The incessant sound of tennis balls bouncing off the walls is the only company for most players during their hotel quarantine stays in Melbourne, until the day they can take to the courts for the Australian Open.
For world no.8 wheelchair player Maria Angelica Bernal, preparation comes with the desire to be victorious during the first Grand Slam of the year, and to follow-up by winning gold at this year’s Paralympics in Tokyo.
The Colombian, who was a semi-finalist in the wheelchair women's singles and doubles events at the US Open in September, arrived in Melbourne aboard a plane from the US in which two cases of COVID-19 were detected.
As a result, she was among a group of 72 players that were forced into hotel quarantine.
"I'm the only one in strict quarantine, I hope it doesn't affect my game too much,” she tells SBS Spanish.
Highlights:
- Maria Angelica Bernal was placed in strict quarantine ahead of the Australian Open.
- The Colombian is training hard with hopes to win the Grand Slam tournament and follow it up with success at the year’s Paralympics in Tokyo.
- Bernal runs a school for children with disabilities in Colombia which has produced a number of national team players.
Videos of Bernal training in confinement demonstrate her tenacious nature.
She was born without her right leg due to phocomelia, or Roberts Syndrome, a genetic disorder.
Her condition did not stop her from taking up a series of sports with her father from the age of five, including basketball, volleyball, skating and tennis, which was the one that interested her the most.
“At age 11, I was invited to a clinic run by the International Tennis Federation for people with physical disabilities. I played standing, without running. I had good technique and I played well, so the coach told me that I had the potential to play high-performance tennis in a wheelchair.”
Tennis transition
For the Bogota native, the transition from playing tennis from a standing position to sitting in a wheelchair was a difficult decision, and one she made with her family.
“In society, the wheelchair is a limitation and I had never used it. At first, we were super sceptical, but fortunately, where [the clinic] was held there was a tennis coach and she told me that I had to sit down and that she was going to train for the first few days. She was in charge of the wheelchair program."
With the support of her relatives and the coaches who offered her free lessons, Bernal was able to develop her game by improving her agility on the wheels and strengthening her forehand and backhand shots while sitting.
“[I had to] change certain things to improve my game based on my disability.
“My Argentine coach Fernando San Martin, who lives in Spain, advises me a lot regarding the chair.”
She explains that one of the tricks to generate more power, increase speed and improve technique is to lower the height of the wheelchair.
Despite the long and painstaking process involved in changing her game, Bernal says it was all worth it.
"Not many people have this possibility, and not all people can practice a sport like high-performance tennis," she says.
Part of her fan club is a Yorkshire puppy named Lucky, who was a present from her father after she won her first tournament.
With the Paralympic Games in Tokyo just around the corner, she plans to travel to Spain to train with her coach.
Six days a week
Hitting the ball against the wall while in hotel quarantine is more than a social media stunt for Bernal and fellow players, who see this as a necessity to prepare for what's to come on the court.
Hard physical training is part of the daily routine for Paralympians like her, who train six days a week.
“From Monday to Saturday I do physical preparation in the gym for an hour and a half to two. Then I play tennis for two or three hours on the court.
"I have physical therapy sessions every day because I am very prone to injuries."
In addition, she also has a weekly psychological therapy session and trains mobility with the Colombian wheelchair basketball team.
“It is essential in tennis to learn to move the wheelchair and be very fast. I consider myself fast, but there are many things to improve, so I am training with them, who are much faster than me.”
On top of all this, she is studying international relations at university.
'It's super rewarding'
For more than 12 years, Bernal and her family have promoted a not-for-profit school called ‘Semillas sin Barreras’ to teach the sport of tennis to children and young people with physical disabilities.
Beyond training them in the technical aspects of tennis, the school teaches youngsters that a physical disability shouldn't be seen as a limitation to reach goals.
Bernal says some of her students are part of the Colombian youth team for the Pan American Games.
"It's super rewarding," she says proudly.
