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Sheddie


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LTA US Open juniors reports
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On Jade Curtis' 3 set rd1 win:


Jade Curtis joined Naomi Cavaday to give Britain a dual presence in the second round of the US Open girls’ singles on Monday.

But just like her compatriot a day earlier, 16-year-old Curtis had to overcome a major case of Grand Slam nerves as well as her opponent.

Eventually Curtis gathered her composure sufficiently to beat Australia’s Jessica Moore 6-4, 6-3 but the 16-year-old Cornish girl, now based for much of the year in Boca Raton, Florida, is well aware she needs to improve her performance to progress any further.

Breezy conditions did not make play easy but Curtis seemed virtually unable to put a ball in court for the opening three games. Clearly last year’s first-round exit in this event and her similarly early demise at Wimbledon a couple of months ago were playing on her mind but returning to her courtside chair she recalled the work she has been putting in with a sports psychologist recently and regrouped admirably to take control.

“In those first few games I was just too tight with nerves and I suppose I didn’t go out on court in the right mood to play,” said Curtis who was forced to win two rounds of qualifying after her ITF combined ranking has dropped from the 55th spot she occupied at the beginning of the year to her current position of 91.

“Then I sat down and told myself what I needed to do which was just concentrate on my tennis. Doing that allowed me to win eight of the next nine games but then I lost my focus again because I was probably just going for a little bit too much. Luckily I managed to rail myself in again to get through.”

Curtis will need to be totally concentrated for her next outing when she takes on 14th seeded Urszula Ranwanska of Poland who won through her opening match with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 win against Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer.

“Jade’s problem at the moment is she’s playing some exceptional tennis in practice but it doesn’t transfer to the match court,” said Curtis’ coach and step-father Jason Spence.

“She has the ability to challenge the best in the world and she does that on the practice court but once it comes to matches she is too concerned about what is happening to her ranking rather than just playing her shots.”

Later on Cavaday combined with German Dominice Ripoll to beat Moore and her Mexican partner Valeria Pulido Velasco 6-3, 6-0 in the first round of the girls’ doubles.

-- Edited by UltimateFlemingFan at 10:16, 2006-09-07

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Sheddie


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Naomi Cavaday's rd1 win:

Naomi Cavaday, not just a newcomer to the US Open but untested in any Grand Slam tournament away from Wimbledon, successfully moved through her Flushing Meadows girls’ singles initiation with a win over New York-based opponent Lena Litvak on Sunday.

Cavaday, the 17-year-old left-hander from Kent who reached the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon girls’ singles, underlined her superior ranking and shrugged off some home support for Litvak who lives just across the Triborough Bridge to win 7-6, 6-4.

Naturally, apprehension played a part in Cavaday’s performance but after playing last week’s Canadian junior event she moved to a commanding 5-2 lead in the first set only to be pulled back to a tie-break. Again she went in front but an ill-timed double fault almost proved costly.

Eventually she won the tie-break 8-6 and as the second set progressed she settled more into her game.

“I was uptight at the beginning and thinking about so many things when I should just have been concentrating on my game,” said Cavaday who currently stands 27th in the ITF’s combined junior world rankings.

“But once I settled down a little bit in the second set I felt a lot more concentrated.”

Things, however, now get considerably tougher with a second round encounter against Tamira Paszek next on Cavaday’s agenda.

The Austrian right-hander was a beaten finalist in the Wimbledon girls’ event last year, semi-finalist this summer and reached the last eight at both the Australian and French Opens.

Larry Passos, former coach of three times French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten has just started advising Paszek and Cavaday’s coach James Trottman said: “This is going to be a very tough match and Naomi’s performance today was a little bit up and down.

“However, to not play consistently well but still win in straight sets is not a bad thing.”

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Sheddie


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LTA on the rd2 matches:

Jade Curtis is carrying the flag as the lone British singles survivor at the US Open after an impressive win in the girls’ event over this year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist.

Curtis, forced to play the qualifying competition, won through to the third round with a polished display that was always too accomplished for Poland’s 14th seeded Urszula Ranwanska, winning 6-3, 6-1.

But after a bright start, Britain’s other hope Naomi Cavaday found life far tougher against 11th seed Tamira Paszek and bowed out of the competition with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 defeat.

Curtis, a first round victim both at last year’s US Open and this summer’s Wimbledon, was equipped with a distinct game plan from coach and step-father Jason Spence to take on the skills of the elder 18th ranked right-hander from Poland.

The pre-designated tactics worked admirably and Curtis, who now has to face top-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, enthused: “This is right up there with my best performances.

“Not only was I playing a good standard of tennis but I was also aggressive and determined not to give anything away. Apart from a few points here and there I am very satisfied.

“She is a very solid player but we knew she has the habit of getting rather down on herself so it was important to keep her under pressure all the way. I thought I moved well and concentrated on taking the ball early.”

Cavaday, playing in only her second Grand Slam tournament after reaching Wimbledon’s quarter-finals, began well but ran out of steam against Paszek who has recently relocated from her native Austria to Brazil to work under Larry Passos, the former coach of ex-world no.1 and three times French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten.

Unforced errors cost Cavaday dearly and 15-year-old Paszek, owner of one of the most admired backhand shots in junior ranks, was only too happy to capitalise.

For a while it seemed as though the Kent girl was the dominant force but a demoralising spell at the beginning of the final set saw her lose 16 points in succession and from then on the result was beyond doubt.

“It’s all part of a learning experience and even though Paszek is younger, she’s reached two Australian Open quarter-finals and was runner-up at Wimbledon last year,” said Cavaday’s coach James Trotman.

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Sheddie


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British singles presence at the 2006 US Open finally came to a close as Jade Curtis had to accept second best in the girl’s event to the world’s top-ranked junior Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Curtis, so impressive a day earlier in her win over Poland’s Urszula Radwanska, fought valiantly against the tall Russian 15-year-old who is top-seeded in both the singles and doubles competition.

However, Pavlyuchenkova’s power of shot always gave her the upper hand and she moved forward to the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“The difference was Jade did not execute on the big points like the other girl,” said Curtis’s coach and step-father Jason Spence. “However, that is why the Russian is No.1 in the world.”

After being effectively outhit in the first set and allowing her opponent to register an immediate break of serve at the beginning of the second, Curtis fought back and levelled the set score.

However, a tired-looking double fault put Pavlyuchenkova back in front and from then on the result was never in doubt.

Nevertheless, Spence wasn’t too despondent as he and Jade set off for next week’s tournament in Kentucky.

“We can view this week as a good step forward,” he said. “Jade has learned a few lessons, most importantly that the biggest thing is to relax during her matches. She did not get uptight against Radwanska and look how well she played.”

Curtis and her Brooklyn-based doubles partner lost their first round match to the seventh-seeded duo of Hong Kong’s Wing Yau Venise Chan and Brazil’s Teliana Perreira 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Naomi Cavaday and Dominice Ripoli of Germany won their first match, but fell on Thursday to Americans Chelsey Gullickson and Jamie Hampton 7-6, 6-1.

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totalfan


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http://www.lta.org.uk/Newsroom/Interviews/060906Cavaday.htm?BSMGuid=060a90a4-3d55-40b9-b11f-2d5c2a5aefb8

Interview with Naomi

-- Edited by UltimateFlemingFan at 17:58, 2006-09-08

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