Q.) You won a number a doubles title in Portugal earlier this year, partnered by Olivia Nicholls. Do you think your styles compliment each other? And are you hoping to form a consistent partnership with a player you feel confident playing with?
A.) Olivia and I have been playing together consistently for a couple of years now and have had a lot of success winning a total of 8 titles together in $15k and $25k events. Our games definitely complement each other well, I think with my powerful and consistent baseline game and Olivia’s superb court craft and volleying, we come up with some great patterns of play which makes us hard to beat. This along with a right and left handed combination makes us a really great doubles team.
Q.) Your trainer, Dom King, has recently been praising your work ethic and physicality. What improvements do you think you’ve made since you started working with Dom?
A.) I’ve been working with Dom King for two years now. When I started training at Halton Tennis Club and working with Dom, he took a good look at my game and tailored my physical training program to match up to my game style and physicality. I am 5’5, which is below average height for a tennis player, so I have to make sure I am very fast and agile around the court. We work a lot on speed on the court and power in the gym. I think this has transferred very well into my game and been one of my biggest areas of improvement over the last 18 months.
Q.) After a particularly good doubles season, achieving your highest ever ranking, are you going to focus on building on that or does singles take priority?
A.) Olivia and I have had great success in doubles this year, both reaching our career high rankings and gaining two more titles together so far. 2018 has been a really exciting year and we definitely have our sights set high for next year. However, I have also been making great progress in singles this year too. I have made great adjustments to my game since working with my coach, Mike James and these improvements have really shown in the consistent results I have been getting against higher ranked players. I’m enjoying playing singles and doubles and I’m excited for what next year has in store for me in singles and doubles.
Q.) What do you make of player coaching on the women’s circuit as it has been trialed at this years WTA Finals, does it not risk making the sport elitist, as your trainer for example coaches a number of players – so that would make some of his players at a disadvantage? The majority of players can’t afford to take a coach around with them all year, what are your thoughts on this?
A.) I’m not currently at a stage in my career where this affects me. On the ITF circuit there is no on court coaching and most players are travelling on a budget to make ends meet, so they aren’t travelling with a coach. However, from what I’ve seen I think it makes it more exciting for the fans to watch and it is a nice addition at the higher end of the sport for those players who can afford to employ a full time coach to travel with them to tournaments.
Q.) There’s always an ongoing debate about who’s the greatest men’s player ever – Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. Who’s your pick and why?
A.) For me, the greatest men’s player of all time is Federer. He has dominated the men’s game for as long as I can remember. From his grand slam record to his longevity in the sport, he is a phenomenal talent and has only gotten better over the years as men’s game has moved on improved he has improved with it, enabling him to stay amongst the very best in the world for so long.
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