Eleanor Dean.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Eleanor Dean.

Salmon · Tennis legend

What exactly do you mean by '10 and Under World Champion'?
Can anyone please help me?

Salmon · Tennis legend

The unofficial world championships for players aged 10 and under is the Smrikva Bowl, which is played in Croatia. http://www.smrikve.com/smrikva-bowl/ Ms. Dean is very special indeed. She ended up double bagelling her opponent in the final. http://www.smrikve.com/smrikva-bowl/file_download/6

-- Edited by Salmon on Monday 18th of November 2013 07:59:44 AM

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Woo! Certainly some early promise there, let us hope she carries on that way.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Yeah i did hear her name crop up in Eddie Herr when she won a round.

Looks like we are doing well on the girls side 10, 12 world champs and another girls who won the 12 eddie herr. Hope they can all progress.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

We have another world champion!

Salmon · Tennis legend

Looks like I have finally tracked down where she has gone to!

http://www.savianotennis.com/home.php?function=gallery&picId=266

Not that having a pic confirms that she's a permanent student (La Robson spent a few weeks at the same place before Eddier Herr and Jr. Orange Bowl in 2006). But it would make sense given that she has played just one tournament in Europe since last year's Nationals, plus she's doing a few tourneys in the US this year.

I like it, personally. I prefer foreign bases to British ones, and bases in Eastern US to anywhere else in the world. For a variety of reasons, none of them having anything to do with the actual coaching! Plus Saviano seems to be rather good to my unexperienced-in-these-matters eye.

madfan · Social player

Am I missing the point or is the only way for British Girls to succeed to go abroad. Seriously, we have Watson. Gabb, Dean, sort of Robson, Curtis. Seems a bit worrying - if they needed to train on clay then surely there is the option of doing that at NTC?

I am thrilled all these youngsters are doing well but can anyone tell me how they are coping on the injury-front - as, to succeed at this young age they will be consistently playing tough matches against older girls. Will their bodies cope. I am not trying to make trouble but am genuinely interested as I know my teenagers are doing far less sport than these elite players yet do seem to pick up niggles - AND also, get very tired. I suppose you have to factor in the fact that all of my kids sport is done AS WELL as 7 hour days at school

Sheddie · administrator

I think that Robson is now based at the NTC.....not sure about Curtis but I thought she spent some time based down under, might be wrong though

I think the reason why players like Dean go abroad is because of the academy factor.......the NTC's facilities are awesome but I don't think (and I may be wrong here) its an academy which is specifically structured to nurture players from a young age and has a well trodden system combining tennis, tournaments, fitness training etc with schoolwork

Injury-wise I think that the elite juniors do a lot, lot more fitness and strength training following specific programmes which helps keep injury to a minimum. They often have time to do this because they don't do a full 7 hour school day (maybe more like 5 hours) and their day is structured around the tennis rather than vice versa. Compare that to eg: your average junior county player who's good but not elite standard so the day is based around schoolwork and doesn't do as much of the fitness work etc and so is likely to pick up more injuries

I had the same problem you mentioned above, having been junior county standard a few years ago before multiple shoulder, wrist injuries etc etc kicked in

Salmon · Tennis legend

Foreign training is anyday smarter than being based here. I have never felt that the British system has encouraged players to play enough tournaments from a young age, which is vital for girls. We have never learnt to value the amount of sacrifice you need to make to get to the top 100.
People like Robson or Moore have given up so much in life, so it's obvious they have far bigger chances. I'm not saying it's normal (it's harsh for children, no doubt) but it's a norm these days and there's no point grumbling.

Also, it's far, far easier to have a Junior career in the US. You get tournaments of the strength you want, on the surface you want, in places that are near you. In Europe you only have access to G2s and G1s on clay, which makes it very difficult for many players.

I don't know about Robson, but she could have become private once again. She's coached by one Martijn Bok, who's not with the LTA or Win Tennis from what I can see. Of course, he can be a new acquisition or I can be wrong.

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 19:29, 2008-06-20

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 19:30, 2008-06-20

madfan · Social player

Thanks for those replies - interesting. I still do worry about the stress that will be put on these young bodies with all this training and competing but it may be the only way to "have a chance". I can see the benefit of training in The States if the competition structure there is more beneficial to Juniors. I wish Laura Robson all the luck in the world - from what I have seen and heard of her she really is a cut above the rest. As for Eleanor Dean - dont know much about her but hope it works out for her.