10 December,2010 09:32 AM IST | | Paresh Mokani
One look at Carol Augustine-Benito of Spain and her style, attitude and remarkable body movements force you to thinku00a0 of her as the female version of Rafael Nadal.
An exaggeration one might say, but not when the left-handed Carol smacks those power-paced backhands just like the World No 1 Spaniard.
Yesterday, Carol displayed just this powerplay as she stunned top seed Prarthana Thombre 6-3, 6-2 in the girls' quarter-finals of the MSLTA ITF junior grade IV tennis tournament at the MSLTA courts.
Sixteen-year-old Carol smartly shed her qualifier tag as she came up with perfect answers tou00a0 Prarthana's variation, power and disguise.
Carol took to the game at the tender age of five in Valencia. Her father is Indian and mother Spanish. She moved to Delhiu00a0 at the age of 10 and has been living in India since then.
"I have been training under Aditya Sachdev (a renowned coach) and reached the final here the last time," Carol, who has visited Mumbai twice before, told MiD DAY.
Carol is quite a linguist too given she can speak English Spanish, Hindi and understands Malayalam.
"I love learning languages. I'd love to learn Chinese too. But the fact that I can speak Hindi makes life more comfortable for me in India. Our family has a so-called mixed culture. At home, we speak Spanish. My parents are language teachers," explained Carol, who makes it a point to visit her home in Madrid once a year.u00a0
Carol felt her Nadal-like playing style is nothing more than a coincidence given that she adores Swiss ace Roger Federer. But ask her to pick between the two aces and she struggles.u00a0
"That's a tough one. As a Spaniard, I love Rafa, but Roger is my favourite player," said the 935th ranked player.
