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Get Inspired: Tennis taught deaf athlete that 'anything is possible'

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Wimbledon puts the sport’s biggest stars firmly in the international limelight. But what does tennis mean to those who operate outside of the big lights?

Valerie Copenhagen has played tennis since she was a teenager, and now competes for Great Britain’s deaf team.

How did you get into tennis?

I started playing tennis socially at the local club in my area when I was 13 and really enjoyed it and made some really good friends who I am still in touch with now.

However my passion and drive for tennis has really only come about in the last couple of years since moving to a different club and feeling that with hard work, commitment and dedication that anything is possible and goals can be achieved.

I love playing tennis for lots of reasons but it also helps having such lovely, committed and supportive people at my new club that support me and my goals.

Two years ago I went along to an ID Deaf Talent Day and it was the best decision I made as I was then invited to join the GB squad and I’ve never looked back.

What do you enjoy most about tennis?

If you want something… anything is possible

Valerie Copenhagen

I love everything about the game. I love how it makes my head go fuzzy from thinking too much about the strategies and skills to the singles and doubles games.

I love how even at my age, there is so much to learn, develop and get better on – we never stop learning and I really like that part of tennis.

I also enjoy watching clips of tennis players like Heather Watson, Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis – learning about what makes them great tennis players and the amazing, clever shots they play.

Lastly, I have really enjoyed my experience being on the squad and meeting other deaf people. They are such lovely people and it is nice to be a part of the team working hard to make sure we do well not just for ourselves but for our country.

Did you have any concerns about taking up tennis?

I worried about whether my coach would be deaf aware and be able to remember that when we are in a session.

It is very hard to hear instructions or feedback when you are outside and the wind is strong and there is so much to learn in tennis and processes to get right.

I have very good speech and with my hair down, people don’t realise because I am a very good lip reader so this can sometimes make it more challenging to explain to people about the approach I need in tennis.

What has been your biggest success in tennis?

The opportunity to represent GB at the World Deaf Championships in Nottingham last year.

I was so nervous and didn’t really know what to expect. I managed to get through to the second round coming up against the world number one, a German player. I lost, but learnt a great deal from it.

I came home more driven and committed to making sure I do well.

What has tennis brought to your life?

Last February I suddenly lost my father and it was really hard to get on with things.

I remember throwing myself into training and tennis sessions with my coach and it really helped me get by. Tennis at that stage of my life really helped me keep my life on track and stay focused.

I have developed such good friendships through tennis and also a better understanding and appreciation of the game. When I watch tennis on TV I can look at a rally or a particular shot and understand the mechanics and processes behind that and have more admiration for the players.

Tennis and the opportunities I’ve had have taught me that if you want something, you will work hard to achieve it – and that anything is possible.

What are your hopes/ambitions for the future?

I would love to stay in the squad for as long as possible and have continued opportunities to represent my country, including if the opportunity arose to compete in the Deaflympics in 2017.

I know it will be hard work but I’m prepared and ready, so bring it on!

I am looking to do my Level One coaching course and hope I can not only help with the children’s sessions at my local club but also can inspire other young deaf people to take up the sport and get as much out of it as I have.

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Willis: ‘Not My Standard Wednesday’

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Willis: ‘Not My Standard Wednesday’

Jun292016

Brit leaves Wimbledon with trove of memories

Years from now, when his grandchildren hop on his lap and ask Marcus Willis to tell them about that time he played Roger Federer at Wimbledon, Willis likely won’t know where to start.

He could talk about the packed crowd that overwhelmingly supported him on Centre Court instead of the seven-time Wimbledon champion. Willis could explain how he eventually worked his way into the match, challenging Federer in the third set.

But on Wednesday, hours after his dream run ended, two particular moments stood out. “I played a good point where I lobbed him. I can say I lobbed Roger Federer,” Willis said.

The other, as he prepared to serve against the all-time great. “I bounced the ball and saw Roger Federer and thought, ‘Oh, haven’t seen this before’.”

The 25 year old Brit will have stories for decades about his match against Federer and the past week, and he made sure to enjoy it all. Willis couldn’t stop smiling during warm-ups. Throughout the match, he lifted his arms to enliven the crowd. He even laughed off the loss while discussing it with reporters.

“It was all just a blur. It was amazing. I did enjoy myself even though I was getting duffed up. I loved every bit of it. Not the duffing bit. I loved getting stuck in, fighting hard,” he said. “The whole experience was incredible.”

You May Also Like: Federer Ends Willis' Dream Run

On a regular Wednesday, the Warwick Boat Club tennis coach might scowl at his alarm, train for a couple hours, enjoy a cup of tea and teach tennis for about four hours.

“Not my standard Wednesday,” Willis said. “Next Wednesday might be quite different.”

His future plans also might change after his seven-match winning streak landed him on Centre Court. Willis, who had said he planned to go full-time on the tour in January, might alter those plans.

“I think it will change a little bit, but I still want to keep my head down and keep carrying on to enjoy it. I’m all ears to wild cards, too, to big events obviously. I’m joking,” he said, smiling. “I will play some. I will keep training as I have been. I’ve been training and playing a lot. That’s not going to change. I think I have time to hit my peak in a few years.”

Willis, a top junior who lacked the drive earlier in his career, is only 25 in an era of tennis that sees players regularly extend their careers into their mid-30s. A Wimbledon record 49 players aged 30 or over were in this year’s main draw.

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“I want to be here. This is where I want to play tennis. I’m good enough,” Willis said. “I have a lot to work on, a lot to improve… If I have a lot to work on and improve, then it can be exciting.”

His personal life also might be changing in the near future. Months ago, Willis was thinking about taking a coaching job in Philadelphia. But his girlfriend Jennifer Bate encouraged him to keep playing rather than to look seriously at the gig. “Don’t go. Don’t go,” she told him.

On Wednesday, Willis was asked when he was going to get married. “I haven’t thought, to be honest. This whole few weeks has been a blur. Yeah, I do like her quite a bit,” he said.

The feeling has been mutual from Bate, the All England Club and the tennis world.

Watch Willis vs. Federer highlights (not available in UK, USA, South America, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Australia)

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Federer Willis 2R Highlights Wimbledon 2016

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Federer Willis 2R Highlights Wimbledon 2016

Jun292016

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Federer: 'I Wanted Him To Have A Great Time'

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Federer: 'I Wanted Him To Have A Great Time'

Jun292016

The British favourite gained a new fan in the seven-time Wimbledon champion

Roger Federer has played 91 singles matches at Wimbledon during his career, but admitted his second-round match on Wednesday against British qualifier Marcus Willis was a truly unique experience for him.

Willis made headlines with his transformation from teaching pro to Wimbledon competitor, but Federer halted the Grand Slam fantasies of club players across the globe with a straight-sets win. A fan favourite wherever he plays, Federer found himself in the unusual position of having the Centre Court crowd largely rooting for his opponent.

“I expected something like this, especially under the roof.  He was going to have some supporters and they were going to have chants. I felt very well prepared. I enjoyed it,” said Federer. “I thought he played very well.  My approach going into the match was that I was playing a Top 50-ranked guy because that’s how he is [playing] now.”

The normally stoic Federer even smiled at some of Willis’ crafty hitting and the animated chants from the crowd. The pair shared warm words at net and walked off Centre Court together to thunderous applause.

“It’s his moment. I wanted him to have a great time,” said Federer. “I’ll remember most of the Centre Court matches here at Wimbledon, but this one will stand out because it’s that special and probably not going to happen again for me to play against a guy [ranked] 770 in the world. I enjoyed it as much as I possibly could.”

Always the consummate professional, Federer’s training regimen is a large part of the success he’s enjoyed throughout his career. With Willis set to make his way back on tour full-time, Federer urged him to not jump back into a relentless tournament schedule and set aside blocks of time for training.

“For anybody with his ranking, it’s really important to set goals: short-term, long-term, how many tournaments to play… I feel like players lose sight of how important practice is. You can play matches every week on tour, but that’s not how you’re going to improve,” said Federer. “Have your vacation. The body needs healing and the mind needs resting as well. Listen to good advice, put your head down, work hard and enjoy it while you can because it runs away very quickly.”

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Djokovic Mannarino 2R Highlights Wimbledon 2016

  • Posted: Jun 29, 2016

Djokovic Mannarino 2R Highlights Wimbledon 2016

Jun292016

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Wimbledon 2016: Andy Murray – Loss to Lu set Scot on path to glory

  • Posted: Jun 29, 2016
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June – 10 July
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for more details

There might be an especially warm handshake at the net from Andy Murray for his second-round opponent at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The name Yen-Hsun Lu may not mean much to you, but without knowing it, the man from Chinese Taipei helped turn the Scot into an Olympic and Grand Slam champion.

And it all came from one of Murray’s most painful defeats.

He headed over to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 bright-eyed, bushy tailed and happy to be a part of ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ – only for Lu to dash his dreams in round one with a straight-set defeat.

It made Murray rethink and reassess what he was doing, on court and off, and started him off on a journey that would end with glorious gold in London four years later.

“Obviously in Beijing I lost to him in the first round, which was really tough,” Murray told BBC Scotland.

“I learnt a lot from that loss. I certainly became a lot more professional afterwards. I was so pumped to be at the Olympics, I got caught up in everything else and sort of forgot that I was there to win tennis matches.”

London 2012 redemption

Stung by that experience, Murray made sure it would never happen again. His next tournament was the US Open, at which he made his maiden Grand Slam final, losing to Roger Federer.

The British number one then changed the way he prepared for major tournaments, developed a strong team around him to offer expertise in all the right areas and, eventually aided and abetted by Ivan Lendl, was a much-improved player by the time London 2012 came along.

“I was glad in London I managed to perform much better in the Olympics that time around.”

That is an understatement. Novak Djokovic was beaten in straight sets in the semi-final, then Federer in straight sets in the final. And Murray had a gold medal hanging proudly around his neck, the first of three major prizes he picked up in the subsequent 12 months.

Those US Open and Wimbledon triumphs can be traced back to the pain of that Beijing defeat by Lu.

“He’s a very, very good player,” Murray said of his opponent, who is ranked 76 in the world rankings.

“He’s been around the top of the game for a long time. He’s very experienced, he’s made the quarters here before and beat [Andy] Roddick. He’s on an 11-match winning streak on grass. He won the two Challengers in the build-up to Wimbledon and a final of the one before that, so he likes the grass. He’s a tough opponent.”

The same could be said of the Scot, of course, especially at his ‘home’ grand slam at the All England Club, where he’s produced some of his very best tennis.

“As you start to go through the tournament you start to think about the times when you’ve got to the finals or won the tournament. The Olympics sometimes as well. But at the beginning of the event I’m always excited to get going, I’m always a bit nervous.

“It’s always difficult going back on to Centre Court because there’s a bit of extra pressure, but I still get very excited to get back out on that court every year. The goal is just to try to settle down quickly.”

‘Lendl can help me topple Djokovic’

He certainly did that against Liam Broady with a straight-sets win, and the second seed can now relax into the rest of the tournament. Much of the talk in the media has been centred on whether Murray can stop the defending champion Djokovic – currently the holder of all four of tennis’ Grand Slam titles – and, indeed, whether there’s a real gap now between the world’s top two players and the rest.

Murray feels his reunion with coach Lendl can only help his cause as he tries to find his feet again on the Wimbledon grass over the next fortnight.

“I do think this year Novak’s obviously been the best player by a long distance. I’m trying to catch up and hopefully I can start that here. With Ivan back in my corner I think he can give me help in a number of areas, but change takes a bit of time.”

Hopefully, not too much time. If you believe in omens, it won’t have escaped your attention that Lendl was Murray’s coach when he won Wimbledon in the summer sunshine of 2013.

But can you remember who he played in the second round that year, on his way to victory? A little known player from Chinese Taipei called Yen-Hsun Lu.

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Wimbledon 2016: Marcus Willis says playing Roger Federer was 'like a fairytale'

  • Posted: Jun 29, 2016
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for more details

British qualifier Marcus Willis has described playing 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer on Centre Court as “incredible” and a “fairytale”.

Willis, the world number 772 who came through six rounds of qualifying and the first-round proper, was beaten 6-0 6-3 6-4 by the third seed in round two.

The Englishman said: “It’s like a fairytale. I had a plan and believed, rightly or wrongly, I could win.

“It was amazing, I wasn’t really that nervous – it was just awesome.”

Willis was in danger of suffering a humiliating defeat when he lost the first seven games, but he gathered himself sufficiently to test Federer.

The British number 23 from Wokingham admitted he was capable of playing better and did not deserve to lose the first set 6-0.

“I thought I played OK,” he said. “I was in games, I just didn’t get on the board.

“He makes you play. He’s class, put me under the cosh and came out firing.

“I did enjoy myself even though I was getting duffed up. I loved every bit of it, though not the duffing bit. I loved getting stuck in, fighting hard.

“The plan was to get him moving, hit to his backhand but he’s not the best player of all time for no reason.

“He’s just ridiculous. The big points he played ridiculously well. It wasn’t like he was flashy. We all know he can be flashy, but he was just rock solid.”

Willis had previously earned far more as a tennis coach than player this year, with around £220 in prize money to his name before a spectacular upturn in fortunes over the last two weeks.

He is also set to rise to around 416 in the world when the new rankings are confirmed after Wimbledon.

The Briton admitted he nearly cried as he walked off Centre at the end of the match and said drinking a bottle of beer in the locker room after the match tasted “incredible”.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to beat this, as a qualifier and pre-qualifier. I was a bit emotional at the end,” he added.

Willis said he might play in a Coventry League match on Thursday in what he wryly described as a “must-win” match and “kind of a big deal”.

“I have to rest my body,” he said. “I might play if I’m feeling OK.”

Andrew Castle, former British number one and BBC Sport commentator:
“In the old days – I’m talking 25 or 30 years ago – you had lots of people who had different styles of game and brought their character to the court. Nowadays, with the level of professionalism and physicality, that has gone. Marcus was a breath of fresh air.
“I’m glad the match was on when the kids were home from school to see tennis is not all just po-faced professionalism – you’re allowed to smile and have a good time.
“There’s a bit of the everyman about Marcus. He’s clearly not a machine, he is flesh and blood and the emotion on the face. If that inspires people then great.”

Federer thought the Englishman played “very well”, adding: “As I was playing, I was thinking about the match. I was thinking, ‘This is definitely one of the matches I’ll remember’.”

The Swiss, 34, also expressed a wish that Willis is given time and space to develop his career after such an unexpected breakthrough.

“I said a few days ago, this story is gold,” said Federer. “I just hope the press respects his situation.

“It’s easy now to just use it, chew it up and then throw it all away. He’s got a life after this. He’s got a career after this. He definitely made the most of it. He enjoyed it.”

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Chardy FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016

  • Posted: Jun 29, 2016

Chardy FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016

Jun292016

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