Emily Appleton

Michael D · All-time great

Emily Appleton

the addict · Tennis legend

To be honest, when I saw her play at Chiswick just after that win, she did look as if she was under a lot of pressure to succeed.

Michael D · All-time great

There is an update today on Sky at the end of the first year of their scholarship scheme. Here are Emily's comments below. I thought that reaching the top 500 was going to be an important goal for her, and was the aim of her trip to Korea before she overfatigued herself and had to return... She has of course not actually got there yet, with her CH at 505, following that trip, and nor is she likely to get there just yet, following her first round loss yesterday, since she has plenty of non-counting 1 pointers at the moment. Her goal of actually winning a match in a 25k event is certainly a necessary one - I'm sure there are very few players with a ranking as high as hers who do not yet have even a 25k first round win.

So the work experience sounds a good idea to me. Maybe that's what will help Emily most in the end. I wish her luck but she doesn't yet have the game to cross that 500 threshold and push on much higher at the moment.

EMILY APPLETON (Tennis)
I want to continue to meet new people around Sky and make the most of what this amazing company has to offer.

I'm looking forward to doing work experience and learning about what goes on behind the scenes. I also plan to continue to meet with my mentors regularly and strengthen what is already a great relationship.

In my tennis, I want to continue rising up the rankings. Having reached my first target of 500 I am now progressing to higher level tournaments and so my goal is to start winning in these bigger events and get my ranking even higher.

Another goal is to continue improving my fitness and mental skills on court as these are so incredibly important for any athlete.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

I have my biases but I feel 4 years at Vandy would have been better a great opportunity for personal growth and she could have been the next Astra Sharma? She has the rest of her life to be on TV, a less challenging skill set to develop. Regardless I wish her every success definitely not a dull way to go.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, especially as this is a girl who got 11 A*s or so in her GCSEs. So presumably she'd have found the academic side easy, and probably interesting too.

And her level of play, even as a 17 year-old, was not that strong - decent, of course, but not stand out. So college would seem to have made sense.

However, her dad's not an idiot (neither is her mum, I assume) so they must have thought through the possibilities and their pros and cons.

And she is, of course, doing well - being 500 as a teenager is pretty good - not taking anything away from her

Michael D · All-time great

I agree with Oakland that I think Emily would have been much better off going to Vandy, and getting a qualification under her belt too, especially following that set of GCSEs. To go the route she's gone, you feel she would want to be sure she has the definite potential to be top 150 and higher, for it to be worth it. At the moment it is far from clear that she has this level of ability. Good coaching at college may have provided a boost to her potential. She is still young as CD says, so let's see what the coming year brings. She has improved her ranking by 224 so far this year, but this is really by maxing out at the basic 15k level. Maia is also still floundering in terms of making the step up to 25k level, but she is still a level above Emily.

indiana · Tennis legend

It is maybe possible to have too many possibilties, too many contacts, that the most obvious and possibly best route is missed.

Of course I wish her very well on the route she is on.

steven · Tennis legend

Michael D wrote:
There is an update today on Sky at the end of the first year of their scholarship scheme. Here are Emily's comments below. I thought that reaching the top 500 was going to be an important goal for her, and was the aim of her trip to Korea before she overfatigued herself and had to return... She has of course not actually got there yet, with her CH at 505, following that trip, and nor is she likely to get there just yet, following her first round loss yesterday, since she has plenty of non-counting 1 pointers at the moment. Her goal of actually winning a match in a 25k event is certainly a necessary one - I'm sure there are very few players with a ranking as high as hers who do not yet have even a 25k first round win.

She has actually won a R1 match at a 25K before - way back in 2015, when she beat Beth in Woking, and even a 50K R1 win, when she beat Alexandra Stevenson in Surbiton the following year. Of course, that doesn't invalidate the argument that she needs to start having a bit more success in 25K main draws now.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

More a summary of her matches which isn't that interesting but she does say that she's got some 'new additions to her coaching team' (how big a 'team' does Emily have????):

www.skysports.com/scholarships/news/12110/11608855/emily-appleton-shines-in-tennis-season-opener-in-martinique

Michael D · All-time great

Coup Droit wrote:
More a summary of her matches which isn't that interesting but she does say that she's got some 'new additions to her coaching team' (how big a 'team' does Emily have????):

www.skysports.com/scholarships/news/12110/11608855/emily-appleton-shines-in-tennis-season-opener-in-martinique

Yes I was wondering that too. Team Apples it is, whoever it's members are.

JonH · All-time great

I remember her dad , Mike Appleton, saw him play at Ilkley which he won back in the day. Fine player. Is he involved in tennis still and, specifically her team?

Michael D · All-time great

JonH wrote:
I remember her dad , Mike Appleton, saw him play at Ilkley which he won back in the day. Fine player. Is he involved in tennis still and, specifically her team?

He used to coach her before she had any funding - and be a senior tennis player - but I don't think he does either now.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Michael D wrote:
JonH wrote:
I remember her dad , Mike Appleton, saw him play at Ilkley which he won back in the day. Fine player. Is he involved in tennis still and, specifically her team?
He used to coach her before she had any funding - and be a senior tennis player - but I don't think he does either now.

I've seen him around a fair bit when she's playing though (in the south-east) which is not really anything - quite normal he wants to watch his daughter play. He was having an animated conversation with Mr. Pitak last time I saw him.

the addict · Tennis legend

She had five people watching her at Chiswick in August - I am guessing both parents, plus Mr Bates, and two more.

indiana · Tennis legend

Must be a lot of pressure for Emily. She may feel that she really needs to step it up this season. Hope for her she can deal with it all and in time push on.