Laurie's Tennis articles

We’ve come to the end of the first week in 2015 and already the tennis season is in full swing and the first tournaments decided!   It is the perfect opportunity to preview the upcoming season on the WTA tour and predict the players who will be the contenders for the majors and premier tournaments. Serena Williams Serena Williams didn’t have as good a season as she did in 2012 and 2013 when she was winning virtually every tournament she entered from May 2012 onwards.   Serena was still the undisputed world number 1 and won eight tournaments but suffered unusual losses throughout the course of the season at the Australian Open against Ana Ivanovic, the 2nd round of the French Open to Garbine Muguruza and Wimbledon to Alize Cornet in the 3rd round.   However, Serena won her 18th major at the US Open easily defeating Caroline Wozniacki and received a special presentation by Chris Evert and |Martina Navratilova.   Serena also won Miami for the seventh...

Tennis Works We now have a new focus for British Tennis…Participation! Although I laugh when making that statement as it seems obvious that this is something a governing body should be doing but it is a serious direction that I believe should be the number one on the tennis agenda. Over the 14 years that I have been developing the coaching element of Tennis Works, my focus has been on getting as many people as possible to try the game and give them opportunities to continue playing. I established a Charity called MK Ace, which allowed us to get funding to help cover the large costs of hiring public facilities, staff, marketing etc and make tennis very affordable for all. The network I created in and around my town in Milton Keynes, Bucks, was huge and the operation had over 18 venues, 12 coaches, 20 schools and 1000 people a week playing tennis. Then…we hit a recession! Funding dried up, the Schools Sports Partnership network lost its budget to provide coaches int...

Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce Laurie’s Tennis Articles continues to look at previous championships of the new millennium and this week looks at the 2005 edition in Staples centre Los Angeles. The 2005 WTA championships was the final edition to be held at the Staples centre after a four year stint.   Unlike Madison Square Garden which was seen as a successful period for the championships; the problem with the Staples centre was not only was the stadium extremely vast, the court appeared at best medium slow.   In today’s tennis a slow indoor court is not an issue but in the early 2000s it seemed strange to hold such a prestigious event on a court where the ball was not really coming through quickly.   However, with the Americans dominating the WTA tour at the majors, it was sensible to hold the event where big crowds would be guaranteed.   Even so, Venus Williams missed three of the four editions; Serena Williams didn’t qualify in 2003 and was injured i...