This is a bit of a weird and unexpected article, focused not on a match or on tennis itself, but on a little yet fundamental phase of my (real poor, but still happy) tennis life which, in a sense, came to an end. Today I attended (bits of) a match which I was not even supposed to see, and that has been a quite emotional to me in its own ways. It happened that at 10.30 I checked the livescores and I saw that my Kaja (the Beloved One, as I guess everyone knows now) was losing 4-0 against the Japanese Juki Naito; I then left the office, jumped on a cab and took one hour off to see Kaja playing one more set in the Trofeo Bonfiglio, a set which could have been, most probably (and now is, quite for sure), the last one she will ever play in Milan.
When I reached the central court (the same on which I saw for the first time the Beloved One, during last year’s edition) the score was something like 6-2 3-1 in favour of the Japanese. Somehow Kaja managed to equalise to 5-5 and then, of course, I received a phone call I had been waiting for all the morning long and I could not miss. I returned on the court that Kaja was down in the tie-break, which some minutes later she lost, I think by 7-3 (and I don’t even check because that’s not the point).
On the (bits of the) set I saw, I have little to say, also because I was not 100% focused: as per Naito, from the base line she is a very solid player with good fundamentals; in particular she was able, a couple of times, in reply to good shots by Juvan, to hit down the line backhand winners which were stunning, exiting as such from the backhand diagonal. At the net, instead, she is a disaster: in the few appearances she made she was able to miss whatever (at least today). As per Kaja: she hit quite a few poor shots, she made some banal unforced from the base line and, in particular, during the tiebreak, she hit an easy smash short and allowed Naito to recover and pass her. Of course, she also made some cracking shots; I remember in particular a backhand winner which made me jump off the seat. I focused a bit on her serve since, as you know if you read the former articles I wrote on the Beloved One, I thought that this shot was her weak spot. Actually, I found out that when Kaja serves flat (and she does that, I think, when her coach calls for it), her serve is not slower than the one of most of her peers: maybe it’s not the fastest, but still, it can be effective. I think that she has improved this shot a lot compared to last year, when I found her first serve to be a piece of cake.
Anyway, Kaja exited the tournament by losing in the second round and she will thus drop a huge amount of points in her junior ranking, since she has no remainings (not that this really matters). It was not a good tournament for her from the start, if not from earlier: 20 days ago she injured her ankle; thus, she could not play a 25k in Hungary scheduled before the Bonfiglio. In Milan, she lost in the first round in doubles, paired with Anshba, and had a tough first singles round against Anastasia Kulikova. Her early exit is not a surprise and, I must say, is in the line of a season which for her has been not as good as she possibly was expecting, up to now.
Am I disappointed? Nah. You may not know that Kaja is currently a “part-time” player since, differently from some others of her peers, she decided to continue to focus also on her studies, in which she still puts great efforts and, as far as I know, she obtains good results: when in Slovenia, she attends school 6 hours per day, then studies and do all other things as if she were a “normal” girl. Of course, she has not so much time to train or to compete as some of her opponents do: in this regard, consider that this is only the 6th tournament she played during this year, including the Fed Cup; it should have been the 7th hadn’t she got injured. Of course, this being her background, she cannot at all times compete at top level and of course she loses matches she may have the potential to win. I don’t mean that Kaja is the only player who still seriously pursue education; nevertheless, due to the above, I think that Kaja’s potentials cannot be judged right now, because, at least against some opponents who made different choices, she is in a disadvantage at the start.
When assessing girls who take decisions as Kaja’s, one should be ready to allow and, even more important, she should be ready to allow herself, the time she needs and deserves, before assessing her results in tennis; it would be unfair to do this on the basis of the last five months, especially by comparing Kaja’s results with those of other juniors’ who are currently performing better, but have (at least some of them) pursued different routes: one can only respect the choices she made (which, in my view are the toughest, but also the most correct) and be patient. Maybe it will be possible fully judge her tennis results after she has finished school (I think in two years’ time) and she has had a couple of years of regular training.
Considering the above and not forgetting that no more than 6 months ago this girl has won the Orange Bowl, I am not disappointed at all; yet, I am a bit sad for her because, having had the pleasure to keep in touch with this girl (and her coach) for a while, I know not only that she suffers when she loses (as every athlete does, of course) but also that, fighting as hell, and possibly struggling a bit, to keep all the pieces of her life together and having difficult choices in front of her to take, I am quite sure that she becomes highly frustrated when her tennis results are not as good as she expects: and I guess it’s easier to say “take your time, don’t worry” at my age and as an external (even if very affectionate) observer, than at 16 year old and as a person directly involved in the process and subject to so much pressure.
I am also sad for myself, because I will not see Kaja playing live for a long time, most probably: she will compete in Roland Garros and Wimbledon but presumably this year she will be over with the Junior Tour; as per the ITF pro, I manage to attend only a few 15k events played close to where I live and the chances to see her competing in those are slim; it will take ages, possibly until she plays the qualifications in Rome, before I may see her playing again live. From the last Bonfiglio I have been in touch on a fairly regular basis with Kaja and after with her coach; many, many things have happened, and all this has made their return to Milan something for me to really look for: I was hoping in a different and more cheerful ending, actually – even if I was not too optimistic on it: I was hoping at least to have the possibility to see her in a full match and to see a couple more of smiles on her face.
But I have to be patient me too; be sure I will continue to keep a special place in my heart for her, however her career will go and even if this might have been the last time I have seen her because, trust me, considering how she puts up with ball boys, with the public, with myself, considering how she manages her life: besides being a heck of a good player, she is really a fantastic girl.
After this article a bit more melancholic than usual (sorry about that, I just felt it), a note for English readers: for those of you from Poland, Austria, UK, China, etc. – assuming you are not Italians settled abroad – whom I notice that daily (or at least often) are surfing Tennisunderworld: first of all, thank you. It’s a great satisfaction both for me and for Franco, seeing foreign people who from time to time look if there is something new on.
I would like to inform you that, apart from this unexpected article, Tommy Hemp is currently writing in Italian because, having to watch the matches ongoing in Milan (I’ve been only to the qualification rounds up to now and hopefully I will attend the semis and the finals), having to work – and of course a peak of work materialised just right now – and having also to deal with all other stuff in my life somehow (including my wife) – I don’t really have the time to write the pieces in English: it would be too burdensome. Though, I promise that once the tournament is over and we are waiting for the French Open to start, I will write a couple of articles in English, summarising what I wrote up to now and will write in the next few days.
See you soon!
