One of the key parts of the life of every tennis academy is tournament participation. All our annual players have their own tournament and training schedules, which are naturally interconnected and properly adjusted to give the players the adequate time to prepare as well as rest and recover.

Participating in tournaments without a doubt poses a great challenge, but at the same time it adds lots of excitement to players’ everyday life. Owing to the fact that our players take part in tournaments on a regular basis, this regularity helps them to get used to the pressure and stress that usually accompany competition. It is another form of training preparing them to the professional life on the tour, teaching to view tournaments with their inherent ups and downs as a normal part of their daily life.

Being competitive by nature, players enjoy testing themselves against a variety of opponents. However, in every match they play the key aspect would be invariably that of competition against their very own selves. According to numerous, sports psychology theories, the greatest opponent is usually the one staring you back in the mirror. So playing tournaments not only measures the player’s tactical choices and stamina as against another player, with whom they are competing, but, crucially, it is a test of their own performance in a competitive setting.

Last week we saw great performances from our annual players. Nikoletta and Ekua played against each other in the semis of a local Federation tournament with Ekua winning the whole event.

Two of our players Ivan and Matthew took part in an U14 Tennis Europe event in Gran Canaria, and this week the boys are travelling to play an U14 Tennis Europe tournament in Mallorca.

This week three of our players Ekua, Mahin and Niki are going to Castellon, in Valencia to play the qualies of the ITF Women’s 15K.

In addition, one of our younger players Banu will be going to Ponte Vedra, Spain to play an U16 Tennis Europe, Category 2 tournament.

Congrats on last week’s excellent effort and all the best for the week ahead!