Molly’s Story
Aged just 14 years, Molly has travelled a few thousand miles and stayed more than a few nights in hotels to clock up the experiences and challenges that help to shape a future tennis champ.
We caught up with Molly recently to see how her last 12 months have fared, in and out of lockdown, and what impact this has had. Maybe unsurprisingly, for a genuinely mature-for-her-age young tennis player, Molly simply dug in! Increasing her time spent in strength and conditioning work, taking up running and hitting ball after ball into a rebound net, all contributed to a stronger, confident and determined tennis junior.
Rewind a few years and we see a quiet, disciplined and keen young player attending the futures programme at Thongsbridge, participating in tournaments and practising her tennis skills with the enthusiasm that only comes with a genuine passion. Over the years, Molly has celebrated success and experienced the torment of defeat, but never has she thrown in the towel.
Today, Molly has learned from every bit of those experiences and constantly strives to improve her performance. It’s this huge desire to be the best tennis player she can be that made us want to find out more about this determined young lady.
With hours of tennis and S&C work each week, how does she fit it all in? Developing a strong sense of organisation at an early age has helped! In fact, is central to her success. Molly will get up early and even spend lunch breaks concentrating on homework and ensuring her schoolwork is always covered. She knows that to come out of school for training doesn’t mean she’s off the academic hook! Far from it. Molly takes her commitment to school seriously and ensures all bases are covered.
2021, disrupted or not, has seen Molly participate at national level, winning more matches than ever before and allowed her to experience her first ITF Junior tournament. An incredible achievement in itself. But what impresses us most is Molly’s ability to see the positives. Molly is happiest when she plays good tennis. She recognises that now and is using it to constantly improve. She’s never happier than defending on court in a tough rally to come back and win the point. It’s her performances at the bigger tournaments that gives Molly a true sense of satisfaction. It’s not necessarily the tournament win, but the great tennis and the match wins that chip away to give her that buzz she so deserves.
Today, we celebrate Molly’s passion for the sport we all love. We applaud her work ethic and admire her love of training. Most of all, we wish her all the very best for a continued path of success in her achievements on (and off) court. An inspirational example of true tennis passion.
