After claiming her first international wheelchair tennis title of 2014 last month in Arizona, USA, Wanbrough’s Louise Hunt is targeting back-to-back titles at the Israel Open in mid-May, boosted by a recent training camp at La Manga, Spain, funded by the Tennis Foundation and UK Sport through National Lottery support for player and coach development on the road to Rio 2016.
The British No. 3 and London 2012 Paralympian and her coach Ali Ward joined some of Britain’s other leading wheelchair tennis players and their coaches for the week-long camp and Hunt has returned eager to build on last month’s women’s doubles title at the ITF 2 Series Desert Classic in Tucson.
“Me and Ali had such a good time and learned a lot in La Manga and I’m excited by how it’s fitting into my programme going forward,” said Hunt. “To have a lot of the GB players together and to share and learn from the Tennis Foundation coaches and the other individual coaches was really beneficial.
“I’ve had some great training over the winter months at Next Generation in Swindon, but with the longer days and warmer weather now here in the UK, it’s really nice to get back outside for training with Ali in Wootton Bassett Tennis Club and it’s ideal preparation for the Israel Open. It’s another ITF 2 Series event, so after the doubles win in Arizona I can’t wait to get back into competition.”
After making her Paralympic debut in London, Hunt has qualification for Rio 2016 as a long-term goal.
“To make my Paralympic Games debut in front of home crowd in London and to be at the front of the ParalympicsGB delegation going out into the stadium at the opening ceremony was a dream come true and the La Manga camp has come at an ideal time as we work towards Rio,” added Hunt, who is currently ranked No. 19 in singles and a career best No. 11 in doubles.