Catch Up With Lucy Shuker
Match Reviews
October 16, 2019
We Caught Up With Lucy Following Her Big Win In Brazil.
2019 has marked the achievement of 100 Career ITF Wheelchair Tennis titles for me. After winning my fifth doubles title of the year last week in Brazil and having already claimed the Plock Open Singles title in June. I now have 73 career doubles and 31 career singles titles to my name.
I hit the 100 mark in Korea in April; when Jordanne Whiley and I partnered up for the first time since the Rio Paralympics and won our first two tournaments back together.
Reaching this milestone has been a great achievement for me this year. There have certainly been plenty of ups and downs along the way; in particular this year I have learnt to take a step back and truly appreciate the journey that I have been on since my accident in 2001.
Life on tour can be tough when your constantly working towards a goal which can often seem so far away. One step forward is sometimes followed by 2 steps back, or so it seems. But. I’ve understood how important it is to remember your goals, your achievements and who you are in order to work through the tough times.
Tennis is a game of small margins and so often it is only a few points here or there in each match that make the difference. When you win it’s easy to feel good about yourself; however with losses you find yourself only focusing on the negatives and missed opportunities.
5th Doubles Title of the Year in Brazil follows 100 Career ITF Titles in 2019!
2019 has been a mix of emotions. I’ve had some great doubles results yet suffered some disappointing singles results. The current set up of wheelchair tennis doesn’t lend itself to specialise in either singles or doubles. Limited prize money means players more often than not play in both events; while qualification for grand slams and Paralympics is solely based on your singles rankings. Effectively to compete in doubles you have to have results in singles.
Just this year in fact the World No.1 men’s doubles player at the time, Nico Peifer didn’t qualify for the Australian Open based on his singles ranking and therefore wasn’t in the draw. I was also not able to defend my Wimbledon Doubles final result of 2018 as my singles ranking didn’t qualify me into the Wimbledon draw this year despite being World No.5 in doubles at the time.
The annual Doubles Masters event is the only stand alone doubles tournament and this year I will be playing with fellow Brit and my Paralympic partner, Jordanne Whiley. We are partnering up at the event for the first time since 2011 as we aim to build a successful campaign ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. I’m looking forward to seeing how we shape up against some of the top teams in the world.
Lots of love,
Lucy