Just noticed this from the MCTA website, following a litany of Dave Sammel's successes:
"Roxanne and I were with the most successful player in Mexico and Cuba yet we were also with Natasha Khan who came to the decision that tennis was no longer for her and even though her training and work ethic over the past 3 months was excellent, she failed to make the mental breakthrough needed to move forward."
If true, this is rather sad. One can't help but think that a longer period of training without sustained competition might help Tash return at a better level, but I suppose that has funding implications, and ultimately if her heart's not in it, she's not going to get far.
Whenever we here get frutrated about a player's results we should maybe remember that noone will be more frustrated than the player themselves, especially, as in Tash's case, if they are probably thinking "I'm better than this, just why can't I do it ?"
Tash has proved in the past she has the talent, Dave Sammel is saying she has really been putting in the work, so when things aren't being fulfilled on the tennis court how frustrating must that be.
For the players it is their livelihood, it is also their dream and if the ultimate dreams begin to fade a bit, at least to be all they can be.
I would never say btnet should simply be a cheer on club, there are good folk here who make well founded criticism at times, but ultimately the players themselves obviously want to to do their best so it will never be for the want of trying.
I wonder if travelling about with the Sammels and Naomi Broady on her marvellous comeback has in a way concentated her mind in some way, maybe in the that was once / should be me way. She certainly had the capabilties and those are not lost, just for some reason the ability to produce them on court.
The results have not been coming for some time and it is always a brave decsion for a sports person to decide the time has come to move on, and some most certainly find it, often understandably, very difficult to ever come to that decision .
Whether Tash now takes a temporary break away from tennis or does indeed completely move on from the game, I wish her all the very best for the future.
On GBTG site one of the posters talks about how Naomi Cavaday was all but retired at the start of the year and couldnt even walk up stairs, is this true? What exactly was wrong with her?
She had a fatigue illness but as far I know she is 100% better now. Although I do know that if you have had this type of illness it is very difficult to get it 100% out of your system. Hopefully this is not the reason for her slightly below par form of the last 5 months.
-- Edited by philwrig on Monday 21st of December 2009 06:32:29 PM
Aww im sorry to hear about that! She definitely appears to have spent a lot of time on her fitness according to twitter, I assume thats partially linked to her illness. She appeared to be a lot thinner when she came back, I wonder if thats due to her illness... I see her breaking the top 100 soon tho.
Incidentally, I just noticed that Yasmin Clarke, who lost her ranking last year and who I assumed had quit after all that stuff with the lta (resolved? I have no idea?), is entered in alternates for both Glasgow and Wrexham. Hopefully a comeback is on the cards!
