I had an interesting conversation with two Mums at our recent county closed. Their children are quite early on in their tennis journeys and the subject of travelling to other counties/areas to “chase points” came up. I asked if I could offer a different perspective for this.. whilst there will always be players who look to enter what are viewed as less challenging tournaments in order to potentially boost their ranking, there is also a myriad of other potential benefits – some examples below:
o Travelling, experiencing and learning about other areas (helps geographical knowledge!)
o Playing different players, different balls – imperative to really learn the sport
o Different courts in new environments
o It is part of a natural evolvement of a tennis journey
o Have fun – if you can grab a spare hour or so to do something else
o Life skills learnt along the way
I have always been a big advocate of travelling and Amelie was competing out in Europe from the age of 9. We always endeavoured to find appropriate competitive opportunities – this led to 12U / 14U Tennis Europe and also the Ten-Pro circuit which offers players a guaranteed number of matches (check it out if you’ve not heard of this one).
This week, Amelie played a British Tour at West Hants. On Friday, she played two 3 set matches losing narrowly in the quarters to the 4th seed. Naturally disappointed not to progress, but she left it all on the court and the opponent played better in the closing part of the match. A few tears in the locker room (which brought back memories of the 2019 GB nationals 12U finals!) and feeling pretty tired after what has been a very full summer of competition, she was in two minds when I reminded her she could get back in time to play a club match! Drove back (Leon stop for food on the way) to play mixed doubles of club champs with her coach Mike James which they won in 3 sets under the lights (those two, both super competitive) and had a lot of FUN. Back home and watched the last couple of sets of Tsitsipas / Alcaraz US Open match which was thrilling. From player to tennis fan – 100% involved and animated, discussing the game, the players, the result. A full day of tennis 6am to 12am. Tennis gets in your blood. It’s not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle… it’s part of your life, an emotional tie.
We talk tennis in our house. Whilst Amelie’s Dad played many sports, tennis was not one however over the years (and thanks to good TV coverage!) more often than not, the TV runs part of the day with an ATP/WTA tournament or slam. Whilst we were away at the Brit Tour, he is up to date with US Open matches. I grew up with tennis and learned a huge amount from watching the top players compete in terms of tactics, reading the game, different types of players, professionalism etc. I believe watching matches provides another element to one’s tennis acumen and over the past year, Amelie has really started to buy in to this as well – we now have more intelligent tennis conversations and this also transfers to her own understanding of her matches, the ebbs and flows of momentum, key points in the match and being able to relay outcomes in an intelligible manner. She is also pretty up to date with players on the tour, where they are competing and results.
There is quite a lot more than “chasing points” And I say that as Amelie’s end of summer 16U ranking has just come in at 5, 19 in 18U and 68 overall in GB. Yes, there will be some strong players who have had points drop off and we know that rankings just give a static view but for Amelie this is a reflection of her sustained hard work in competition, her dedication & commitment to improving and some very good domestic results over the summer. And all the other stuff that has added to her life and development as an individual.
It does not stop there. We know this will change week on week, as it does on the world stage. While ultimately sport is determined by results and rankings, you can take time to explore the rest of the tennis offering – it’s there in abundance if you want to tap into it as well.
Laura Marks
Mum of 2
Head of Middlesex Tennis Parents Group
Member of LTA Parent Advisory Group
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