Interview
Maia Lumsden on WTA breakthrough, home titles and her partnership with Harriet Dart
Britain's Maia Lumsden is enjoying the most successful season of her career to date, highlighted by an impressive run of form on the WTA Tour.
She’s accumulated an impressive five titles across the ITF and WTA Tour so far this year - resulting in a career-high ranking of world No.49 at the beginning of August.
Now ranked amongst the top doubles stars in the world, Lumsden is reaping the rewards of her hard work and consistency on the doubles circuit, and is focused on building on that as we enter the latter stages of the season.
“I’m really happy with how the last few months have gone”, Lumsden said. “I feel like I’ve been playing well this year, but at the start, I had been losing some close matches.
“I’m glad I stuck with it as now I feel more of those close matches have been going my way lately. It’s always a great feeling to win tournaments, and it’s been a goal for me to win first Tour-level event.”
Like many British players, Lumsden made the most of her time competing on home soil over the British grass court season. After finishing runner-up with fellow Brit and good friend Harriet Dart at the Lexus Birmingham Open, the duo reunited a fortnight later for the Lexus Nottingham Open where they went one further to etch their names on the silverware.
For Lumsden, it marked a long-awaited breakthrough, with the victory marking a career-first WTA Tour level title.
The milestone was even more special, with Lumsden and Dart achieving the feat in front of their family, friends and a packed home crowd at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre.
“Nottingham was definitely a standout - winning a title in front of a home crowd with another Brit during grass season was awesome. I think also having more consistent results week to week lately is a positive for me that my game is going in the right direction.”
For Lumsden, the breakthrough in Nottingham acted as a springboard for what has been a sensational few weeks for the British No.2.
A week on from a runner-up finish at the WTA 250 event in Athens, Lumsden teamed up with Dart once again for the Prague Open where they sealed a second title together before joining forces with Mariia Kozyreva the following week to secure back-to-back WTA titles with a victory in Memphis.
For many players, playing with a new partner each week can be a challenge, but it's something Lumsden has taken in her stride.
“It can definitely be difficult, as sometimes the first time playing with someone it takes time to get to know them and adjust. Making three finals in a row with three different partners definitely gave me confidence that I can adapt my game depending on the person and game style I’m playing with.
"I also think that you can learn something from whoever you are playing with which has helped me improve my game.
"I think our games and strengths complement each other really well,” she added when asked about her partnership with Dart. “For the last couple of years now, we’ve been building up a lot of matches together and have won titles at WTA 125 level and now (WTA) 250 level. I’m looking forward to continuing building together at the higher level.
“We’re great friends off the court as well, which definitely helps because we always enjoy the weeks on and off court.”
With a ranking inside the top 50, Lumsden now has the opportunity to compete at some of the world’s biggest events.
She’s already competed at the National Bank Open and Cincinnati Open and will be turning her attention to the final Grand Slam of the season at the US Open, where she and Dart will be gunning to string together a deep run at Flushing Meadows.
“I’ve been really excited to play these events for the first time as it was a big goal for me this year to try to make it inside the top 50 and play the WTA 1000 events.
“It’s great to be around all the very top teams and get more experience playing against them in matches and practice.
“I’m really looking forward to the US Open. I always love going to New York and it’s the first Slam outside of Wimbledon that me and Harriet will play together, so I’m really excited about that.
“It’s great to go into the Slam with confidence having played a lot of matches so hopefully we can have a good run.”