Heather Watson - Future of British Tennis




Womens British tennis is looking up after years in the international wilderness.  There is a long way to go before Britain can get into the elite group, but in Heather Watson, we have a player who has the desire and talent to make a real impression on the WTA tour for years to come. 

We also have a situation where we have two British players of a similar age vying to be British number 1, the other player being Laura Robson.  That can only be good for British tennis if both players can push each other to ultimately rise up the rankings and be consistently in the top 30 of the womens game.  

That process has already begun this summer.  Heather Watson reached the 3rd round of Wimbledon, which was the first time that has happened since Sam Smith in 1999.  And last weekend Heather won her first tour doubles title in Stanford with partner Marina Erakovic of New Zealand.  With that triumph, Watson reached a career high 71 in the WTA rankings and claimed the British number 1 ranking for the first time.  Meanwhile, Laura Robson reached her first WTA semifinal on clay in Palermo dispatching top players like Roberta Vinci along the way before losing in 3 sets to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová. 

This is very good news for British tennis to have two young players pushing each other to improve and get as far as possible up the rankings.  Watson is not averse to pushing the envelope, she took the decision at the age of 12 to leave England and head for the Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida which has produced so many great champions over the years.  It is always a brave decision to leave for another culture and country at such a young age but it shows her determination to progress and succeed which will hold her in good stead for years to come.  Especially when things don’t go to plan, Heather should be able to draw on an inner strength.  This is reflected on the court as Heather always displays great fighting spirit, you rarely see her give up. And Heather has already tasted success as a junior, winning the junior US Open title in 2009.

In terms of her game, Heather is developing a strong first serve and during Wimbledon was getting up to speeds of 105 mph (170kph).  Heather is also a tremendous mover along the baseline and possesses exceptional footwork, always taking little steps before getting to the ball and hitting her shots.  I am also impressed with her willingness to go down the line off both wings to stretch her opponent.  Heather is working hard to introduce more variety into her game such as the use of the slice on the backhand side and take to the net off short balls or after creating a short ball to attack and take any floating replies out of the air.   

Like many young players starting out, Heather is working to improve her 2nd serve delivery to make it more reliable for her to defend her serve with.  A good player to study would be Justine Henin, Henin didn’t have the reach to hit big kicker serves so developed a really good slice serve which jumped at her opponents, especially when serving into the body on deuce and ad courts.  The slice 2nd serve can often be more effective than a topspin serve; a topspin serve can be a liability if they are slow and not well directed, they are easily attackable. 

I linked up with Heather recently to ask her views on her tennis and related things, here’s what she had to say:   


1.    Congratulations on winning your first WTA tour title in Stanford with Marina Erakovic.  How does it feel to get a tournament win under your belt so soon into your career and to be British number 1?

It felt great to win that title with Marina and my first career WTA Tour title.  It makes me want to keep working hard and keep fighting.  Becoming the British number 1 is a great accomplishment for me but I still have a long way to go.

2.    You received great support at this year’s Wimbledon championships, how inspiring is it to play in front of your home crowd in a major tournament?

I love playing at home and feeling the support of the fans there.  Their energy really carries over onto the court and is such a big help.  I can’t wait to feel that same energy and enthusiasm when I play at home for the Olympics!

3.    How much are you looking forward to the Olympics and seeing other sports?  Which sports do you watch or play most outside of tennis?

I think  it is going to be so exciting to compete in a home Olympics.  It is a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad I have the opportunity to represent my country.  I would love to be able to see Usain Bolt race because he is one of my favourite athletes.  I think the swimming would be very cool to see as well since I swam competitively when I was little as well.

4.    Which players inspired you the most whilst growing up in tennis?

I loved the Williams sisters when I was little.  It is a bit surreal to be playing in the same events as them now though.

5.    There are now four British women in the top 100, how do you see the future of British womens tennis developing

We have all been working really hard and this is such a great accomplishment.  We all want to keep climbing though and hopefully this will help motivate other young girls to start playing tennis.

6.    What would you say is your best attribute on the tennis court and why?

I think I would say my best attributes are my movement and my fighting spirit.  I never give up until the last ball is hit.


7.    What goals have you set, how far would you like to go in your career?

Every winter I sit down with my father and we go over the my year and then set goals for the following year.  He really helps me take a step back and see the big picture.  Of course I want to be #1 and that is what I work for every day.  It is a process though and takes consistent dedication on court and off.

8.    I am very impressed with your personality and attitude on the court.  Do you think this helps you to stay as relaxed as possible during the big moments in a competitive match?

I think I am very different on the court and off.  I am a very friendly, playful person off the court but when I step on the court I am a fighter and a competitor.  I have always been very competitive in everything I do and that is something I love about playing tennis for a living.

9.    What are your favourite pastimes outside of tennis?

 I am really just a normal girl that likes to hang out with my friends when I can, listen to music, go see movies and of course do a little shopping from time to time.    

 
 











Petra Kvitova can use setback to become a better player




Petra Kvitova relinquished her Wimbledon title in a defeat to 2010 champion Serena Williams in two sets on centre court on Tuesday.  It was a high quality match, particularly in the 2nd set, but the difference between the two players was the serve of Serena Williams.  Kvitova will be disappointed not to defend her Wimbledon title but should use this experience to learn from the defeat and become a better player longer term.

By her own admission, Kvitova has not had a great start to 2012 in comparison to 2011.  By July 2011 she had won Sydney, Paris Indoor, Madrid and Wimbledon, plus played in the final of the Aegon Championships in Eastbourne.  However, so far in 2012 Kvitova has not reached a final of any event despite getting to 4 semifinals including the Australian and French Opens.  This has left some people to question whether she has the potential to become the best player in the world. 

There are a few factors which have prompted this; in January she had two opportunities to become number 1 in the world but didn’t take them, losing in the semifinals of both Sydney and the Australian Open.  The defeat to Sharapova in Australia was particularly painful for her as she had at least 8 break point opportunities in the 3rd set and was not able to capitalise, eventually coming up short when serving to stay in the match.  In many ways that defeat has set the tone for this year and she has lost her confidence slightly as a result.

Due to Federation cup commitments, Kvitova chose not to defend her title at the Open Gaz de France in Paris.  She then missed Doha and Dubai due to illness and had a rotten time of it in Indian Wells and Miami.  The clay court season was better with semifinal appearances in Stuttgart and the French Open, plus a quarterfinal appearance at the Italian Open.

However, it is fair to say that Kvitova went into Wimbledon short on confidence and belief, coupled with the fact it was a new situation for her to arrive at a major tournament as defending champion.  In the first round against Akgul Amanmuradova, Kvitova went 4-1 down in the 1st set but dug deep and found her game to win in straight sets.  That allowed her the freedom to play much better against Elena Baltacha and Varvara Lepchenko.  In the 4th round, Francesca Schiavone provided a very stern test with her variety but Kvitova came through 6-1 in the 3rd set.

In many ways it was unfortunate that the two previous Wimbledon winners had to play each other in the quarterfinals as it would have been much more worthy as a semifinal or final.  Although Kvitova was defending champion, Serena Williams would have been seen as the slight favourite due to her achievements and experience; that proved to be the case. 

The key to the match was the serve and return of serve, classic grass court tennis.  Serena Williams served incredibly well including 13 aces and returned beautifully.  Meanwhile Kvitova didn’t start well but played much better in the second set and manufactured a set point but couldn’t take advantage as Serena hit a bomb at 114 mph.   Kvitova didn’t get enough returns into play to make a dent into Serena’s service games.  This probably made Kvitova aware that she couldn’t make any mistakes at key moments, which precisely led to mistakes because of the pressure put on her by Serena Williams, especially at 5-6 when she netted a forehand, leaving Serena to serve out the match.

Petra Kvitova will be disappointed to lose her Wimbledon title, but should not become too disheartened with her performance.  I saw a player who played a high level of tennis in the 2nd set, which would have been good enough to defeat any of the other quarterfinalists in the draw.  Kivitova will return to her hometown to have a bit of downtime, and take the opportunity to reflect on where her game is with her coach and what she has to do to keep improving.

Kvitova is not moving quite as sharp as when I saw her in Eastbourne 12 months ago; injuries and illness may have disrupted her training schedule during 2012 but that is something she can work on.  She is not getting to the ball to hit those amazing shots she has at her disposal.  I think Kvitova can work on getting more topspin on her shots to improve her margin for error.  A good example is Pete Sampras who said he added more topspin to his forehand to improve his margin of error after a couple years on the tour.   Sampras showed it is possible to hit bullet shots and consistently get them in, that is an area Kvitova can improve.

I also think Kvitova’s return of serve has gone off a bit this year compared to 12 months ago.  She can develop a great return of serve because she sees the ball so early and gets to wide angles, but probably goes for too much at this stage.  A good strategy would be to get the ball into play deep on big points to ask the question of the server.  

One area I’ve been advocating for Petra Kvitova to become more aggressive is the serve, I have mentioned in previous articles that she should go for her first serve more often.  Serena Williams showed why this is a good tactic, by serving aces and so many unreturnables, it allowed her to have more freedom to take risks in the return games.  Kvitova has a great serve and 2nd serve in particular; she can work on her making her first serve a bigger and faster weapon.  I also feel Kvitova can serve many more aces than she currently does, especially on grass and hardcourts.

This is an opportunity for Petra Kvitova to make some ground on her rivals with the hardcourt season coming up.  She doesn’t have many points to defend so if she can get good results in North America, it will be an opportunity to re-establish herself as a major contender for the titles and major titles going forward.  A player can learn much more about themselves in defeat than victory, therefore I am backing Petra Kvitova to overcome these difficulties at this stage of her young career and to come back to Wimbledon next year an improved player.  I am also backing her to win more major titles and get to number 1 in the future. 

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