Borwell blogs: Bringing home some Danish bacon
Sarah Borwell
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Slightly bizarrely, my doubles partner, Courtney Nagle, and I began 2008 in Kolding, Denmark, and ended the season as doubles champions 60km down the road in Odense. After a little confusion and many frustrations, we ended the week in a great position for the 2009 season and with yours truly at a new career-high ranking of No.108.
After two nights in a youth hostel, two singles matches at a completely different venue in Kolding and a driver who forgot to wear his glasses, we spent most of the time either in the middle of the road, bouncing off curbs or narrowly missing passing cars.
For the first time in my tennis career I truly believe I can reach the goals I set
Although the organisation was haphazard, and the staff spent most of the time chasing loose ends, it was difficult to fault their effort and impossible not to be cheered up by their smiles. Odense has aspirations to hold a WTA Tour event next year and in some respects, it could be possible. Housed in a massive arena, with Caroline Wozniacki as the Danish superstar who can put bums on seats, disco tunes blaring before each match and players entering like prizefighters, the locals loved their first glimpse of women’s tennis.
Along with bacon and Hans Christian Anderson (born in Odense), the Danes take great pride in the importance of their No.1 player Wozniacki. Extending her season a month longer than most of her top 20 contemporaries, the teenager was under pressure to deliver the goods in front of her home crowd. Given many local fans bought tickets with the presumption that Wozniacki would be the one holding up the trophy on Sunday, she handled it as if she were a lot older than just 18 – and delivered the goods too.
Wozniacki’s first match was against the girl I destroyed in the final round of the qualifying event; we both found the whole thing very amusing. However, like any good competitor, she was excited about the prospect of competing in front of a sell-out crowd against a world-class player. From the first round to the final, Wozniacki was never really tested, showing exactly why she has bagged three WTA Tour titles this year and risen 52 places on the WTA rankings to No.12 in the world.
During the week my own tennis made massive strides in terms of my doubles ranking and my awareness of what I’m good at and what needs improving. After qualifying for the singles main draw and making fourth seed Angelique Kerber work hard in the first round, I had a minor epiphany. After deciding to pursue only doubles midway through this year, when I’ve dabbled in singles I’ve played with a carefree abandonment. With this laid-back approach, I have been able to play the style of tennis my old coach Peter Russell had tried to instill in me.
What hit me in Odense was that I have a great singles game to do well, I have a huge serve, an aggressive forehand, I can volley and when I don’t care too much about the outcome I can hit my backhand pretty well too. However, this is only a small part of what makes a singles player successful. There are so many more attributes, which in singles I was lacking.
Mentally I needed to be stronger, I never truly believed in myself and when I cared about winning or losing, I was scared to miss. Some days the thought of hitting a backhand over the net simply didn’t compute, my arm would be heavy and some of my backhands would be so miscued they’d even bounce before the net! Physically my body couldn’t compete with the top girls day in day out, regardless of how much my trainer Jez Green tried to rebuild me. It was a slightly disconcerting realisation, but it also gave me added motivation to succeed in doubles.
Physically I am more capable of lasting and mentally, for the first time in my tennis career, I truly believe I can reach the goals I set. Courtney and I have been working hard, we have been chasing points, flying across the world to various tournaments, and finally it paid off.
We still have a long way to go, many more skills need to be learned, but we are both very willing to do that. We finished our year off with our first major tournament win and we did it in style, taking out two highly accomplished players. We set the goal of cracking the top 80 by the end of the year and with our title in Odense we are now knocking on the door of the top 100 and hope to push through early on in 2009.
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Nico Nov 27, 07:02 PM
Hey there Sarah! I’ve been reading your blogging for quite some time and I find it really, really entertaining. You’re a gifted writer! I’ve never really had the pleasure of watching you play but I hope that day will come soon. Congratulations to you and Courtney on your title in Odense, and I wish you the very best for 2009. I’m sure top 50 will be a fact by the end of next year, and if it isn’t, I know you’ll keep up the hard work anyway until you get there.
CalamityJane Nov 28, 09:55 AM
Congratulations Sarah..brilliant stuff..i wish i could have such an epiphany every now and again!
Lee Nov 28, 03:03 PM
Can you tell us about the rastaman in Denmark next time?
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