11 year old Describes Hit with Venus at Madison Square Garden

Comments off · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios

Eleven year old Jessica Popiol must be pretty good at tennis. The Barlett, Illinois girl was selected by the USTA to be an ambassador and participated in the “World Tennis Day” activities in New York earlier this week which included playing on the court with Venus Williams at the historic Madison Square Garden. Popiol stepped on the court and played a point with Venus. After trading two shots each, Popiol ripped a sudden forehand strike crosscourt that caught Venus by surprise. Popiol described the unforgettable experience before a packed Garden of over eighteen thousand fans including the extra pressure of having the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios, and Kei Nishikori on court watching (also ESPN was televising the evening’s festivities)… “Hitting the ball with the one and only legend and inspiration @venuswilliams in front of 18000 amazing tennis fans in Madison Square Garden @thegarden was an experience I cannot describe with words. My heart was pounding, had thousands of thoughts and I tried as best as I could in this situation. It was experience that inspired me to work for my dreams even harder …I was nervous standing in front of Venus in MSG â˜ºï¸but fans and loud cheer were making me smile actually… I loved it but it was not easy to hit the ball probably the hardest rally I had to do in my life … @scoopmalinowski it was the hardest rally in my life to do â¤tried to be tough and have a game face on … it was the hardest point played by me ever â¤but It prepared me for future US Openâ¤ … I really wanted to hit the winner on Venus not to rally… I asked the level-headed and grateful youngster another question: scoopmalinowski What was the absolute highlight moment of the day?
tennismessage @scoopmalinowski there was a lot and I mean a lot @usta and @worldtennisday did amazing job for us kids there â¤from press night, TV appearance, watching practices. being @thegarden hours before show and this moment on court – best days of my life. (Follow Jessica on Instagram @tennismessage)