Tennis' love affair with rackets has a dark side

On his wall at home lie pieces of the short history of Shaheed Alam. The Singapore player, who is 23, is taking me - via video - on a ride through a miniature museum that he's constructed in a corridor. In it hang the 30 rackets he's used, including his first one from 2003. Racket stories might involve strings and tension, even a trickle of blood, but always romance.

The player and racket is the equivalent of the musician and guitar. There is a little smashing involved in both forms. Alam says he has never broken a racket and it is refreshing in a time when others hurl theirs violently. This love affair has a dark side but also a sweetly obsessive one.