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26 ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 Around 3,800 athletes took part in 28 sports, including tennis, as China played host to a stunning second Youth Olympic Games. Jamie Renton watched it unfold. G et your smart phones out and let's set a record for selfies." Hardly a sentence you might expect to hear from IOC President Thomas Bach, but it was a closing line warmly received by some 60,000 spectators and 3,800 athletes at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. Just as instructed, Nanjing's Olympic Sports Centre opened the second event of its kind with an eruption of animated poses and flashing phones. Nanjing 2014, which followed the successful inaugural event in Singapore in 2010, embraced innovation and youthful vitality just as much as the Olympic spirit. And tennis, for one, enjoyed a starring role. The curtain-raiser to the 12-day event saw Serbia's Ivana Jorovic, one of four tennis players nominated as a flag bearer and the top seed in the girls' singles and doubles events, picked to take part in a special on-stage photo-call with Bach and a handful of fellow athletes. The 17-year- old's selfie, deemed the best of the bunch, was promptly plastered across social media in line with the YOG's mission to encourage athletes to share the moment, show their passion for sport and make friends across the globe. "It was amazing. I was so excited," said Jorovic of her opening role. "I was shaking, and a little bit nervous, but it was all good. My photo was the best one so they used that!" Sixty-four players from 37 countries arrived at Nanjing's Tennis Academy of China for the tennis event, one of 28 sports to feature at the Games, and while competition for medals was unsurprisingly fierce, stifling humidity provided an additional challenge for the players in their maiden Olympic experience. Chinese-born Xu Shilin proved one of the strongest in the energy-sapping conditions, ultimately capitalising on home advantage to win the girls' singles " YOUTH OLYMPICS " China's Xu Shilin delighted home fans with her gold medal