Personal Statement
I began my tennis career at age five, playing with other little girls. However I soon began competing with much older boys, who called me “unbeatable Alex.” At eleven I earned a membership in Moscow’s best sports club: the Central Sports Club of the Army. To satisfy the requirements of the club and hone complicated tennis tactics, I increased my practice hours from seven to eighteen hours each week. It dramatically improved my playing. I won seventeen national tournaments, beating rivals I once feared. I competed at the international level in Austria, and in Bulgaria, where I served as the captain of the team of Russian representatives. After the team’s victory in Bulgaria, my coach entrusted me with a group of younger athletes to train. I taught them my favourite tennis principle: the basic aim is to get the ball onto the court just one more time than your opponent.
