“I’m looking forward to greatness from you”- Dr. Norton tells Vickery

By Avenash Ramzan

“I feel honoured, particularly so that I’m a Minister of this government with responsibility for sports. I’m looking forward to greatness from you.”

The words of Social Cohesion Minister, Dr. George Norton, as he welcomed USA-based Guyanese tennis prodigy Sachia Vickery at his office on Main Street, Georgetown, on Wednesday afternoon.

Vickery, in the company of her Manager Dominique Mitchell, Fitness Coach Christopher Howard, mother Paula Liverpool and other relatives, paid a courtesy call on Dr. Norton, signalling her intentions to represent Guyana at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

“I imagine anybody would be happy to have her carrying their flag, but she has chosen to do so for Guyana,” Dr. Norton proudly stated.

He added, “I don’t know what are your immediate plans, but I can say regardless of what you may choose, whether it’s the Grand Slam or even the Olympics, I just hope that you reach to the highest and I can’t help in congratulating you and admiring you for taking up that Golden Arrowhead.”

Vickery, 22, recently made known her desire to compete for Guyana at the Olympics. She is one of the fastest racing players on the WTA circuit, and is currently ranked 105 in the world, her highest ranking ever.

Only last week she competed in the ASB Classic in New Zealand, bowing out at the semi-final, losing to number one seed Caroline Wozniacki. Vickery had a good run in the tournament, earlier defeating Agnieszka Radwanksa 6-2 6-2 at the quarter-final stage. 

Prior to that, she got past Veronica Cepede Royg 6-2 6-4 in the Round of 16 and Lauren Davis 6-1 6-2 in the Round of 32. In the Qualifiers, she defeated Magdalena Frech 7-5 6-3, Conny Perrin 6-0 6-3 and Deborah Chiesa 6-4 6-3.

“I always feel happy about coming back (home). I actually made a last minute decision to come just because I wanted to see all my family and kind of visit everybody, and also I got a lot of support when I was over at the tournament (in New Zealand), whether it was messages or people calling my mom, emailing my mom and just congratulating me about the tournament. So I was really happy to come back because I felt a lot of support,” Vickery told reporters on Wednesday.

The Florida-born player said the performances in New Zealand have really boosted her confidence and she is very enthused about future plans. 

“It was a very good week for me, a very good confidence booster and I’m really optimistic about my plans this year and I’m so close to breaking into the top 50, which is my goal for the end of the year,” Vickery noted.