William Matheson - 2 weeks into the Tour

I have learnt more in the last week than I have in my entire life. My experience in Amsterdam has been really great so far, we have great trainings, great coaches, and we have a lot of fun.

Our daily schedule looks like this: we alternate between a private lesson (9-10 or 10-11am) or a fitness session (9-10am) everyday. Our private coach is Michiel Schapers, his highest career ranking was 25 in the world and he made the Australian Open quarterfinals in 1985 and 1988 defeating Boris Becker and Yannick Noah. He also made the finals of the Heineken Open in 1987. He is a great role model and has been very helpful in our development so far. After our morning session we have two hours of tennis from 11-1pm followed by a lunch break. Afterwards there is another personalised fitness session and another tennis session from 4-6pm for the players who didn’t have a private lesson.

In the last week, we have had the privilege of having a mental seminar on a book called Mindset by the author Jackie Reardon. She talked to us about mentality and how important it is to have in order to be an athlete. She talked about the 6 pillars, the 4 concentrations, and the 9 instruments which are explained in the book, then showed us examples of the top players using it in action. She then took us on court and we got to apply it to our tennis. It was a real eye-opener to see how you act on court.

The facilities are great at the Amsterdam Tennis Academy, there are about 20 clay courts outside, and 8 indoor hard courts. There is a restaurant/bar in the main area and a gym upstairs. 
It is really different to play on clay courts. The points last much longer, which evidently makes us more tired after just a few hours of training. The clay teaches us to be patient because you cant finish off the point with just one massive shot like on the hard court, you have to structure it until you get the right chance.

We have been training with a lot of older players, and it’s a real challenge for us to play with great players on a surface that is very new to us. We learn a lot from watching how they play which has helped our performance on the clay

The city of Amsterdam is a wonderful place with very old-fashioned buildings. One main feature is the canals, which is a very beautiful scene on a nice day. The people are very kind and it’s a very cool place. Quick Note: Zeeland is a province in the Netherlands also known as Old Zealand. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered and named New Zealand after it.

We are very privileged to be staying in a great family home. The home stay parents are very nice and their son Fin is also a tennis player. The house is about 15 mins away from the tennis courts by Metro. We have two floors to ourselves and we are very greatful for them to be hosting us for the next two months.

The coaches that have been helping us are Michiel Schapers, Sven Groeneveld, who is currently the private coach of Caroline Wozniacki, and has won 3 grand slams as a coach (coached Monica Seles, Mary Pierce, and Ana Ivanovic). Mairtijn Bok (coached Patty Schnyder, Natalie Dechy and Laura Robson). Also great to have Marcel here to help and guide us through. All the coaches seem to work together really well.

I am excited for these next up and coming months and I am very thankful to be given this opportunity to be here.