You havn't won the first set until you win the first game of the second set.

How many times have junior players won the first set convincingly only to find themselves trailing in the second set.What can happen after a player wins a set 6-1 is a drop of intensity that can transpire at the beginning of the second set.Players MUST! come out at the beginning of the second set and think its the start of the match,just because you have a set under your belt you can not have a let down in intensity. You must try very hard to keep the pressure on your opponent and give it your all in trying to win the first game of the second set.Time and time again I have seen juniors dominate the first set then casually go down 0-2 in the second set.This gives your opponent a re surge of energy and focus as they leave the despair of the first set and start to gain in confidence .Then self doubt can appear in your game as your opponents body language starts to change and shots they did not make in the first set start to go over and in.Juniors must make sure they take the break after winning the first set , sit down at the change of ends and focus on a new set as if it was the start of the match, make sure that after this break focus and intensity is as high as when the match began. By making sure you get those early games of the second set after winning the first can make your opponnent think that there is know way possible to win the match. The relief of getting that first set can often cause you to relax too much, the break after the second set is the perfect opportunity to refocus your game plan and intensity ,players use this break to your advantage!

Grady Gets Royal Oaks Only Rubber against Parnell

Gabrielle Grady won Royal Oaks only rubber in Fridays clash with Parnell.Parnell has a strong lineup with Di Hollands at 1 , Pavlina Nola at 2 and Nicky Tippens at 3.Grady had revenge against Christine Foote who defeated her in the semi's of the 16s Nationals winning the first set 6-2 before Foote defaulted.Defaults are getting a little out of hand especially in the juniors as players default rather than let the opponent get the win the way it should happen ,its a fact that players are defaulting and not turning up depending on who they play and whilst Tennis New Zealand close a blind eye to this it is actually happening and brought about by certain aspects of the Top Dog Ranking system.Grady and Swinkels lost their doubles to Tippens and Foote 6-4-6-1.

Squad in South Canterbury Kicked off last Thursday and pictured below are juniors and coaches.Squad is held every Thursday with 10s and 12s and 14s and 16s age groups. Missing in Action Guy Slater has been found and after a severe injury at Senior Nationals in Rotorua earlier this year which kept Slater off the court the good news is he has recovered and started the hard haul of getting back into the form that won Southern their only match win of the Nationals Teams.Slater has a Top Dog Ranking of 800+ but I am sure this will be on the rise after a few matches under his belt this season. Guy is pictured with Hector Aguilar after a practice session below also.

Canterbury Spring Open Wrap up- valuable matchplay as players find that sometimes losses are the most valuable learning lessons of all.

There's nothing like a tournament to test your strengths and weaknesses and to see how you are travelling.For eight South Canterbury players the Canterbury Spring Open provided this opportunity.As a coach there is nothing more valuable in watching pupils and players compete in a tournament situation, it helps define their improvement with technique,and of course it determines area's the player and coach needs to work on.Of course your regular coaching sessions are valuable but tournaments and quality match play goes hand in hand and you have to combine both.The five days did provide different challenges for players and strong wind on the first few days certainly tested players and coaches as your natural game needs to adapt.Those that could reaped the benefits and those that did not improvise struggled.Theres an old saying that "windy conditions can sometimes even the match up" and this certainly was true in some cases. Anna Cochrane participating in the 10s girls singles and doubles drew a tough first up match with Pippa McCaw ,wind and just getting over a bout of the flu did not help as anna played her poorest match of the tournament going down to the eventual finalist 9-3.Anna struggled with conditions and with a player with little technique but very consistent and made very few unforced errors.Going back into the consolation event Anna won three matches to win this section.These matches certainly helped Anna as she played better with each win.Anna partnered McCaw to win the girls doubles title 9-5 over the top seeds Lauryne Ashby and Lily O'Fagan.Anna was the dominant player on court in this match and certainly showed a return to form.Geraldine Prisk lived up to her fourth seeding before losing to a very much in form Lousise Oxenvard 6-0 6-1,Prisk had trouble with the power game of Oxenvard who served extremely well throughout the whole match.Prisk had survived a three set quarter final against an improving Amanda Coeland 6-3 4-6 6-3.In the girls doubles Prisk was partnered with Lauren Tyler-Harwood and were beaten by event winners Amanda Coeland and Paige Hourigan 6-2 7-6. Margot Robinson seeded 9th in the girls 16 singles reached the quarter finals before going down to Australian Emily O'Neill 6-1 6-1.Robinson short on match practice found the consistency of O'Neil to much to overcome.In the Consolation Margot was defeated by B.Fisher 6-2 6-2.No doubt Robinson will be all the more better for her next tournament from the matches played in Christchurch.In the 16s girls doubles partnering Scarlett Cuthill they lost their first match against Annabelle Nichols and Suzanne Sandridge 6-3 6-4 in a match they could have won.Top seed in the 12s Girls singles Annabel Ellis went all the way to the final before losing to Gabriela Coates 6-4 6-2 .Coates had never beaten Ellis in their previous encounters and not taking anything away from her win ,she struck Ellis who in the final made a lot of unforced errors along with some untimely double faults and in previous encounters Ellis was very tough with ground strokes and serve to secure the wins. On this day however a more consistent Coates took advantage of the errors and recorded the win.Ellis and Coates combined to win the 12 girls doubles against Jessica Shaw and Olivia Smith 6-3 4-6 10-5 tb. Robbie Wigley playing in the 12 boys singles learned important lessons about technique and putting into what you work on in coaching ,into your match .Wigley unfortunately struggled with keeping his technique consistent and this proved the difference between losing and winning matches.In his first match in the 12 boys Robbie was defeated by Ryan van Grinsven 6-3 6-2.He then lost his consolation match to M. van Grondelle 6-3 6-2.I am sure Robbie learned some valuable points from these matches.In the boys doubles partnering Ryan Hampton they lost a first round match to Andrew Brash Simon Coleman 6-1 6-2.In their consolation match they also lost a close match to Neas - van Grinsven 6-1 7-5.Older Brother George Wigley reached the final of the bOys 16s singles going down to Joseph Bray 6-4 6-2.Wigley survived a close quarter final against Brandon J Ng 4-6 6-4 7-6 and then beat a player hes never beaten before ,Benjamin McGillivray 7-6 6-1. Wigley had to come from behind in both matches and found Bray too tough in the final.Wigley fell away in the second set and needed to play far more consistent tennis to beat Bray.Wigley tried to trade power shots but made too many errors to put Bray under pressure.He partnered Ryan Ammar in the 18/16 boys doubles to go down in a Semi Final Match to the unseeded pair and eventual winners Hector Aguilar and Alex Hunt 6-3 6-2.Ryan Ammar lost a very close 7/6 7/6 to inform Alex Hunt in the round of 16.Ammar had his chances in both sets but failed to capitalize.In a disappointing consolation semi final Ryan was defeated by Fin Bar Argus 6-1 6-2.In the 18 boys singles Mexican and now South Canterbury player Hector Aguilar showed glimpses of form.This was Hector's first tournament in New Zealand and the clay court exponent defeated the 3rd seed Kenta Naka 6-4 6-7 7-5 in a match over 3 hours long.Aguilar who had surgery before arriving in New Zealand and was bed bound for a month found his fitness lacking as this match took a toll on the body and surprisingly lost his next round match to Brandon J Ng 6-1 6-4.In the 18 boys doubles he combined well with Alex Hunt to win the final against Caleb Mooney and Kenta Naka 6-3 6-2 .Aguilar will benefit from the hit out and is a class player and once fitness improves will be very hard to beat.So in all a good tournament for all players and the "eye of the tiger" was impressed with some of the improvements made by some Cantabrigian players Joe Bray and Ben Johnston.Pictured Below are Anna Cochrane and Hector Aguilar.

Grady helps secure Royal Oak wins in Caro Bowl

Gabrielle Grady returned from Auckland after spending the school holidays there playing Caro Bowl for Royal Oaks .Grady playing against Pompallier defeated Alexia Barritt 6-4 6-2 and then partnered Nicola Kaiwai to defeat the pairing of Alexia Barritt & Madeline White 6-0 6-3.Royal Oaks defeated Pompallier 6-0.Playing against Kohimarama Grady defeated Danielle Feneridis 6-0 6-2 and partnered again with Kaiwai defeated Monica Chen & Danielle Feneridis 6-1 6-2 again Royal Oaks winning 6-0. Grady returned yesterday to Timaru and the above picture was taken at the South Canterbury Finance Tennis Centre today at practice.

Winner's are grinners's Canterbury Spring Open Success

Playing in the 10s girls events Anna Cochrane returned from Christchurch with two medals both winning ones!Still recovering from an illness Anna lost her first match to the eventual winner P. McCaw 3-9, Anna then entered the Consolation event which she won defeating C.Sprott 9-5.Partnering McCaw Anna played strongly in winning the 10s doubles final defeating the tops seeds Ashby - O'Fagan 9-5.Internet Access has been dificult this week but will have a full summary of the Christchurch event by Sunday evening.

Grady "Chalks up" two Victories in Caro Bowl Competition- plus a wrap on whats happening and coming events for Sth Canterbury Juniors

Gabrielle Grady again playing for the Royal Oaks Club in the Premier Caro Bowl Competition started the season with two wins.In her singles match she defeated Tiffany Baxter-Smith 6-0 6-1 and had a doubles victory partnering Nicola Kaiwai defeated Tiffany Baxter-Smith
Deanne Alter 6-1 6-2.Royal Oaks defeated Glendowie 5-1.She again turns out this Friday. Caro Bowl is Auckland’s top Inter club competition, it got its name from the trophy “ Maurice S Caro Memorial Bowl” which was donated in memory of the late Maurice S Caro killed in action on the 2nd of July 1916 in the first battle of Somme (WW1)


I have all ready wrote about Sam Lane and Ryan Ammars wins in the South Canterbury Spring open but Special mention must go to Charlotte Lamb who won the 12 girls singles after losing the first set 0-6 against Canterbury's N. Dickison, Lamb fought back and won the next two sets 7-6;6-3 . For the full results and draws of this event please click on the highlighted text
Otago Spring Open is currently being played however no South Canterbury Juniors are at this event.The "eye of the tiger is watching closely some of the matchups from local Southern Juniors as well as Col Mahers Australian group of girls participating. Otago has very good entries for this event and great support from Local players entering.

I am packing my LAPTOP, racquet and tennis balls and heading for the Canterbury Spring Open where juniors Anna Cochrane, Annabel Ellis , Geraldine Prisk, Robbie Wigley, George Wigley ,Margot Robinson and Ryan Ammar will be participating.Hector Garcia is also entering the 18s event and no doubt this player from Mexico will create Local interest.I will have regular reports on this site hence the theme of the picture accompanying this blog.

Anna Cochrane hasn't had a great run in the Hamilton tournament and is battling illness having to withdraw from a couple of event.Hoping she recovers fully for christchurch.Again you can check the results
here.

Sam Lane finally conquers Cantabrian Connor Heap to win South Canterbury 12s Spring Open

All players have a Nemesis that time after time they just cant get that win over,but having a Nemesis can create a goal and an incentive ,today Sam Lane defeated his Nemesis Connor Heap( Canterbury) 6-4 6-4 .Lane had lost to Heap numerous times but today finally turned the tables and recorded a well deserved victory.Lane went to a 3-1 lead in the first set playing aggressive controlled tennis before Heap won two games to level at 3-3.Lane again steadied and after some long rally's which both boys attacked when the opportunity arose Lane again went to a two game lead and 5-3, Lane went on to win the set 6-4.The second set started well for Lane winning the first game however Heap took advantage of a poor service game from Lane and went too a 4-2 lead and the match looked like heading for a third set.Lane however had other ideas as he retrieved well to keep the pressure on Heap and then his forehand started to find its range and soon it was 4-4 all.Lane took the next two games but had to play some great tennis to secure the set 6-4 and the match.Heap never gave in and continued to attack the ball on the rise for most of the match as did Lane,it certainly was a great match to have on number 1 court.Sam is pictured just after the win.It was a good tournament for other South Canterbury players which i will update in my next blog.Ryan Ammar convincingly won the 16s boys singles and no doubt used this event as a warm up to the stronger Canterbury 16s tournament to be played next week.Whilst his serving could of been better Ammar had a much more all round game to beat the Canterbury player Chris Read. Ryan is pictured below also after his win.The tournament was hampered by weather on the Saturday but Sunday provided perfect tennis weather

South of the Border "down Mexico way"

Its a long way from Mexico but top player Hector garcia Aguilar has arrived in South Canterbury, Timaru.Hector is here for the summer and already top Juniors have benefited with some top class hitting.Pictured is left to right Geraldine Prisk , Hector and Gabrielle Grady. Top junior Elliot Darling is benefiting from hitting with Aguilar.Not only is Hector an experienced tennis player but has been known to have competed in the odd Bullfight.
Hector is from Irapuato, Mexico population of 600,000.Hector has played ITF and Futures and was top 10 in the 16 years age group.Hector whilst in the juniors won a national sportsman award , meeting and having breakfast with Rafael Nadal.Hector is also looking forward to competing whilst here, and his first tournament in New Zealand will be the 18s boys singles and doubles in the Canterbury Spring Open Christchurch.Hector will also be helping with some of the South Canterbury Coaching programs also.Regional Coach Stephen Dries says that having someone like Hector ,especially someone that has been brought up on claycourts will be of benefit to many of our top juniors.

Pictured with Hector Geraldine Prisk and Gabrielle Grady both have busy schedules in the School Holidays.Grady flys to Auckland Tomorow for Caro Bowl Matches ,playing for Auckland club Royal Oaks. She will also have the opportunity for some hard training whilst there with fellow team mates . Grady has returned from an injury suffered in Spain and is hitting the ball well.Prisk will be competing in the Canterbury Spring Open and is looking forward for the competition.

Summers Coming and we are ready!

Pleasant Point Juniors who have participated over winter in the South Canterbury Junior Tennis Program are excited that summer is now approaching and confident that keeping up their tennis skills over winter will play dividend. Pictured in the Back row left to right Henry Race, Patrick Lee's and Adam Beck and front is Amelia Race.Winter sports often take precedent over tennis which in New Zealand is a Summer Sport however the keen juniors who are excelling in the sport do keep up their play over winter with coaching and some tournament play where possible.

Today on Radio Sport an interesting conversation was held about Men's Tennis in New Zealand and of course the defeat by China over New Zealand in Davis Cup Play held at the weekend. Whilst CEO Steve Walker was happy with the improvements by the squad it was noticed that New Zealand's Top Player Dan King Turner had dropped over 100 places from earlier this year.Players of the future where mentioned with Marcus Daniel and Finn Tearney being touted as younger players that could come through.It also questioned where were the top Kiwi's in the game of tennis with the CEO of New Zealand Tennis being Australian and many other positions in NZ tennis being filled by non-kiwis .You can listen to this interview and chat by going to Radio Sport You want to look for Tuesday and the 11.15am -11-30 am time slot.It also continues into the 11-30am to 11-45am ( Midnight to Midday)slot also.Certainly some interesting points brought up in this interview.There is a little Rugby chat and then the tennis interview starts.

China Proves "Its never over till its over" -defeats New Zealand 3-2 in Davis Cup Asia/Oceania World Group Final

What if the All Blacks were up 20 nil at halftime against Wales and then lost the match in the last minute of play!How would the media react? Well of course not on the same scale But China came back from the "dead" to Defeat New Zealand 3-2 in the Asia -Oceania Group 2 Final.Media Coverage Nation Wide was terrible you had to be virtually in New Plymouth where the tie was played to know what was the score, especially on Sunday with the two crucial last matches played. No Television coverage and no constant updates from TNZ except an occasional web insert after a result. As the last match hung in the balance Radio Sport did have some live crosses,thank goodness the rugby match had finished for that to happen.

Tennis New Zealand CEO Steve Walker said on their Web site that despite the loss he was still happy with the advances of the Davis Cup Team this year.That indeed might be the case but the fact that this was a home game, 2-0 up and in The History of Davis Cup in five meetings with China New Zealand had never lost .There was indeed "no pot of gold at the end of this result" as New Zealand still remain in the same group.

This was a great chance to get promoted, New Zealand had the highest players ranked on the Mens Circuit in Dan King-Turner(413) and Rubin Statham(460) whilst Chinas's singles players are ranked Bai(492) and Sun (553).Statham suffered an injured thumb during his first match and could not take part again in the tie so G.D Jones(612) gained a singles rubber for Sunday.China however were always favorites for the doubles with Zeng and Yu ranked 142 and 141 in doubles whilst the Kiwi Combination of King-Turner(190) and GD Jones(486) where the inexperienced doubles pairing compared to the Chinese.The Fact also that China's singles players did not have to play in Saturday in doubles whilst Jones and King-Turner both would have to back up for Sunday's important singles matches was to be a great tactical ploy by the chinese.

Fridays matches could not have gone beter for New Zealand King -Turner defeated Sun 6-3,6-2,6-4 and Statham defeated China's number 1 Bai 4-6,6-2,6-4,6-2 but in doing so injured his thumb . China took out the doubles rubber as their specialist team won 6-2,6-4,5-7,6-4 against Jones and King-Turner.

On the Final day with New Zealand having to win one of the two singles matches to advance Bai shocked King- Turner in straight sets 6-4,6-3,6-3 to level the tie. In a see-sawing final match fitting for Davis Cup Competition Sun defeated Jones 6-3,6-7,7-5,4-6,6-3.As the match went into the 5th Jones who was cramping in the 4th set sought two medical time outs early in the 5th set.Loss of mobility was very noticeble for Jones and Sun Closed out the match 6-3 final set.And so as China celebrated a remarkable comeback New Zealand had lessons to be learned as China both mentally and Physically had the edge when the going got tougth,out playing New Zealand in team combination .

Australia will lose to Chile however these two nations will not have the chance to renew past battles as New Zealand will now remain in the same Group for next year's competition and China will find themselves in the same Group as Australia.

Player Watch

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov was the winner of the 18 Boys US Open defeating qualifier Devin Britton of the U.S. 6-4, 6-3 in the Final.Dimitrov also won the Wimbledon junior champion Boys title earlier this year.And last weekend won his second Men's Futures Title in the Madrid suburb of Mostoles.Dimitrov was victorious against local favourite, third-seeded Ignacio Coll-Riudavets, in straight sets (7-6, 6-3) after one hour and 45 minutes of play.
To reach the final Dimitrov had to go through another Spaniard, David Canudas-Fernandez. He won in two sets (6-4, 6-4).Dimitrov did not lose a single set during the entire tournament. He is now concentratiing on the Mens Tour with sights firmly set on a top 10 ranking there.Transitions from The Junior Circuit is dificult but this player certainly has the ability and form at 17 to make it with the "big boys"

Sibling tennis teams such as the Bryan Brothers are just like normal family and still have their family "spats" .One occasion when the Americans were sitting in the back of a car after a match at Wimbledon, and Bob punched Mike. When they reached the flat they were renting in Wimbledon Village, Mike "mule-kicked" Bob in the ribs, and so Bob took Mike's guitar and cracked it against the wall. Bob and Mike are the Tom and Jerry of men's tennis.Recently Andy Murray and his tennis playing brother Jamie have had a family fued. Read about these brothers here

Weakest Team in History of Davis Cup- Australian tennis depth shown up

Next weekend some important battles world wide begin as the next round of the Davis Cup begins,AUSTRALIA has named its most inexperienced line-up in Davis Cup history for this month's daunting World Group play-off in Chile.Yes Hewitt is recovering from surgery and Doubles specialist Paul Hanley is also having an operation,World No. 87 Chris Guccione is the only certain selection, as Peter Luczak (171) has only just returned from a hip injury, and Carsten Ball (188), Brydan Klein (239), serve-volleyer Sam Groth (234) and Tomic (818) would all be representing Australia for the first time, Tomic is only 15 and showing plenty of promise but not up to this level of competition yet on the physical side. Australia's last two trips to South America have ended in 5-0 whitewashes at the hands of Argentina in Buenos Aires - in 2006 with Hewitt and four years earlier without the country's most prolific Davis Cup singles winner.Questions will once again be asked on Australia's development programs at high performance level,it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work things out,! there is just not enough money being spent on players and coaches that are doing a great job but not being recognized if they are outside "the boys club" of Tennis Australia's High performance programs.Some of the best coaches are simply not being utilized.Money is continually being spent on administration and over payed executives in charge of running or sometimes ruining the game of tennis ,and not on the athletes or the coaches that are shedding blood sweat and tears in doing the best they can with limited resources and funds.TNZ need to watch very closely the failures of the Australian system and learn by them, one of the biggest factors is isolation and distance, the fact is numbers wise depth and standard its all on the other side of the world. When New Zealanders travel to Australia they are in awe of their depth but really in World standards Australia is lacking in this department.40 years ago we had the bulk of players playing the game and this is an important factor.To get this international exposure its beyond reach for most players and family's financially,Money is the key for players this side of the world because competition depth and standard is just not here and this means to be any good you have to travel.New Zealand take on China in their group final and will be expected to win and if Australia loses the two Nations may once again meet in Davis Cup. And if that happens support and interest will be very much on the decline as Australia falls behind other improving country's.

The Champ is Back

Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his 5th straight US Open title.Murray came up short in most departments as Federer was able to break Murray at crucial times.Pundits say that Murray will lift the silverware of a grandslam title one day, however the sooner Murray can concentrate on what he is doing on court and can curb his constant muttering and looking for divine help from his support group then maybe he can become the first male Brit since Fred Perry to win a grandslam singles title. Congragulations to Serena who I didnt think would stop jumping for joy after defeating Jelana Jankovic 6-4 7-5 in the ladies final.She also showed the tennis world that she is far from finished winning majors.True champions have that X factor that no matter how hard the opposition tries they cannot overcome that special ability to hit that winner or serve that ace on vital points,and Roger and Serena are true champions that have that X factor.
How do juniors get the X factor , I think this comes from your genes and the X factor is all ready their for those few that inherit this at birth, lets take Murray and Federer if they both play to their potential Federer will always come out on top, and that is because he has that little extra than a Murray has,thats why he is perhaps the greatest player of all time the X factor for some of us is beyond reach, hard work and self belief can go along way in helping you create your own special quality.For most of us this is the best way we can combat the X factor or at least compete with those that have this special gift.

Its Raining Tennis Balls- Local US Open Connection

Pictured left to right Geraldine Prisk,Gabrielle Grady and Elliot Darling,were presented with a Carton of Wilson Tennis Balls each.Albury Farmers Anne and Phillip Munro made the presentation,Wool from their Waiwera Station is being belted back and forth at this years US OPEN.The station has supplied six containers of wool a year ,each containing 140 conventional bales to the American Company makers of the Wilson Tennis Ball.No Doubt the Juniors presented with the carton of balls will put them to great use and will provide further inspiration and motivation when they next step out onto the practice court.Read the full Timaru Herald Story here.