Wimbledon results weren’t everything. Meeting the Princess of Wales again meant so much.
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July 24, 2024
I was determined to enjoy every second of Wimbledon this year, going into the tournament I knew any draw was going to be incredibly tough. You have to make the most of each moment as a player and even though the playing side was over for me much more quickly than I would have liked, Wimbledon is my home Grand Slam and there is nothing quite like the All England Club. I’m not going to say grass is the easiest of surfaces for someone with my level of disability but I can still enjoy the matches I play, and enjoy the challenge of competing. A score line can be what it is, it doesn’t always tell the full story and a win or a loss doesn’t define you as a tennis player or as a person.
In the singles, I was drawn to play Kgothatso Montjane. KG is a strong player and she served incredibly well in our match. She varied her serve out wide, even on the deuce side, you could really see how much she has been working on that. It made it really tough to make any inroads on her service games. I felt that I served pretty well at times too. And made good choices throughout the match, so as much as I was disappointed with the result, I wasn’t disappointed with my performance. That can be hard to get your head around sometimes as we are all competitors but you have to work really hard on seeing progress in a process.
The Doubles draw was equally tough. Partnering with Colombian, Angelica Bernal again after a strong performance at Roland Garros we were eager to get a result. But the Chinese pairing of Zhenzhen Zhu and Xiaohui Li have been really strong this year. Zhu plays a really tricky game and Li can hit the ball so hard. We knew we both had games to make an impression on the pair though, Angelica hits a really good strong heavy ball which can push our opponents back, and then I have the hands to hit some drop shots and angles and finish short balls. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and after a good patch in the first set where we clawed back three games, the Chinese were just too strong and didn’t allow us to play our game. Of course I was disappointed, but with other Brits still in action there was an opportunity to follow their campaigns and enjoy the Championships in all its glory.
This included being invited to welcome the Princess of Wales to the Championships on the final day, just before the men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. These are always pinch me moments. The Princess looked very radiant and vibrant in her purple dress despite her recent health issues and she strikes me as such a strong person.
It wasn’t the first time I had met her or other royalty. Earlier in the summer I had been to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party in relation to my British Empire Medal award.
But I think Wimbledon was only her second public appearance since the cancer diagnosis, so I felt very honoured to be part of that and to also share a special moment with Princess Charlotte.
So, all attention now turns to the Paralympics in Paris at the end of August. I will get my head down again with my team, look at where small adjustments and improvements can be made and work hard on those so that I head into the Paralympics in the best possible position to maximise my place there. And of course, I’ll let you know how it all goes out there.