QUICK ON THE DRAW AND READY TO RUMBLE

I AM really excited to start playing at Wimbledon. Attending the draw yesterday made it start to all feel more real. It is quite special to be involved. Now I just want to fast forward a couple of days and get straight out on to the match court. It’s a good opportunity now to sharpen up the last little details of my grass-court game and I’ll be ready for tomorrow. I feel confident. I’ve been training well and the last time I faced Nicolas Peifer in Paris at Roland Garros I beat him in straight sets. My record against him recently has been pretty good. But, at the same time, he is a top player and it will be a tough match. The Grand Slams are above other tournaments in terms of importance. There is more prestige involved in them and at the same time the stakes are higher. You are playing for more ranking points, more prize money and in front of larger crowds. This is true even more so for British players. Wimbledon is our home Slam and we should get really good support from the public this week. It’s the tournament I grew up watching on TV. It has always been a dream of mine to play singles here. I’ve not actually been in and around Wimbledon much recently. I’ve been training at the National Tennis Centre just down the road but I was in the Royal Box on Saturday, which was an amazing experience. It was an unbelievable view and we were treated really well. It is something I will not forget about anytime soon. It was exciting but a bit surreal, as well. There are moments in your career when you have to look around you and think: ‘Is this actually happening?’ When Sue Barker was announcing everybody to the crowd before the match — and I was one of those names — it was a bit weird. It is those moments that you have to remind yourself that it is real life. You’re not dreaming. You see these experiences on TV, so to actually be there is something completely different. It was an amazing day and it was nice to share that moment with my coach, Karen Ross, who has been a big influence on my success. To have her there was great. In terms of preparation for this week, it is about finding the right balance. I want to spend a good amount of hours on the court and get used to the surface. But at the same time, grass is more demanding on my body because of the way my chair moves, so I don’t want to overdo it. Two years ago at Wimbledon, I trained on the grass a lot. But when I came to play matches the next week, I was shattered. I didn’t have much left in the tank. It is about playing the right amount of hours on the surface but not doing too much and not tiring yourself out. I have a lot of fans travelling from Scotland tomorrow and I hope to do them proud.