Brave Hearts

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Eye Care Foundation

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The Brave Hearts
With the progress Doris was making, the happiness that her mother felt knew no bounds. Her mother sincerely felt that all that had happened was the result of God's grace and the inner confidence Doris had demonstrated during the past fateful days. It was as if the mother was watching a miracle with her own eyes. Her heart was always filled with happiness whenever she saw Doris playing tennis on the court. It is a game that requires constant movements of the legs, when playing the shots. The same leg which the doctors once wanted to amputate was now making swift and agile movements on the court.
The consistency of effort with which Doris had overcome her physical deficiency was the same with which she had now reached the finals of the ladies' singles in the Wimbledon tournaments.
On that afternoon in the month of July 1951, when Doris Hart walked to the centre court to play the finals, she received a tumultuous welcome and applause from the spectators who had assembled there to witness the event. In the encounter that took place then between Doris Hart and Shirley Frag, the former was at her best and showed tremendous grit and power which even today is fondly remembered by the tennis lovers of the world as one of the best ever finals played at Wimbledon.
In the first set, Shirley could muster only 20 points. Doris Hart registered a convincing win in this set by 6–1. Doris was playing at full strength. She was hitting the shots so well that her rival Shirley Frag could only play from the base line. Shirley was considered to be a very fast player, but she could not match the 'service and the 'volleys' coming from Doris Hart. Doris won two consecutive sets to register her fantastic victory in the finals that year. She required just 35 minutes. to defeat a strong contender like Shirley Fray. One critic had
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