The Thwock Thwock of Tennis Ball on the racket resonates around Rouken Glen. They come from a training session under an aqueous sun in the south of Glasgow. It is the shots, however, which have been heard in the world.
Aidan Moody, at the age of 21, played in two Australian openings, served and stolen from Wimbledon, represented the GB team and heads for a world final in Kazakhstan next week.
His trainer, Gary Smith, once helped Andy Murray to his ascent at the top and also played at the elite level, representing his country.
They are linked together by a deeply inspiring tennis story. The two were faced with challenges, in fact. The two found that tennis was a healing balm.
Moody was diagnosed with autism at four years old. He found tennis in his primary school. This led him to a new fulfilling life. He participated in the category of learning disabilities. This is part of the Australian open schedule. “We play on the courts of the open during the tournament. In front of the crowd, in front of the cameras ”, he said after the end of training for the day.
Now in the top ten in the world, he qualified twice for the Australian Open. He was released in the quarter-final last year and in the semi-finals this year. He finished second in the doubles in the two times.
Aidan Moody played in two Australian openings in their learning disability category
Moody does sports from primary school and is in the top ten for its category
The Rue Murray meeting tennis icon at the National Tennis Center in Roehampton was a highlight
“The Australian Open is the only major to have a category of learning disability at the moment,” says Smith. “But I believe that the other majors will follow.
Moody, however, played twice in competitions in Wimbledon but not under the banner or at the same time as the prestigious tournament.
He is now preparing for the Virtus World Tennis LD championships in Kazakhstan from May 3 to 11. He will travel with other members of the GB team.
It was already a spectacular journey. “This is the third time that I have been the GB team,” explains Moody. “It is an honor to represent your country and I am very proud to shoot the jersey with the flag.
He likes to travel and play in tournaments in Great Britain and abroad. “It’s always a good atmosphere with different players from around the world.”
This led to a meeting with Andy Murray, his hero. “He left the field after a session at the National Tennis Center in Roehampton and he looked tired. But he gave me a chance to take a photo and wanted me good luck. It’s my idol and I look at it. Being in the NTC is great, but meeting Andy … ‘
Moody and his father, Stephen, a mortgage advisor, have already banned special memories. This year, at the Australian Open, they met and discussed with Jim Courier, who is now a commentator but who is also the winner of the Grand Slam. Ben Shelton, the American player, also stopped to chat in the tunnels that bind Melbourne’s courts.
The young Moody was enthusiastic about all of this, but he has a goal. “My ambition is probably to develop my global ranking,” he says. “I’m in the top 10 and I want to go further – the first five, the first three. See where it’s okay.
Moody will represent the GB team at the Virtus LD tennis championships in Kazakhstan
Moody is trained by Gary Smith, brother of the former Captain of the Davis Cup of the GB team, Leon Smith,
He has been trained by Smith for six years. Moody was initiated into tennis when the Giffnock Tennis Club made an awareness program at the primary school Our Lady of the Missions in Thornliebank.
“I was only nine years old at the time, but I enjoyed it so much,” said Aidan. “I fell in love with sport and I joined Giffnock.
He benefited from coaching there and also attended a dedicated session each week with Glasgow’s disability tennis.
His link with Smith started after his previous coach moved away from Giffnock. The Smith brothers have a serious form in coaching. Leon capitalized on the GB team for a Davis Cup victory and also trained Murray in adolescence with Gary helping. Leon is a chief of male tennis at the LTA. Toby is now a national director for players aged 16 and under to tennis Scotland.
Gary was with the best. He regularly struck with Murray and trained 11 players who played in majors at the junior and elite level. However, he also had to face a brain injury imposed in an assault 20 years ago.
Now 44 years old, he has to manage his time and efforts. “The attack has changed how much I could play,” he says. “I first came back from that, but for periods, I could not continue. I had no SSPT because I had no memory of my incident. I know it could have cost me my life, but I spent mentally very quickly.
“Physically, it took me a while to get up and worry. But then I won some tournaments here and there.
However, he adds: “Brain damage has grown in something over the years and this has become problematic. Make a continuous session after the session without break has wreaked havoc. I became more tired. I had to take free time periods. It was difficult.
Gary Smith was a high promise player but an assault incident 20 years ago changed his life
The collaboration with Moody, however, was invigorating. “It’s a new challenge,” says Smith. “I was entrusted to me when his previous trainer left Giffnock. I was more than happy to adopt it. We got along very immediately. It’s about creating relationships with players.
“We were working just before any notion of Grand Slam came on the horizon. I didn’t want to know the details of his handicap. For me, he was just another player and each player has things he has to work on. I trained a lot of players and I find it easier with him, to be honest.
“He constantly improves. There is a boom in LD sport and it is ready to take advantage of it. He succeeded very early. According to my experience, he is also a better person as well as a better tennis player.
Smith stresses that the other Grand Chelem tournaments in Wimbledon, Flushing Meadows and Roland Garros are like following Australia’s advance, including LD Tennis.
“It will grow up and Aidan at the age of 21 now lives it. He will be one of the pioneers of this sport, ”he says.
Stephen Moody looks at the practice of the sidelines. He traveled the world with his son.
“When we go to Australia, I take it as part of my annual leave and we must obviously finance it,” he said. He was reimbursed for experience. “It is wonderful to walk on the Australian Open with the loin of identification information and to run up against the big ones. Andy Murray was also wonderful with Aidan at the NTC.
Smith and Moody have formed a strong link and hopes to benefit from a Boom in LD tennis
The biggest reward, of course, is to see his son find satisfaction and even joy. “Tennis was simply brilliant for him,” he says. “He had great friends in primary school, but in high school, he was almost isolated and not by someone’s fault. Tennis helped him face all this and he now has a good group of friends locally as well as the many friends he met thanks to tennis. He likes to travel with the GB team. He is the youngest but he is a welcoming environment.
Aidan’s mother Amanda, a teacher, said: “Tennis had a huge impact on him. He was extremely calm at school. He didn’t have much confidence. Tennis was a bit of a life buoy for him. He gave her a platform to succeed. He found something in which he is good, he found something for which he has a passion. It really helped his confidence and his self -esteem.
Everything takes place before the eyes of Rouken Glen. Moody plays with a concentration, a determination and a non -diluted passion. His behavior when he leaves the court is silent, but there is this suspicion of satisfaction that shines after a productive session.
More wonderfully, however, there is the feeling that a young man takes the world despite his problems. It is humiliating to realize that having learning difficulties does not mean that we cannot teach a lesson to the rest of us.
