British Tennis - Lawn Tennis Association

John Trehearn, the 12U Girls National Age Group Captain blogs from the Tennis Europe Winter Cup Qualifying in Turkey.

The 12U GB tennis team of Maria Budin, Ali Collins and Donia Abdel-Aziz are in Istanbul this week for the qualifying competition of the inaugural Tennis Europe Winter Cup.

The objective is to finish in the top two places this week to qualify for the Winter Cup Finals in Sheffield, 10th-12th Feb, which will host the top eight nations in Europe.

GB are drawn with hosts Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Estonia. It is a knockout draw so the team have no room for error this week and have to reach Sunday unbeaten.

Day 1 (Tuesday)

The girls attend a short preparation camp at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) to focus them in on the task for the week. We work on sharpening up their doubles skills as the format is two singles and a deciding doubles if it finishes 1-1 after the first two singles.

Part of the team's preparation also involves the girls taking some pro-biotic powder in their morning fruit juice to help ensure they don't suffer from upset stomachs in Turkey.

The girls taking the pro-biotic at breakfast on Wednesday. Donia (far right) doesn't look too impressed with the taste!

Keeping young players fit and healthy is very much part of the deal when travelling further afield to places like this. Becky Stevenson, the LTA Nutritionist, supplies us with a box of sachets to hopefully keep everyone in good shape. The girls aren't keen after their first taste at NTC but actually it doesn't taste that bad (or maybe it does?) 

We travel on Wednesday at 4.00pm after an additional morning practice arriving late at the hotel in Istanbul at 1.00am local time after a four hour flight and shuttle to the hotel.

The girls staying hydrated at T3 before the flight to Istanbul

Day 2 (Wednesday)

After a late breakfast the girls have their first practice session. It is good to arrive a day early so that the players have plenty of time to take in the venue and tournament facilities. Younger players take a little longer to adjust and settle in.

The courts have a low roof (and one leaks rain pretty badly) so we practise lobs and smashes. The girls are hitting well and we meet up with the Romanian team. They are also here early like us. 

After lunch the girls have another practice session and play some points before off to dinner at the local school next to the Sports Park. Soup and pasta. Not too bad.

7.30pm Captain's meeting - the draw!

1. Romania

2. Bye

3. Great Britain

4. Bulgaria

5. Estonia

6. Slovenia

7. Turkey

8. Italy

Game on for tomorrow. The girls know it's about pulling together as a team.

John

You can find more details on the Winter Cups via the Tennis Europe website.