Published in: The Witness 18 November
From humble beginnings in Harrismith, to Florida and the competitive hustle and bustle of the women’s professional tennis circuit. South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers has come a long way in establishing herself as a household name.
And as she said the end is not in sight.
Scheepers was recently in Pietermaritzburg catching up on some a rest and recuperation, mixed with light training with her coach Roger Anderson, before embarking on an intensive training regime in Florida ahead of the first Grand slam tournament of 2012, the Australian Open in January.
Her love for tennis evident, and was instilled in her from an early age.
“I grew up into a tennis family; my mom was a provincial tennis player for the former Transvaal. My dad was a professional tennis coach, and from about the age of four or five I remember my parents playing a lot of social tennis on the weekends. I gravitated into tennis rather than being forced into it. Because of that I really love the game and was top of most of the age divisions I played in,” said Scheepers.
Scheepers grew up admiring former tennis great Steffi Graff who dominated woman’s tennis for close to 20 years. And then Scheepers naturally admired Amanda Coetzer, who was ranked the third best player in the world in 1997.
Scheepers is currently ranked number 37 in the world, which was an ambition of hers at the beginning of the year. In order to achieve this, Scheepers had to make improvements to her game.
She achieved this with the help of her coach Roger Anderson, who is a resident of Pietermaritzburg.
“Women’s tennis has become very physical, it’s closing the gap quite rapidly between itself and the men’s game. Courts have become a lot slower and balls have become heavier. Because of this, players have had to become much fitter. This means that players really have to work hard for winning points in matches. Also, top players can’t cruise through the preliminary rounds of a tournament. There is no such thing as an easy game today,” says Anderson.
The main improvements to Scheepers game was to her serve and to her forehand. Anderson also focused a lot on her fitness.
And this showed. At the 2011 Guangzhou International Women's Open, which Scheepers won, four out her five matches lasted over three hours, which is unheard of in the women’s game.
Scheepers feels that she has the game to be a top 20 player, which is an ambition she hopes to achieve by the end of 2012.
However, this will be difficult without a sponsor.
Scheepers reports that this is an ongoing problem in South Africa where sponsors favor rugby, cricket and soccer ahead of tennis.
“South Africa has always been recognized as having talented juniors, yet most of them get lost in the system and don’t reach their full potential. South African players also mature a lot later then the Russian and US players do because there are not a lot of high profile tournaments here. The future of South African tennis is bright, provided they resolve the funding issue and they get a lot more high profile tournaments in the country,” says Scheepers.
And it may be as simple as sponsors changing mindsets. The appeal of rugby, cricket and soccer is that success is immediate, whereas tennis requires a long term investment in a player who may only reach the height of their game after five or six years of competition.
Anderson adds that this is currently the case with Scheepers who is at the top of her game, without a sponsor.
“Scheepers started the year ranked 107 in the world. Her climb to her current ranking makes her the biggest climber of the year. Sponsors should recognize this,” said Anderson.
Although only 27, Scheepers says that tennis will always be a part of her life, even after retirement.
“There is scope in South Africa for mentors to guide young players into the rigors of the game, coaching tips, the mental aspect of the game, the financial aspect of the game and raising their publicity,” says Scheepers. The majority of these mentors would be past players, or coaches who have worked with the likes of Coetzer and Scheepers.
Anderson feels that this is a long way off and the fact that Scheepers is at the top of her game is important to survive on the women’s circuit today.
“The women’s circuit is very competitive with the gap between Scheepers and world number five Li Na being very short. We also don’t see your dominators as we saw with Graff and Martina Navratilova. The fall of the Williams sisters, and to a lesser extent Maria Sharapova, has left the rankings wide open with a lot of players out to claim top spot,” said Anderson.
But the Williams sisters and Sharapova are still major draw cards to Grand Slam tournaments.
“The better young players in the world tend to fly under the radar in Grand Slam tournaments because all of the focus is on a Serena Williams or Sharapova. And then when these players make it to the final people question how she got there. But tennis would not be the same without characters like the Williams or Sharapova,” said Scheepers.
Scheepers rise in the rankings has been phenomenal in 2011 and Anderson hopes to expect the same for her in 2012, her fighting spirit and willingness to adapt her game shows a work ethic which South African tennis has not seen since Coetzer. And the sky is the limit for Scheepers. Current world number one Caroline Wozniacki holds the position without winnings a Grand Slam tournament.
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| Scheepers is the largest climber in the women's world rankings ending the year number 35 in the world. |
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