Saturday Spotlight: Doubled-up Sarah wants success story to continue

But, as Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson explains, one of the biggest success stories in British tennis hails from here in the North-East.

IT HAS been a remarkable year for British tennis.

Andy Murray has risen to number three in the world rankings and won tournaments in Cincinatti, Madrid, Miami and London, Anne Keovathong has become the first British woman to break into the world’s top 50 for 16 years and 15-year-old Laura Robson, fresh from her triumph in last year’s Junior Wimbledon, has earned a wildcard into the main draw of this year’s competition.

Yet look for the British player who has progressed the most in the last 12 months, and your gaze will settle on an unassuming 29-year-old from Middlesbrough.

Sarah Borwell might not enjoy the profile of a Murray or a Keovathong, but since last year’s Wimbledon Championships, her rise through the rankings has eclipsed those of her more celebrated compatriots.

Twelve months ago, Borwell was outside the world’s top 350 in both singles and doubles.

Her confidence was shattered, her bank balance was suffering and her ten-year professional career looked to be coming to an end.

After a decade of slogging from one end of the world to the other, it was effectively make-or-break time, and in a final attempt to propel herself into the upper echelons of world tennis, Borwell, a product of Middlesbrough’s Tennis World, opted to call time on her singles career in order to concentrate on doubles.

The effects have been startling. One year on, and she is ranked 85 in the world doubles rankings – high enough to guarantee automatic entry into all four Grand Slams – a fully-fledged Federation Cup player, and has celebrated the two biggest successes of her life courtesy of tournament victories in Shrewsbury and Odense.

She has also reached the last eight of four WTA International tournaments, something that would have been all but unthinkable had she continued to split her time between the singles and doubles tours.

“It’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made,” said Borwell, who studied at Nunthorpe School before leaving England at the age of 18 to study for a sports degree at the University of Houston, an institution famed for its successful tennis Academy.

“I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall a bit with my singles career, and something had to change.

“It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, because when you’re growing up you always dream of making it in singles, but it’s turned out to be the best thing I could have done.

“I’ve gone from a ranking of about 350 to the world’s top 85.

I’m playing in tournaments I wouldn’t have had a chance of getting into, and I’m able to go up to some of the world’s best players and see if they want to play with me in doubles.

“I wouldn’t say it vindicates all the hard work I’ve put in during the last decade, because that makes it sound as though I haven’t been enjoying myself to this point.

But it’s certainly nice to be competing at a level that hasn’t really been open to me in the past.”

Not, however, that life is easy now that Borwell has broken into the world’s top 100.

The Teessider’s personal online diary describes a nightmare bus journey in Greece that lasted for the best part of two days, various adventures in youth hostels in an attempt to save some cash and trips to far-flung outposts such as Uzbekistan and Moldova in pursuit of precious ranking points.

So much for the jet-setting lifestyle of an international sportswoman.

“I always have a bit of a laugh when people ask me, ‘What’s it like staying in fivestar hotels all the time’,” said Borwell. “Things have changed a bit in the last year.

I’m playing in the bigger WTA tournaments now instead of the ITF events, but it’s still a fair way detached from the view some people seem to have of tennis.

“I remember one week last autumn when I was playing in an event in Luxembourg. We (Borwell and her former doubles partner Courtney Nagle) lost fairly early on, but saw there was an event we were eligible for in Canada, so we managed to get a bus to Amsterdam so we could fly out for that.

“We touched down in Canada, pretty much went straight to the tennis court, and won a couple of games.

Eventually we got beat, and then we got a phone call from the organisers of a tournament in Poland asking if we wanted to compete in that.

“So it was back to the airport, flights via somewhere I can’t remember to Poland, and then straight into action over there. And all of that happened in the space of five days.

“It’s still all a bit of a blur, but after a while we realised we running our bodies into the ground. I was getting headaches all the time, and we were exhausted whenever we were trying to play.

“Eventually, we had to make an agreement that we would take things easier and try to prioritise our competitions a bit more.”

That prioritisation has paid dividends, with Borwell able to devote more time to the practice court and her new coach, Louis Cayer.

Cayer, a specialist doubles coach, has worked closely with Jamie Murray in the past, and his input has proved invaluable as Borwell has gradually learned the moves and techniques that would be out of place in the singles game.

“It’s obviously still tennis, but it is pretty different,” she said. “Funnily enough I played my first singles game for ages a month or so ago, and one of my shots went into the fence at the back of the court!

“You teach yourself to get into specific areas and play specific shots that don’t really apply to singles. Doubles is a much more technical game, and it took me a while to properly get my head around things.

“Louis has been brilliant with that though. He’s coached about five former world doubles number ones, and he’s basically reassembled my game.”

That game will be tested to the limit in the next fortnight, with Borwell entering the women’s draw at Wimbledon by right for the first time in her career.

She has formed a new partnership with Keovathong, but faces a tough task from the off after yesterday’s firstround draw paired the two Britons with third seeds Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs of Australia.

Stubbs is a two-time Wimbledon doubles champion, while Stosur was a losing finalist at SW19 last year, but Borwell is hoping the support of a partisan crowd will help her and Keovathong progress.

“I had a permanent partner for a while, but we decided to shake things up a bit and I needed someone new to play with for Wimbledon,” she said.

“I think the crowds always love to see two Brits playing together, so when Anne said she wanted to play doubles, I jumped at the chance to play with her.

“I’ve played with her in the Federations Cup, and we played together in the grasscourt tournament at Eastbourne last week.

“It all came fairly naturally there, so we’re pretty hopeful that we’ll put on a decent show at Wimbledon.”

With Keovathong hoping to survive to the second week in the singles, and five other Brits, including Robson, in the main draw, the next fortnight should confirm the growing strength of British women’s tennis.

Murray might continue to hog the headlines in the men’s game, but below the Scotsman, there is still a chronic shortage of talent.

Britain’s women already boast much more depth, and with Robson spearheading a younger generation that also includes 17-year-old Heather Watson, a junior doubles finalist at last month’s French Open, Borwell is hoping to be part of a growing female success story in the next couple of years.

“I’ve been involved in British tennis for more than a decade,” she said. “And I can’t remember a more exciting time for the women’s game.

“You’ve got Anne in the world’s top 50, and you’ve got Elena (Baltacha), Katy (O’Brien) and Mel (South), who are all banging on the door of the top 100.

“Add in Laura, who’s obviously a top-ten player in the making, and you have all the ingredients for a really good spell. I just hope I can continue to be part of it for as long as possible.”