British Junior No 1, Marcus Willis, tells us what a typical day of training is like at the National Tennis Centre (NTC).
What time does your day start?
I always stay in one of the bedrooms at the NTC so when I wake up at 7:30am, I have a shower and go straight down to the café to get some breakfast. I normally get my tennis gear ready the night before so I’m prepared for the day ahead. At 9:00am, I have a fitness session which is sometimes on court and sometimes in the gym.
How long do you spend on court?
My first session is at 10:30am and it lasts for around two hours. This is mostly drilling with a few points at the end and will normally be a group session alongside a couple of other players. After lunch, I get back on court at 2:30pm for a further two hours but this time I’ll play more points and sets – trying to practice what I’ve worked on in the morning.
So, is that your day over then?
No. Then I have another fitness session for an hour or sometimes longer. My fitness schedule varies from sprint work to endurance running to lifting weights. After this, I stretch for half an hour then have some dinner and chill out.
How often do you come to the NTC to train?
I come during the weeks that I’m not on the road playing tournaments but I also train at Bisham Abbey as well. The NTC has all the different court surfaces which is really useful because I can play on the surface I’m going to compete on in a tournament.
What piece of advise would you give to up and coming juniors?
Never let anyone tell you that you can’t make it because you can – you’ve got to believe in yourself!