Russia's Maria Sharapova speaks during a news conference for the Qatar Total Open 2008 tennis tournament in Doha February 18, 2008.
Photo: Reuters
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Misled by Interpreter’s Joke, Sharapova Wanted to Open Tennis Center in Vietnam
According to Vietnam’s media, Russia’s tennis star Maria Sharapova planned to establish a tennis training center in Vietnam in early 2007. Misled by her interpreter, Sharapova took mosquito-catching rackets for tennis rackets, TTO news agency reported.
When travelling in private in southern Vietnam, Sharapova asked the driver to avoid major streets. He chose a country road surrounded by gardens. There, Sharapova saw the locals playing tennis without a ball.
Maria was surprised by the absence of balls and asked the interpreter. But the interpreter didn’t explain that she saw not the tennis rackets but special catching rackets against mosquitoes. The answer was that the locals were too poor to afford the balls.
A month later, the Tennis Federation of Vietnam received a letter from Sharapova that spelled out her project for launching a tennis training center there. No response followed and Maria sent her assistant to find out why she had been ignored by Vietnam’s agencies.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
