Interview with Delani Richart

1. Were you born in NWA? Yes I was born in Fayetteville, and I've lived here my whole life.
2. What grade are you currently in this year? I'm going to be a High School sophomore this year.
3. Other than tennis what do you do for recreation, relaxation, hobbies: I love reading and listening to music
4. How many years have you been playing tennis?
I have been playing tennis for 3 years after doing gymnastics for nine and a half years.
5. What prompted you to play tennis regularly? I started playing because I knew it would be a challenge and I was up for it!
6. What is your favorite thing/enjoyment about playing tennis. My favorite thing about playing tennis is that I can always play with my dad and you can never stop improving no matter how good you are, you can always be better.
7. What is your own favorite tennis shot/worst? My favorite shot in tennis is my back hand, and my least favorite is my overhead.
8. Is there any life lessons learned by playing tennis? One of the lessons I've learned from playing tennis is to always keep your cool, once you get angry or upset, things can only go downhill.
9. You have just been accepted as a year long resident at the John Newcombe Tennis Academy just outside San Antonio, run by legendary tennis player and 7 grand slam tennis title winner – John Newcombe - Congratulations. Tell us about the academy. The Academy is already really fun, I've met people from Spain, Australia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. It's awesome meeting new people and learning their playing styles from all over the world.
10. Do you think during your year at the academy you will meet some of the successful Academy Alumni like Ryan Harrison, Llewton Hewitt, Li Na, etc.? . John Newcombe is supposed to be here in the next two weeks to meet the academy, I'm not sure about the others though. If they do come, I would be extremely star struck.
11. Will you be attending a local high school or one on the academy grounds? I'll be attending the local high school, it's called New Braunfels High and their mascot is the unicorn!
12. Leaving Fayetteville, your friends and family to attend a tennis academy took guts – what is your goal by attending the Newcombe academy? My goal is to be offered a scholarship and be able to play tennis in college. An opportunity I wasn't sure I could get in Fayetteville.
13. Any estimate on how many hours of tennis you will play in a normal week being at the academy? They've told me I'll be playing around 24 hours a week and I'll be doing fitness and working out around 6 hours a week.
14. Is there an aspect of attending the academy that you think will be the most challenging? I think the most challenging thing will be getting in really good shape and being able to play tennis to my best ability.
15. The Newcombe Academy has the slogan ; Team, Family, Team. How has that manifested itself to you so far? The team-family-team slogan made me realize that Newks really is a big family and everyone is so accepting, that's what makes it easier leaving Fayetteville, is that I have a second family here at Newks. .
16. As you were contemplating whether to stay at FHS, with friends and family or leave familiar territory of NWA for Texas – was their one thing that stuck out as a driver in your decision to attend Newcombe’s Academy? The one thing that stuck in my mind most is that I have the chance to get a full ride scholarship to a good college and play tennis for them. That was what really made me want to come here and be the best player I can be.
17. We are proud of you and are excited for you – will you keep the FAC Tennis Family updated on your progress and experiences? Yes I will most definitely keep FAC up today's on what's going on and I will come back to FAC when I'm home during thanksgiving and Christmas.
18. What is your most memorable accomplishment playing tennis so far? My most memorable accomplishment playing tennis was probably when I had been playing under a year and I played my first tournament at Summerhill and won, I was really surprised and proud of my self.
19. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? One thing people would be surprised to know about me is that I don't get homesick, even when I would go to camp for a week at 7 years old I would be completely fine!
20. When I was 10, I wanted to be… When I was ten I wanted to be a doctor or a nurse, that's still my ambition!
21. Books I would suggest to a friend: Books I would recommend to a friend would be the Harry Potter series or anything by Dan Brown.
22. Favorite movies: My favorite movies are: The Godfather, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, The Notebook, Jaws, The Titanic, Tommy Boy, Dazed and Confused, and Forrest Gump.
23. The person I most admire is: The person I admire most: my great-grandmother because she was always very ambitious, lived out all of her dreams, and was always a very classy lady.