Life On Tour With WTA Pro Conny Perrin: January 2015
Conny Perrin, Tennis Atlantic

January 2015 Update-Switzerland

Tournament Action in Germany and France

My season has finally started again. I went for my first tournament of the year in Stuttgart 10k on hard courts (Germany). I was very excited to be back and compete again after the hard work I put in during the pre-season for 7 weeks with my team: Joachim Weibull (tennis) & Johann Widenmark (fitness).

I lost in the second round there (in Stuttgart) to a girl (Sina Haas) who was just better than me that day & deserved to win, Of course I wasn’t satisfied with this result, but as we all know the first tournament of the year is never easy & can be tricky. I still felt pretty tired there of all the hard work I pulled off during the pre-season, but most important even though I lost against a player who was better than me that day, I gave it all & could learn a lot about myself from this tournament where I was with my tennis coach Joachim Weibull who helped me a lot, too.

In Stuttgart, I could play at least 3 matches (singles and doubles) before leaving home to Switzerland to have a few days off, reload, be as fresh & well prepared as I could for the next tournament, which was in Andrézieux-Bouthéon 25k on hard courts (France).

I arrived in France mentally & physically feeling fresher & rested, which was the plan. I had to play qualies there, which was also ok because the goal was to play a lot of matches & get back to competition better & better. Which I did. I won both of my qualies matches in straight sets & qualified for the Main Draw, where I won first round against 168 WTA & seed number 7 also in straight sets. I also passed the first round of doubles that day (Conny beat Apolline Rassat and Fiona Gervais in singles qualifying, then beat Naomi Broady in the main draw. In doubles, she and her partner Olga Doroshina of Russia beat a pair of doubles teams before losing in the semifinals).

I unfortunately lost second round of singles to #202 WTA Elista Kostova. I wasn’t able to take my chances that day & my opponent was just tougher than me in the important moments so she deserved to win, but again this match could bring me a lot to improve on, especially mentally. In doubles, I continued to win in the second round, but lost in semis later on. I finished the week with 7 matches (singles & doubs), a lot of positives to take with me and most importantly a lot to learn & improve for my next tournament which will be at the Glasgow 25k on indoor hard courts.

Before that, I will go home to Switzerland to get some rest, positive energy, calm down, go as fresh & clear as possible to Glasgow where I play singles & doubles again.

My thoughts on the Australian Open

I was really happy to see Murray make it to the final, first because I think he’s a great athlete & inspiration in general, but also because I think that his collaboration with Mauresmo shows great benefits on & off court. In my opinion, people underestimate too much the power of womens in sport or in general.

I think women have the right personality, a deep understanding for life + sport & who emotionally knows how to proceed + adapt to the person they are working with which isn’t always easy of course, but there are surely more strong women than we think out there who can do that & she’s definitely a great example, so I think we should make it a try more often & be more open about it.

There will always be some critics but that’s how life is. I still think people should understand more the fact of changing coaches whether it’s a man or woman doesn’t matter. The process of a great understanding between a coach, athlete & team takes time & sometimes for some reasons doesn’t work. Otherwise, it would be way easier to be surrounded by the right people, but it’s not always easy to find. There are so many factors who needs to be at the right place for the most perfect environment for the player to feel good & play great tennis in a consistent way.

Otherwise, I was happy to see Rafa Nadal back out there. He’s my biggest inspiration along with Stan Wawrinka in this sport for their hard work & fighting spirit. In the women’s, it was great to see Azarenka back & definitely I always like to follow Serena Williams, one of my greatest inspirations.

Conny Perrin
February 1, 2015