Lewis returns after a ‘learning curve’
Jade Lewis put herself on the New Zealand sporting landscape at the beginning of 2017 when she pushed Venus Williams at the ASB Classic.
The young Kiwi, who was 18 at the time, lost 7-6 6-2 to the seventime grand slam champion, in a match where she showed the grit, determination and talent rarely seen in a New Zealand player, since the day her uncle, Chris got to the final of Wimbledon in 1983.
Fast forward 51 weeks and Lewis is back in New Zealand, from her base in America, hoping to make a similar impact, although it’s still unknown whether she’ll get a main draw or qualifying wildcard for the tournament.
Plenty has happened to Lewis over 2017. She went to college at Louisiana State University where she excelled, making the All American singles team and finished the college season ranked 17.
It was announced in July that Lewis would be the recipient of $500,000 of funding over the next three years from the Seed Foundation, which would go towards her coaching and travelling expenses.
For the latter half of the year she went onto the ITF circuit, looking to improve her ranking.
But it would be fair to say that this period of the year wasn’t as successful as hoped. Her ranking has gone up from 1124 to 995, but she’s only been able to win three main draw matches.
‘‘It’s been a bit of a learning curve,’’ said her father and coach, David Lewis.
‘‘She went to college but perhaps she needed a bit of a break after coming out of there, rather than going going straight to Europe and it was pretty full on there.
‘‘She’s played nine or 10 tournaments this year and that’s not a lot. A lot was learnt, but she’s getting ready for this year now and has been working really hard the last few weeks.’’
She chose not to defend her New Zealand Championship title before Christmas, instead going to southern California for training and fitness work.
Jade, who confirmed she wants to be a part of the New Zealand Fed Cup team next year, arrived in Auckland on Christmas Eve and has been hitting with players who’ve come from around the world for the tournament.
Reflecting on the year herself, she took a lot from her match against Williams, but knew that she had to move on from it.
‘‘After the match it was pretty cool,’’ Jade said.
‘‘All my friends were really supportive, but then I started playing college and you focus on those matches.
‘‘My tennis isn’t just one match. Last year I played again Lauren Davis and played great there.
‘‘I’ve had a lot of good matches and when I’m on court I need to remember all the good matches I’ve played, all the good tennis I’ve played and the good level I can play at.’’