Farah Abdel-Azizz who currently trains at the High Performance Centre finds form at British Tour in Loughbrough.
Here Farah tells us about her tremendous success.
I'm really pleased with reaching the final of the Loughborough British Tour last weekend. I've worked really hard these past few months, on court with my coach Chris Sanderson and also off court with my fitness coach Joe Wear along with psychologist James Newman so I'm glad to see my hard work is paying off.
First round of the British Tour I beat Natalie Wall 6-3 6-3. Second round I beat Grace Dixon 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2, I was really pleased to have come through this match as I was 5-2 down in the second set and saved 6 match points before winning a tight set then playing a solid third.
In the quarters I beat Kim Schmider 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4. In this match I was in the lead for most of the 2nd set, even having 5 match points which I didn't convert but I came out fighting for the third set, again playing solid and confident tennis and I was able to win the match which I was very happy with.
Next was the semis where I beat Cecily Wuenscher 6-1 1-6 6-4, my third match of the week lasting over 3 hours! I was pleased with my performance as once again I raised my level of focus for the third set (even though at this point I was really struggling physically!) which made me tough to beat. Unfortunately I then lost to Yasmin Clarke in my first ever British Tour final 6-2 6-3. Although I lost I was happy with my performance in the final. I lost to a much more experienced player, felt I competed well and gave myself chances in the match, which on the day I was unfortunately not able to convert. This was in comparison to Yaz who converted all but one game point chances.
I really enjoyed Loughborough and it was a great week for me as I consistently upped my level for big points which is a strong positive. I want to build on in my upcoming tournaments.
On behalf of the local county teams we wish Farah continues her success!
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