Strydom goes back to his roots

After a lean spell on the international tennis circuit over the past year, Namibian tennis ace Jurgens Strydom went back to his roots and teamed up with his former Namibian coach Johan Theron.

The change has done wonders as Strydom’s game has improved dramatically, to the extent that he qualified for the main draw of some Futures events in the United States for the first time. Strydom was sidelined for most of 2006 due to injury and when he did play, his progress was further hampered by foreign coaches who tried to change his style.He became disillusioned as his game seemed to be stuck, so he gave Theron a call, asking for his advice.”I was having a lot of problems with my game overall and not knowing what I need to do, because I was travelling without a coach.I never really got anywhere and just stayed at the same level.So I phoned Johan and asked for advice and he said I should come back home so that he could take a look at my game.Dramatic improvement “We worked on a few things and then went to Romania to play in a tournament.I was still struggling but it helped to have Johan there because he said he saw something and knew what we needed to do.We just picked up on the basics – the core of my game and what type of player I am and working towards my strengths, and since then my game has improved dramatically,” he said.They spent about six weeks training together in Windhoek, after which Strydom once again left for the United States to compete in some Futures tournaments.He had never qualified for a Futures event before, but this time his improvement was dramatic.Of all the events he entered he made the final qualifying round or qualified for the main event, and although he lost all his first round matches, it was a big breakthrough.”I’ve never qualified for a Futures event outside of Africa and the competition in the US is just so much higher.Its ridiculous, you have to win four matches just to qualify and then you have to win another round in the main draw just to get one ATP point.Sometimes the players in the qualifiers are stronger than the guys in the main draw, because everyone wants to make a start.Out of 128 players only eight qualify for the main draw,” he said.Theron said that Strydom didn’t really have a problem with his technique, but that they had to work on his mental approach.”I worked on Jurgens’ game plan and his mental approach.We had to first sort out a few problems there and go back to the basics.We remained in constant contact when he was in the States and his form has picked up a lot,” he said.Strydom had a brilliant career as a junior and at a stage was the second best ranked Under 18 player on the African continent.He reached the main draw of all the Junior Grand Slam tournaments, progressing to the third round of the Australian Open.At Junior Wimbledon in 2005 he reached the semifinals of the boys doubles with an English partner.But since turning professional he has found the going tough.After his injury setbacks he made a slight recovery, wining two events on the South African circuit in December last year.Aiming to make an impact “As a junior, I played against, and beat, a lot of the players who are now amongst the world’s top 200.I know I can be there as well, but it will just take a lot of hard work in the next year to two,” he said.After his recent successes in the United States, Strydom is now aiming to make an impact at the ITF Southern African Futures tournament which Windhoek will host at the end of October.”I feel I had a run of bad luck after my junior career.I think I chose some wrong coaches, had an injury here and there and also had a lot of bad luck.But I feel my luck is finally changing now.I’m really feeling good and I’m hoping to do well at the Futures tournament in Windhoek,” he said.Strydom thanked his sponsors MTC who are supporting him financially to compete as a professional abroad.”MTC is the only reason why I am actually able to give it a go and follow my dream of being a professional tennis player.I made a new beginning earlier in the year and things are going great now and as long as I have MTC’s support, hopefully I can get onto my own feet in a year or two,” he said.namibiasport.com.naStrydom was sidelined for most of 2006 due to injury and when he did play, his progress was further hampered by foreign coaches who tried to change his style.He became disillusioned as his game seemed to be stuck, so he gave Theron a call, asking for his advice.”I was having a lot of problems with my game overall and not knowing what I need to do, because I was travelling without a coach.I never really got anywhere and just stayed at the same level.So I phoned Johan and asked for advice and he said I should come back home so that he could take a look at my game.Dramatic improvement “We worked on a few things and then went to Romania to play in a tournament.I was still struggling but it helped to have Johan there because he said he saw something and knew what we needed to do.We just picked up on the basics – the core of my game and what type of player I am and working towards my strengths, and since then my game has improved dramatically,” he said.They spent about six weeks training together in Windhoek, after which Strydom once again left for the United States to compete in some Futures tournaments.He had never qualified for a Futures event before, but this time his improvement was dramatic.Of all the events he entered he made the final qualifying round or qualified for the main event, and although he lost all his first round matches, it was a big breakthrough.”I’ve never qualified for a Futures event outside of Africa and the competition in the US is just so much higher.Its ridiculous, you have to win four matches just to qualify and then you have to win another round in the main draw just to get one ATP point.Sometimes the players in the qualifiers are stronger than the guys in the main draw, because everyone wants to make a start.Out of 128 players only eight qualify for the main draw,” he said.Theron said that Strydom didn’t really have a problem with his technique, but that they had to work on his mental approach.”I worked on Jurgens’ game plan and his mental approach.We had to first sort out a few problems there and go back to the basics.We remained in constant contact when he was in the States and his form has picked up a lot,” he said.Strydom had a brilliant career as a junior and at a stage was the second best ranked Under 18 player on the African continent.He reached the main draw of all the Junior Grand Slam tournaments, progressing to the third round of the Australian Open.At Junior Wimbledon in 2005 he reached the semifinals of the boys doubles with an English partner.But since turning professional he has found the going tough.After his injury setbacks he made a slight recovery, wining two events on the South African circuit in December last year.Aiming to make an impact “As a junior, I played against, and beat, a lot of the players who are now amongst the world’s top 200.I know I can be there as well, but it will just take a lot of hard work in the next year to two,” he said.After his recent successes in the United States, Strydom is now aiming to make an impact at the ITF Southern African Futures tournament which Windhoek will host at the end of October.”I feel I had a run of bad luck after my junior career.I think I chose some wrong coaches, had an injury here and there and also had a lot of bad luck.But I feel my luck is finally changing now.I’m really feeling good and I’m hoping to do well at the Futures tournament in Windhoek,” he said.Strydom thanked his sponsors MTC who are supporting him financially to compete as a professional abroad.”MTC is the only reason why I am actually able to give it a go and follow my dream of being a professional tennis player.I made a new beginning earlier in the year and things are going great now and as long as I have MTC’s support, hopefully I can get onto my own feet in a year or two,” he said.namibiasport.com.na