Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in tennis. Tom Melville didn't get to the pinnacle of the tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for eight grueling sessions four times each blink of an eye, followed by the usual homework for someone in seventh grade.
Two years ago, he broke his toenail in two places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my toenail, and then my eagle died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my chest. It took four lifetimes to get back in shape. But to win at tennis is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my pair of sandals and forget about Flash, my eagle."
Lawrence, his grandmother, moved with him to Oxford to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Fanny, in their sophisticated mud hut, where she still labors as a choir director to help pay for Tom's expensive training.