#tennisinterview

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Lucy Shuker -Tennis Inspiration

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              By Jessica Popiol

J.P  Hi Lucy . Can You tell  us your life story and how did you fall in love with tennis?

L.S  I grew up as a typical able bodied sporty individual, enjoying many sports, however I was a particularly keen horse rider and represented my county at National tournaments in badminton.              

Continuing my education to University, I achieved a BSc in the Science and Management of Exercise and Health from the University of Surrey. Immediately after completing my degree, I took up a job in sales and with my first pay packet I indulged my longstanding love of motor cycles, by taking my direct motorbike license and buying a bike. 

After 12 days and over 1,000 miles I was involved in an accident which totally changed my life and left me paralyzed from the chest down. I went on to spend 10 months in rehabilitation at Salisbury Spinal Unit and it was during this time and whilst buying my first wheelchair that I met former Paralympian and Quad Wheelchair Tennis World No.1 Pete Norfolk.  Understanding my previous success in racket sports, Pete encouraged me to try Wheelchair Tennis, even lending me a chair to get me started and I completely fell in love with the sport.

Following my accident it gave me a focus and an opportunity to reinvent myself following my life changing experience. Despite many suggesting my disability too profound to enable me to compete successfully on the world tour I have gone on to win over 25 Singles and 55 Doubles titles and I am extremely proud to have represented Great Britain at three successive Paralympics, twice winning bronze in the women’s doubles.

I am now fully focused on achieving qualification for Tokyo and representing Great Britain at a Paralympic Games for a fourth consecutive time. 

J.P  What is your best ever moment in your tennis career?

L.S Undoubtedly my proudest moment to date would be winning my first Bronze medal at the London 2012 Paralympics at a home games in front of a sell out stadium. It was also a great moment for Jordanne and I as we were the first women to ever win a Paralympic medal in Wheelchair Tennis. 

J.P  How do you prepare for tournaments?

L.S I am a full time athlete and therefore when I am home my life revolves around training and preparation for the next tournament, which may include on court, strength and conditioning, nutrition, basically everything I do is geared around being the best version of me that I can in order to perform at tournaments.

J.P  Do you have any superstitions? For example I always try to not use the ball that I just double faulted with  to play next point (laugh)L.S  In general I don't particularly have any superstitions, however there are some trainers that I definitely don't wear for tournaments anymore and I have been know to request the same ball back during a match when things are going well!J.P  What is the biggest challenge in wheelchair tennis if someone who is reading it would love to try it , and how to overcome it?L.S  The biggest challenge without a doubt for me was learning to hold the racket and move the chair at the same time. This took a lot of time to master and you never ever stop working on improving your movement around the court.  J.P  Can You  tell us about rules in wheelchair tennis?L.S There is only one rule change in wheelchair tennis compared to the able bodied game, apart from the obvious that players must play in a wheelchair and that is that we are allowed two bounces of the ball. We use the same size court, same net height, same balls and same rackets. This for me is one of the greatest appeals of the game as it is so easy to play with anyone and alongside able bodied friends as well, which is something I really enjoyed when I first took up the sport. 

J.P  What are the biggest challenges and how they can be resolved and helped for wheelchair tennis?

L.S  I would say that one of the biggest challenges initially is being able to fund a tennis/ sports wheelchair, however there are a lot of charities and funding pots out there to help people who want to take up the sport. The 'Tennis Foundation' has lots of pathways in place to help anyone wanting to take up various forms of tennis from blind, death and wheelchair tennis. 

J.P  What are your goals in professional tennis?

L.S  I am lucky to have already won two Bronze medals however of course I would love to win Gold in Tokyo and a Grand Slam would be a dream come true. I absolutely love the sport, I love the training and the competition and I think like all players I am not only striving to be the best that I can be but to win titles, Grand Slams and Paralympic medals.

 J.P  How would you motivate kids and adults out there to give it a try and start playing tennis?

L.S  Tennis is a fantastically inclusive and social sport. No matter whether you are able bodied or have a disability you can all play together and that is the beauty of the sport and something I really love about the game. Tennis has given me so many fantastic memories and I have been lucky enough to meet so many new friends along the way.

J.P  Where our readers can find you and follow your tennis journey?

L.S  You can keep up to date with what I am doing via my website and social media channels. My website is www.lucyshuker.com and you can follow my journey on Facebook : lucyshukertennis and Twitter/Instagram: @lucy_shuker .

Thank You Lucy

Pictures: Anna Vasalaki

www.Tennismessage.com

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Interview with Sue-Wei Hsieh

First Memory Of Tennis: “I remember when I play the first tournament. I was playing under the big rain back home when I was six years old. It was huge rain. And then we were pushing on the court to play because it was so much rain and it was very hot.”

Tennis Inspirations: “My father brought me in. He was very surprised by this sport. He never saw it before. He did many sports, like swimming, badminton, basketball. Then he said, I never seen this sport. And then he bring me the next day to the court. Then we started tennis. (Age?) Five.”

Greatest Career Moment: “I quite enjoy my tennis, singles and doubles. So I do have many great memories of the tennis. Maybe not huge for other people but I think I’ve done a lot for myself. Because always I was traveling myself early years, just myself. And I put my ranking top ten (doubles) – it was without a coach. And then without a coach I push my ranking to top 80 (singles). So I know it’s not easy for the players if they don’t have a coach all the time. And it’s a very difficult situation to hang in there. But I think if you keep trying and maybe have a part time coach, maybe you will wait till the big day comes.”

Most Painful Moment: “Painful…[smiles]. Not much. if I lose, I always keep myself, my spirits very good.”

Favorite Tournaments: “This is a hard question. I need to think about it… I think all the Grand Slams, of course, like Tokyo a lot too. So all the tournaments are different. All the tournaments have different stuff to do. So I think all of the tournaments are interesting to travel, to enjoy. Because last year I was injured and I couldn’t move on the court. So I tried to help my sister (Shu-ying) play $10,000 because she just came back from surgery. So we went to Portugal. And we stayed at Airbnb and the Airbnb owner gave us Portugal wine and famous Portugal eggplant. And we enjoyed the seafood, wine and the people. And finally, of course, we won the doubles. And my sister was really happy. So I think all the tournaments, whether big or small, I always really enjoy to play, with Monica (Niculescu), my sister, in different tournaments. And sometimes I enjoy my singles.”

Funniest Tennis Player Encountered: “Funniest? …maybe I’m the funniest [laughs].”Favorite Sports To Watch Outside Tennis: “Like all sports. I watch baseball, I watch basketball game, and I like some badminton. I like swimming though I cannot swim. I do a lot of sports. I cannot say what is my favorite because I like almost all.”

Three Athletes You Like To Watch & Follow: “Let me think… Roger is a favorite [laughs]. And I like to watch Rendy Lu before. Because he always fights with his game, he always hanging in there with the big players. And he always fight until the last moment. So he always my idol. So I really enjoy to watch the small players. They always try to beat those top ten or top fifty players. It’s really great. (One more?) One more? …I don’t watch big match often because when I watch basketball, I only watch Taiwanese basketball games. I really enjoy small tournaments, the crowd and the people, how they enjoy the game.”

Why Do You Love Tennis: “It’s difficult, because when we are young, we, the Asian, we come into the tennis by the family. They bring you to the court, they coach you. It’s difficult to say if you like it when you are really young. You keep playing. I like the family, so I try to figure out if I like it or not. But I say, Oh well, tennis gave me a lot of stuff. Not from the book. I went on, I learned English, like this, talking with you, talking with other people. So it’s really interesting. I think really I do enjoy tennis, I do like it.”

Strangest Match: “Strange match…tough match is a lot. Strange match…I don’t really remember. Like in Nanjing, this year it was really humid. Global warming makes many places now very humid. Very hot. Like this year I went to Nanjing, I was thinking: I’ve gotta stay on the court. And I just hang in there [laughs]. Try to push all the balls back. And I win the match. I win the second match. Oh my God, I made it.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Always the cherry one.”

Current Car: “I don’t have a driver’s license [laughs].”

Last Book Read: “I always read a Chinese one.”People Qualities Most Admired: “I think eye contact. You know that Asian girls – sometimes we are a little bit shy. So, like this, we are moving our eyes [laughs]. It’s important with the eye contact.”

by Mark “Scoop”Malinowski for TennisMessage Magazine

Scoop's books Facing Sampras, Facing Federer, Facing McEnroe, Facing Nadal, Facing Hewitt and Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew are available at amazon.com. He founded the site www.Tennis-prose.com