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An enduring paradox of modern tennis is that players are lasting longer at the top and suffering more for their commitment – driven, obviously, by serial increases in prize money as well as pride, disappointment and ambition.
Heather Watson is only 25 years old but she has endured her share of pain over the years, so it is encouraging to see a smile on her face on the eve of her first-round match at the 2018 Australian Open, on Tuesday against the combative Kazak Yulia Putintseva.
Heather Watson faces Yulia Putintseva in the opening round of the Australian Open. Photograph: Rob Blakers/AAP
Fresh from a good run in Hobart and an early exit but decent performance in Brisbane before that, she says: “In life I feel young, very young still, and I feel like I’ve got loads of tennis years ahead of me – but I’m definitely not the youngest on tour any more.”
There are only four teenagers in the main draw this year and 19 players 30 or older. Venus Williams, at 37, is the oldest, the 18-year-old Czech Marketa Vondrousova the youngest. In between are a collection of hardened professionals of wildly varying achievement but, Watson says, it is increasingly hard to differentiate between the contenders and the outsiders.
Watson observes: “The top tenners? I couldn’t even name half of them because it changes all the time. I think that’s a really positive thing for the ones who aren’t up there. So many of the players that are older than me are still there. Even the young ones aren’t as young as they used to be.
“If anything as I’ve gotten older, I feel less pressure. When I was younger – you probably all might know or remember – I used to be devastated and cry after losing matches. Of course I [still] give it my everything out there but it’s just a game at the end of the day. It’s not the end of the world – and I don’t need to beat myself up over it. I was too much of a perfectionist and that didn’t help me out there.”
For all the glamour and money there are lonely times on the Tour and Watson, ranked 74 in the world, admits it has affected her tennis in the past, most noticeably last year, when she was without a coach for a long stretch.
This is her seventh time in Melbourne and she hopes she can improve on a win-loss record of 3-6, having failed to get out of the first round four times. She says of Putintseva, against whom she has a win and a loss: “I’m sure it will be entertaining. She’s feisty because she’s a fighter. I know that it will definitely be a battle out there. She had a really good year last year as well. It will be a tough match.”
Watson and Johanna Konta, the No 9 seed, are the only Britons in the women’s draw, and the latter opens her campaign on Tuesday, as well, against the American Madison Brengle. They, too, share a win apiece in previous meetings and Konta says a rare panic attack during her match against Agnieszka Radwanska in Sydney last week has alerted her to the pressure she can expect here.
“It’s really positive that I had a match like that,” Konta says, “because, if I use it the right way, I can learn from it. I don’t think it necessarily works that you get it out of your system and then you won’t face it again; it’s more that, if I face it again – or not even if, when, because you have these matches throughout the year – I’d like to think that I will deal with it a bit better.”
The mental aspect of the game remains constant; what changes is how players deal with it – and it is clear that Watson and Konta have a bank of experience they are learning to tap into when the going gets tough.
As Konta says: “It’s about being aware of situations in a match and then kicking back into being my own biggest fan, to keep backing myself. That comes with matches, that comes with time.”
There is still a ton of time for both of them to get the most out of their talent.
(GUARDIAN)
