MAKING THE TOP 100

It seems no time ago since I was playing my first ever tennis tournament at Cooden Beach. My family had moved to Sussex from London when I was 5 years old when my dad got a job as coach at Angmering LTC. I loved the atmosphere at the club –over 120 juniors all keen to play tennis. I was desperate to join in but couldn`t join the club until I was 8 years old in January 1986! So it was that at Easter of that year I came to be playing in the Under 10`s at Cooden Beach. I battled my way through the round robin and played Alex Clapp in the quarter-final. To my surprise I won and I actually got through to the final on the Saturday. Unfortunately for me there was a gale – force wind blowing and I was playing a very experienced opponent. I couldn`t get the ball over the net from one end and lost easily! Undeterred I went on to play many more tournaments in Sussex, Comptons springs to mind with Ray and Di Colbourn and the county championships at Lewes. I have been proud to represent my County – which I still do to this day if I am available – and my country. So, I have been trying to `make it` for the last 16 years and will always be grateful for the support and encouragement I received in the early stages.

Having had a very successful last 2 years in the junior ranks, with my ranking rising to Number 1 for a time, most people expected the transition to Senior level to be straightforward. In fact I had two very good wins at Queens that year and my ranking rose from 619 to 285. Injury problems didn`t help, but it was always going to be difficult to repeat the following year because inwardly I knew that I was not really of that standard. The pressure was enormous, frustration set in and I became very temperamental. Having had to have time out at the beginning of 2000 with a groin operation gave me the time to think about what I wanted and made me reassess my goals. I looked at what was holding me back and it was the mental side – to do with my anger. I have been working with psychologist Gloria Budd for the last 18 months on anger control techniques and have started enjoying being on a tennis court again.

2001 was a particularly good year when everything came together. I started the year well in Hamilton, New Zealand, and was selected for the Davis Cup against Portugal in Birmingham. The atmosphere in Birmingham was fantastic – the crowd really got behind us. I won one round in the qualifying for the French Open – the first time a British player had achieved such a win on clay for some time! I didn`t start the grass-court season that well losing first round at Surbiton and Queens. In trying to control my emotions I had become too laid back. It was difficult to get the right balance. I qualified at Nottingham and had a good run to the quarter-finals before losing to Greg. However, this set me up for Wimbledon. With the new seeding system in Grand Slams you automatically get a seeded player in the second round if you don`t get them in the first. I had a good win over the Italian Pozzi before coming across Tim on Centre Court – an experience I will never forget. I was just settling into the match, having broken his serve, when it ended.

I then went on to Newport, Rhode Island, the first ATP tournament I had got into on my own ranking, and reached the final, beating the up and coming American James Blake on the way. It was a month before the US Open and I was also very close to getting in my first Grand Slam on my own ranking. Channel 4 had asked Jamie Delgado and myself to take a video camera with us for the build-up tournaments to the US Open – we had to report on our matches and video ourselves training. What a laugh! We had to go into the bathroom when the other person was speaking into the camera! With 10 days to go I still didn`t know whether I had to play qualifying for the Open. We arrived in New York the week before and I played qualifying for Long Island, beating James Blake again and just losing out to the Spaniard Mantilla in the third set having been a set and 5-2 up! I had played 3 long matches in sweltering conditions over 2 days! However there was consolation. I found out that I had got into the US Open and didn`t need to qualify. My parents were visiting New York for the first time and had been invited to spend the weekend in the Hamptons, Long Island. There was great rejoicing when they found out I had got in. I got one of the seeds, Schalken from Holland, in the first round and gave it my best shot losing 6-3 in the fifth set. I had very nearly beaten him and knew that I had improved over the year to such an extent that I could comfortably stay with these players.

I went on to Ecuador for the important Davis Cup tie and was pleased to get the opportunity to play, even though it was a dead rubber. My ranking was 103 in August 2001 but I knew that I had lots of points to defend before the end of the year so I was pleased to end the year at 107. I was able to get my revenge on Schalken in his home venue of Rotterdam, having qualified earlier. The match was played in front of 8000 Dutch people but I enjoyed every minute. I just loved being there This win projected me into the top 100, the first time three British Players have been so highly ranked for 23 years. I have found that getting into the top 100 changes people`s attitude towards you and other players also take more interest. They give you encouragement and hopefully will worry more about playing you in a tournament.

It`s taken me five years at senior level to get this far and my aim for the rest of this year is to consolidate my ranking. To realistically make the push into the top 50 next year I am looking for sponsorship to finance a travelling coach and trainer – all other players at this level have this advantage over me at the moment. I have always thought I would reach my peak about the age of 26. It may prove to be so. Watch this space!

If I can do it then so can you. I hope to see more Sussex players on the professional circuit in the years ahead. Good luck everyone. Enjoy your tennis.

MARTIN LEE