A sister act Jamaican style

Jarmila Jackson, Features Writer

WHILE THE Williams sisters battled each other for the coveted Wimbledon championship last week in England, another pair of sisters were fighting to retain their titles at the 2008 Pan Caribbean All Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre in Kingston.

Simone Vranov-Brown and her sister, Lauren, were ranked number one in their categories and they are inspired by the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, to reach the upper echelons of the sport.

"We want to be at the highest level possible, based off of their skill we know we can be better," said a fearless 15-year-old Simone just before beginning a practice match with her sister on the first day of the championships.

"It actually started with my dad, but it became my passion after watching the Williams sisters," said girls' Under-18 champion Simone on the start of her love for the game. "It was a slow process developing my passion. When I was nine years old there were people who didn't believe that I could beat all the local girls, until I started winning all the games."

Rigourous training schedule

Though born in New Jersey, the sisters opted to enhance their skills in Jamaica rather than making the more obvious choice of competing in Florida where they have already raised the eyebrows of many who were skeptical of what they could bring to the table.

"We wanted to go someplace where there wasn't so much of a commotion because we wanted to start the commotion," said Simone, who retained her crown with a tough victory over Shantal Blackwood last Sunday.

The girls stick to a rigorous training schedule of eight hours per day with two rest days per week. They, however. do not mind spending hours in the sun since at the heart of their skill is their passion for the game.

"We love it because you get to do something fun, you get to play a game for a living," said bubbly 13-year-old Lauren, who also manages to play the violin in her spare time.

Lauren, whose favourite tennis player is men's Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, says she prefers the men's competition to that of the women because she finds it "more tense and entertaining" and can "learn a lot from them".

Though she put up quite a fight in her final on Sunday, she eventually lost out to 15-year-old Siquena Sinclair.