Katie Swan

LordBrownof · Futures level

Katie Swan

Strongbow · All-time great

Balmy wink

emmsie69 · Top national player

Katie is entered into a W35 in Arcadia week of 24/2. Alt 93 currently but excellent news that she is finally entering tournaments.

Andy Parker · Club Coach

emmsie69 wrote:
Katie is entered into a W35 in Arcadia week of 24/2. Alt 93 currently but excellent news that she is finally entering tournaments.

Perhaps the entry is in the hope of getting a wildcard. I will be relieved for her once I see her actually competing again in events. She now has no ranking and just a one point counter, so although it is some months before that comes off, she is basically starting from scratch, albeit that her name and past record should help her to get wildcards to 35k events much more easily than anyone else in that position.

Anyhow I am keeping my fingers crossed for her - it is a long way back and I think this season is probably about re-establishing herself in the rankings and hopefully being in the top 300-400 by the end of the year. She needs a few things to go right for that to happen, but she should have the ability to pick up quite a few points at 35k level, and hitting some form and staying injury free must be the goals this season.

All the best Katie - lots of us are rooting for you and you aren't forgotten in any way.

the addict · Tennis legend

emmsie69 wrote:
Katie is entered into a W35 in Arcadia week of 24/2. Alt 93 currently but excellent news that she is finally entering tournaments.

She withdrew on 15/02 cry

I'm a little surprised as she has been doing some serious training.

emmsie69 · Top national player

the addict wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
Katie is entered into a W35 in Arcadia week of 24/2. Alt 93 currently but excellent news that she is finally entering tournaments.
She withdrew on 15/02
I'm a little surprised as she has been doing some serious training.

I saw that earlier and no tournaments in the UK to think she's been offered a WC somewhere better.

She's also not entered in anything else currently.

B00thy · Lower Club Player

the addict wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
Katie is entered into a W35 in Arcadia week of 24/2. Alt 93 currently but excellent news that she is finally entering tournaments.
She withdrew on 15/02
I'm a little surprised as she has been doing some serious training.

perhaps she was training too hard?

Lambda · ATP qualifying

She was in San Diego at the weekend and as her partner is playing there this week, I assume she decided to spend some quality time with him.

Mervatron2 · Challenger qualifying

On instagram still training a lot but no sign of playing any events yet?

Lambda · ATP qualifying

Mervatron2 wrote:
On instagram still training a lot but no sign of playing any events yet?

She's entered into a W50 in Santo Domingo in a couple of weeks using her PR of 609. Even if she doesn't get in to qualifying after the withdrawal deadline on Tuesday, there's usually plenty more withdrawals at tournaments there and it is rarely a full qualifying so I'm confident she will get in one way or another. And as a previous winner there, that may be favourable for her when it comes to handing out wild cards.

Lambda · ATP qualifying

In a podcast Katie's mum says about Katie

"She's at a place now where she is surrounded by amazing people who have really got to the source of what her injury woes have been. And that's one thing I would say... I've really learnt. There's so much pressure to keep competing, keep competing, keep competing but parents know their child better than anybody even when they're adults and I kept thinking to myself we need to get to the source of what this problem is and I feel as though I should have stepped in sooner and say you've got to stop... you need to go and see a specialist... we need to understand what's really going on here. So she's gone from thinking she's not going to compete again to having hope as she's seen a specialist, they have got to the root of the problem and she's hoping to be back on tour very soon"

Tennis wise she's working with Jared Jacobs.

Although the podcast isn't about Katie, some of it is with her brother and what makes him who he is to do his unique role at TCU men's tennis, but mostly it is with her mum discussing parenting of aspiring athletes, here are a couple of other interesting snippets.

Katie and Luke were told in the early years if ever [their parents] saw them throw a racket, or say a bad word to an umpire or opponent, it doesn't matter if they are winning, they would be taken off court immediately. And when I think about it, I don't recall many, or any, moments where Katie has a petulant moment on court.

Katie received lots of offers to play college tennis including one offer from a top school's coach who said just give me 1 semester and you'll have a scholarship for life but she wasn't interested. Now, partly due to her brother's experience as well as the changing college athletics landscape, she views things differently and is an advocate for college tennis, encouraging many of the British girls to go that route.

Luke said that she wants him to travel with her as a hitting partner and coach (I suspect probably more for mental support) for her first few tournaments back.

If you want to have a listen, the podcast is called D1 Coaches Pod and is available on YouTube, Spotify and I presume other podcast platforms. It's hosted by David Roditi, Head of TCU men's tennis and his partner, Assistant coach of TCU beach volleyball. The episode is called Raising champions with the Swans on YouTube and the Ultimate mother-son duo on Spotify.

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Fingers crossed that she makes it into the Santo Domingo tournament - it is important she is playing again soon. It has been such a long time since she was last playing regularly - over a year now, as she only played a few matches in June/July of last year.

Hopefully her parents are supportive and her specialists get to the root of her injury woes. She needs to get to full fitness soon, but as Katie B has shown over the last couple of years, just because you haven't made it to the top by the age of 26, doesn't mean that it is too late to do so.

I feel Katie S has the talent to be a top 100 player for sure, but staying confident and injury free are vital for her, and she can't really cope with many more stop-start seasons from here on in.

Just competing and getting matches in is the most important thing right now, I would have thought, so fingers hopefully she will get to play a match or two in Santo Domingo, and then hopefully more tournaments soon after that.

foobarbaz · Strong Club Player

Seems now to have withdrawn from Santa Domingo W50.

Thanks for the podcast info Lambda. I'll echo others on here, and say it's great news that Katie Swan is now on the verge of competing on the tour once again. I think we shouldn't be expecting Katie to play a gruelling schedule to rise through the rankings. Enjoying playing, with a stress-free attitude might be the best approach. It's about being happy, and maintaining a good fitness level, imho. If the first tournament goes ok, and the level is there, I think Anne should bring Katie back into the GB-team scene, perhaps initially in a supportive role. Who knows, but I think Katie would be a leading candidate for the team manager role if and when Anne decides to step down.

B00thy · Lower Club Player

Andy Parker wrote:

Just competing and getting matches in is the most important thing right now, I would have thought, so fingers hopefully she will get to play a match or two in Santo Domingo, and then hopefully more tournaments soon after that.

The most important thing right now, is developing her fitness level aligned to the elements at the root of her long-term injuries. If and when she reaches sufficient fitness to play without aggravating that root cause, should she return to competitive play. I'm so pleased to hear that she now has the right people involved to ensure that it the case.

-- Edited by B00thy on Wednesday 12th of March 2025 11:12:39 AM

the addict · Tennis legend

Katie withdrew from the second Santa Doming W50 today.