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Such poise at 16? In tennis, prodigies still leave us in awe
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Russia's Mirra Andreeva has been a roaring success this summer with fine performances at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
PHOTO: AFP
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Over 70 years ago, an 11-year-old of such irresistible talent emerged in tennis that a writer reached for a warship in comparison. Not any ship either but the USS Missouri, a World War II battleship which saw action in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Among its armaments were nine 16-inch, 50 calibre guns and it was known as the Mighty Mo. When sportswriter Nelson Fisher saw Maureen Connolly’s high-calibre strokes he quickly nicknamed her Little Mo. In due course she flattened everything in her path and won the Grand Slam in 1953. She was 18.
