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Tennis
Three Iranian sisters relish opportunity to perfect their game By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 12, 2005 - Were they in their father's homeland, Maryam, Shabnam and Naseem Eslami would not be playing tennis. He is a native of Iran, where mixed doubles is not part of the culture. Neither is women's singles. Or women's sports of any sort.
Where they are, the sisters would seem to have a future in tennis. During the recent La Jolla Championships, Naseem, 15, won the girls 18s; Shabnam, 13, captured the girls 14s; and Maryam, 12, was a finalist in the girls 12s.
Their successes served to affirm that their parents, Ali, a naturalized American citizen, and his wife, Lynnette, acted wisely when about three months ago they chose to relocate to this area from Connecticut as a means of furthering their daughters' careers in tennis.
"Having one kid in tennis is pretty difficult," said Lynnette. "It's really tough if you have three."
In the East, in order that her daughters might have indoor court time in an area where leasing an indoor court can cost $40-$60 an hour, the girls' mother said she had taken a job at an indoor tennis facility. For about $8 an hour, she had to sweep, line and water five indoor clay courts, handle the laundry and see to the garbage.
Her husband had a position that had him on call 24 hours a day - being responsible for a corporation's e-mail - and it was so stressful that, his health deteriorating, his wife said he had to step away from it. "Once he lost his job, we were down to zero," said Lynnette, "but we kept our focus."
As she detailed it, it is to give the three Eslami girls every possible opportunity in tennis. To this end, Ali and Lynnette brought the girls and a son, Omed, 10, to San Diego, where Ali had been stationed at the Naval Training Center in 1976 when he was serving in Iran's navy. Left behind in Connecticut were a daughter, Nasreen, 27, and a son, Ali Jr., 25.
Before leaving Connecticut, the family had declared bankruptcy, according to Lynnette. Here, she has become a reservationist at the La Costa Resort and Spa. The parents and their daughters are residing in an apartment in San Marcos, which Mrs. Eslami said is not a problem.
"My husband's culture encourages get-togethers," she said. "Sometimes, we would have 50 people in our house."
The family's problem is keeping the girls on tennis courts. As much as the girls prefer to play, one of them will go through a pair of sneakers in a matter of weeks, Mrs. Eslami said. None of the girls has had a new racket in a couple of years, by her account. Then there are lessons.
Among those who have been helpful, the girls' mother said, are Harrison Field, Ben Press and Larry Stefanki. The Eslamis met Field, a native New Yorker who has taught tennis in Europe, on a visit to the La Jolla YMCA. "I looked up," said Field, "and there were these three Olympic-class bodies going by."
Said Lynnette: "Harrison is the only one I've ever met in the tennis community who tried to help us. He has been the best thing that ever happened to our family. A lot of people have told us things, but Harrison always backed up whatever he said he was going to do."
"The girls are so polite and so considerate," said Field. "You'll never see them throw rackets. So if I spend any time at all with them, it's worth it."
Their comportment aside, what Field said has most impressed him concerning the Eslami girls is their fitness. For their ages, they are powerhouses, by his reckoning.
"If you ask 100 tennis coaches what they would prefer to have, a player with an advanced level of fitness or one with advanced skills, they would all take the player with the fitness," said Field. "They know how difficult it is to get that level of fitness."
At 3, the youngest of the girls, Maryam, having with her sisters been schooled in karate, was able to break a board with her bare hands, her mother said. "They played everything," she said of her daughters. "They tried a little gymnastics. They swam. They ran two miles when they were 5 and 6 years old. They did biking. Roller skating."
And now they're playing tennis. "These kids are in top shape," said their mother. "They're pretty much there. They're just way ahead."
Press said the oldest of the girls, Naseem, has a forehand that is the match of any player on the WTA Tour. "Just a super forehand," he said.
At the Hilton Mission Bay Resort, Press, serving without fee, has been schooling Shabnam, who is addressed as "Shabby," striving to persuade her to adopt a serve-and-volley game. In this regard, Press said he invited Karen Hantze Susman, the one-time Wimbledon champion from San Diego who was a serve-and-volleyer, to study Shabby's game.
"Karen was impressed," said Press, "and she really was helpful."
Naseem, meantime, is receiving lessons from Stefanki, an Olivenhain professional who has counseled a number of ranking players. Stefanki's judgment, as Naseem's mother relates it: that she has top-10 potential.
Vic Braden has "digitalized" the girls at his Coto de Caza tennis compound, subjecting them to a body analysis. Said the girls' mother: "He said if they are nurtured correctly in the tennis community, he could see them playing professional tennis, but that it depended on the nurturing point."
The girls are being home-schooled, which gives them more time for practice. "They want to do it," their mother insisted. "I would never make them play. They ask me every day, 'Mom, can we go hit?'"
Tennis, it should be noted, can be persnickety. Might their Iranian names work against the girls being accepted in the game?
"I've never worried about that because my kids are unique individuals," said Lynnette. "They're proud of who they are and they're proud of their names. I picked the names, and I think they're beautiful."
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 12, 2005 - Were they in their father's homeland, Maryam, Shabnam and Naseem Eslami would not be playing tennis. He is a native of Iran, where mixed doubles is not part of the culture. Neither is women's singles. Or women's sports of any sort.
Where they are, the sisters would seem to have a future in tennis. During the recent La Jolla Championships, Naseem, 15, won the girls 18s; Shabnam, 13, captured the girls 14s; and Maryam, 12, was a finalist in the girls 12s.
Their successes served to affirm that their parents, Ali, a naturalized American citizen, and his wife, Lynnette, acted wisely when about three months ago they chose to relocate to this area from Connecticut as a means of furthering their daughters' careers in tennis.
"Having one kid in tennis is pretty difficult," said Lynnette. "It's really tough if you have three."
In the East, in order that her daughters might have indoor court time in an area where leasing an indoor court can cost $40-$60 an hour, the girls' mother said she had taken a job at an indoor tennis facility. For about $8 an hour, she had to sweep, line and water five indoor clay courts, handle the laundry and see to the garbage.
Her husband had a position that had him on call 24 hours a day - being responsible for a corporation's e-mail - and it was so stressful that, his health deteriorating, his wife said he had to step away from it. "Once he lost his job, we were down to zero," said Lynnette, "but we kept our focus."
As she detailed it, it is to give the three Eslami girls every possible opportunity in tennis. To this end, Ali and Lynnette brought the girls and a son, Omed, 10, to San Diego, where Ali had been stationed at the Naval Training Center in 1976 when he was serving in Iran's navy. Left behind in Connecticut were a daughter, Nasreen, 27, and a son, Ali Jr., 25.
Before leaving Connecticut, the family had declared bankruptcy, according to Lynnette. Here, she has become a reservationist at the La Costa Resort and Spa. The parents and their daughters are residing in an apartment in San Marcos, which Mrs. Eslami said is not a problem.
"My husband's culture encourages get-togethers," she said. "Sometimes, we would have 50 people in our house."
The family's problem is keeping the girls on tennis courts. As much as the girls prefer to play, one of them will go through a pair of sneakers in a matter of weeks, Mrs. Eslami said. None of the girls has had a new racket in a couple of years, by her account. Then there are lessons.
Among those who have been helpful, the girls' mother said, are Harrison Field, Ben Press and Larry Stefanki. The Eslamis met Field, a native New Yorker who has taught tennis in Europe, on a visit to the La Jolla YMCA. "I looked up," said Field, "and there were these three Olympic-class bodies going by."
Said Lynnette: "Harrison is the only one I've ever met in the tennis community who tried to help us. He has been the best thing that ever happened to our family. A lot of people have told us things, but Harrison always backed up whatever he said he was going to do."
"The girls are so polite and so considerate," said Field. "You'll never see them throw rackets. So if I spend any time at all with them, it's worth it."
Their comportment aside, what Field said has most impressed him concerning the Eslami girls is their fitness. For their ages, they are powerhouses, by his reckoning.
"If you ask 100 tennis coaches what they would prefer to have, a player with an advanced level of fitness or one with advanced skills, they would all take the player with the fitness," said Field. "They know how difficult it is to get that level of fitness."
At 3, the youngest of the girls, Maryam, having with her sisters been schooled in karate, was able to break a board with her bare hands, her mother said. "They played everything," she said of her daughters. "They tried a little gymnastics. They swam. They ran two miles when they were 5 and 6 years old. They did biking. Roller skating."
And now they're playing tennis. "These kids are in top shape," said their mother. "They're pretty much there. They're just way ahead."
Press said the oldest of the girls, Naseem, has a forehand that is the match of any player on the WTA Tour. "Just a super forehand," he said.
At the Hilton Mission Bay Resort, Press, serving without fee, has been schooling Shabnam, who is addressed as "Shabby," striving to persuade her to adopt a serve-and-volley game. In this regard, Press said he invited Karen Hantze Susman, the one-time Wimbledon champion from San Diego who was a serve-and-volleyer, to study Shabby's game.
"Karen was impressed," said Press, "and she really was helpful."
Naseem, meantime, is receiving lessons from Stefanki, an Olivenhain professional who has counseled a number of ranking players. Stefanki's judgment, as Naseem's mother relates it: that she has top-10 potential.
Vic Braden has "digitalized" the girls at his Coto de Caza tennis compound, subjecting them to a body analysis. Said the girls' mother: "He said if they are nurtured correctly in the tennis community, he could see them playing professional tennis, but that it depended on the nurturing point."
The girls are being home-schooled, which gives them more time for practice. "They want to do it," their mother insisted. "I would never make them play. They ask me every day, 'Mom, can we go hit?'"
Tennis, it should be noted, can be persnickety. Might their Iranian names work against the girls being accepted in the game?
"I've never worried about that because my kids are unique individuals," said Lynnette. "They're proud of who they are and they're proud of their names. I picked the names, and I think they're beautiful."
... 
bere be zanesh berese o ba ham tennis bazi konan 
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