn’t even make it to the rounds after the preliminaries. I guess my fascination with tennis ends with watching matches, picking up tennis balls for my dad and collecting them. After having around a hundred tennis balls in my collection, the NBA cards stole my attention.
To this day I continue to maintain my collection of NBA trading cards and even keep adding more trading cards every time I find a piece that I don’t already have. I buy them through eBay or MSN Shopping. But last month, my love of tennis was rekindled as I watched *Maria Sharapova*, Amelie Muaresmo, Venus Williams, Justin Henin-Hardenne, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi (his last at Wimbledon), Roger Federrer and Rafael Nadal compete for the Oscars. tennis
Maria Sharapova (my favourite) lost to Amelie Muaresmo in the semifinals. Mauresmo then dropped Justin Henin-Hardenne in the final and won his first Wimbledon championship. Rafael âRafaâ Nadal made a sweeping round prior to the final beating players like Agassi and Bagdhatis. But the spirit of the King of Clay was not matched by Roger Federer’s smart moves that led him to win his fifth Wimbledon. Who will beat Federer’s invincibility?
Call it post-Wimbledon illness, I decided to relaunch my collection of tennis sporting goods. This time I’m going beyond tennis balls (but still keeping them) and plan on adding more things like wristbands, rackets, player-inspired jerseys, bags, and other apparel. I also plan to buy pairs of shoes used by some of the best players in the world if my budget allows. I’m not sure if I’ll ever wear them, but I’d really like to have some of those “magical” shoes worn by champions and runners-up.
Being an Adidas user since childhood, it was easy for me to search for websites that sell Adidas tennis sporting goods. Yahoo auction sites have a lot to offer, but the best place to shop is shopadidas.com. I saw there a short response jacket that has a good balance between sporty style. For just $40, I could buy the jacket in less than a week. I could also include in my cart a $20 ClimaLite Mixer T-shirt, a $18 Galaxy Clima Bold Black Hat, and an $8 Speed Wristband.
In tribute to Nadal and Federer, I immediately placed an order for four Nike Swoosh Bandanas ($8 each) at tennis-warehouse.com. There are also a handful of tempting Nadal-like rubbers available, but you could skip those for now and start with more affordable collectibles like Nike grips and bags and, of course, Nadal’s signature Nike Fall Wreak Havok tank top. I will be buying and wearing about three colors of this tank top to give my muscles a share of the fame. For a friend of mine who is a fan of Sharapova, I could buy her a pair of low-cut Dri-Fit Tennis socks. Amazon.com and other auction sites are also a good source because they are home to more brands.
I’m not sure how my limited budget can revive and update my tennis collection. I will look for more websites that sell or auction tennis sporting goods that can offer win-win discounts and promotions. In fact, I plan to invest more in items worn by the legendary Pete Sampras. I heard that some of his stuff is currently up for auction, so one of my most pressing missions is to find a store or, better yet, a website that sells Pete Sampras collectibles. I also want to collect posters, photos and memorabilia from Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open. I’d be more than willing to save up for a ticket to the 1970s or 1980s Wimbledon Finals.
Well, I guess my NBA cards will have to be inactive for a while to give me time to focus more on my tennis collection. If things go better and more money flows into my account, I look forward to seeing next year’s Wimbledon and experiencing grass for myself. There I was able to get a first-hand look at what the stars wear and what to collect next.