Message from Shona
12 September 2022Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for supporting my tennis tour. I came back to Auckland from it two weeks ago. I had valuable experiences during the tour.
With the amount of funding I received from this Givealittle page and following some coaches advice, I decided to change the way to achieve my targets by getting good results from professional tournaments. This is because even with my ranking at that time we realised that it was going to be too hard to gain so many points for a short period of time to get into the US Open before the cut off line which was already so soon.
- Tunisia
In Monastir I stayed for about 7 weeks and competed in ITF pro tournaments for six consecutive weeks. It was really hot over there, like over 30 degrees even at night, so it took a while to get used to the weather. Food was okay, but I often got stomach problems from it.
Because I didn’t have any pro ITF points, I started from qualifying tournaments for all the six tournaments in Monastir. Out of them I reached the main draw twice and took a total of three ITF points. (Those points help me get into any pro ITF tournament) The main highlight for me is playing against the former world no.26 Tamira Paszek in the first round of the maindraw on the tournament #3 after going through two qualifying rounds. Although I lost the match 1-6 1-6, it was a great experience and I didn’t feel my level was too behind hers and wasn’t overpowered.
- Croatia
After Monastir I flew over to Croatia, where I was lucky enough to stay with my friend’s family for about two weeks. I played on clay for the first time in my life there. It was really awkward when I started rallying. It took me a long time to get used to playing on clay.
After Croatia, I started touring mainly in the eastern side of Europe to compete in clay court tournaments.
- Finland, ITF 15K pro tournament
I lost in the second round of qualifying, 1-6 6-4 11-13. I had two match points and wasn’t able to finish off the match. I also got a spot in the doubles maindraw with an Estonian girl, but lost in the first round, 3-6 4-6.
- Austria, ITF junior tournament
I lost in the quarterfinals in singles and reached the semifinals of doubles.
- Poland, ITF 15K pro tournament
This was the best week in terms of my tennis and tennis environment in my opinion. I got used to playing on clay by then. I won two rounds of qualifying to get to the maindraw and I lost against a french girl, 6-7 0-6 in the first round. I played well through this tournament.
- Belgium, ITF 15K pro tournament
I lost in the second round of qualifying in singles, but I reached the quarterfinals in doubles with an Italian girl and lost it closely 2-6, 6-7 against the first seeds, who are currently ranked world no. 250.
I was very disappointed that I could not make my targets, but I could learn tons of things from this tour. European players are used to rally for long and their intensity lasts in a long rally because they play on clay from very young. They also generally know how to construct a point well. Once I wished I had been born in Europe!
I’d like to thank you again for all your support, which got me to travel to six countries in eight-seven days, playing 29 matches. This was the first time for me to play so many matches in such a period. This all wouldn’t have happened without your help.
Now I am back in Auckland getting ready for the end of year exams. After the exams I will start training full time again and try to raise my tennis skills and keep competing by using the valuable experience from the tour. My new quest is to get WTA points and compete in a WTA tournament!
Kind regards,
Shona
