In The Winning Zone catches up with one of Scotland's brightest tennis prospects, Joanna Henderson...

Watching the Henderson ladies on court, you could be forgiven for asking if they are preparing for a trip to Wimbledon this year.  Both of them cut the chiselled figures of the modern elite tennis player, with flawless technique, graceful poise and the crowd-pleasing finesse to warrant rapturous applause between fast-paced, hard hitting rallies.

For now, however – Serena, Maria and Justine – don’t get too worried about the name Henderson – SW19 remains your bastion for this year.  Though rest easy you may, Grand Slam Queens, but rest assured that it won’t be long before you could be meeting up with Joanna Henderson, the Princess of Scottish tennis, who In The Winning Zone have chosen as their ‘Rising Star’ for June.

Joanna, 13, is the junior of the Henderson duo, and she is also the one hogging the headlines.  But that’s no problem for Anne, the second starlet we saw on court, who has very graciously allowed us into her beautiful home in Aberdeen to talk to her prodigious daughter. 

Joanna answers the door, greets us with a well mannered handshake, and offers tea and biscuits.  Though we doubt this is reflective of the diet on which she has been raised.  Although barely a teenager, Joanna is very much a young woman, as opposed to a well developed child.  At almost 5’10’’ with a strong, toned frame, it is very apparent she is a born athlete.  Though her genetics are no surprise, she insists.

“My parents were really into sport.  My dad played for Scotland in basketball.  My mum got me into tennis by taking me along to the club with her.”

Indeed, having taken up the sport at 5, it wasn’t long before Joanna was setting some high standards.  On a Mark Warner holiday, aged just 7, she and her mum won a ladies doubles tournament, and at 8 years old she was winning Scottish under-10 tournaments. 

In her last full season, 2006, she literally swept the board at under-12 level, winning, amongst others, the British Masters, the Scottish Junior Open, (singles and doubles) the Fred Perry and Nike National Competitions, and several European titles.

But the 2007 season is an altogether different prospect.  Junior age-grade tennis advances in sets of two years, so Joanna now must make the step-up to under-14, competing against older, more developed and more experienced players.  But she is the consummate professional in her predictions for the season.

“I have eight weeks of matches, so hopefully I’ll get a good result along the way.  I want to make my mark and show that I can do it a year below as well.  I’m young, but I know I can still do well.”

Making her mark and getting good results are the key phrases to pick out from what Joanna says here.  She is very aware that she still has much of her game to build and, in this case, winning isn’t everything.  The most important aspect of her game right now is improving her performance.  Not that this ever stops her from striving for victory…

“It’s definitely a performance over a win at the moment, but a win is something you always want.  Everyone always says that at this stage a performance is so important.  I love winning but if I don’t win and I still put in a good performance, I can be positive about that.”

So what is necessary to enable Joanna to make the step up to this next level?  “This year I’m working on technique.  I’ve had to alter my technique because my grip needed to change to develop my power game.  But I’m quite a fast learner, so when I get told to do something I can work on it.  But I don’t like being told to do things, I just like being able to work on them at my own pace.  I take it all in, and change step-by-step myself, and do it gradually.”

And the reason why this is a season for working on performance and technique?  “By the time I am 14 or 15, I will be focusing on winning matches.  When you have all the technical skills in place, everything else should fall into place, because you have all the tools to win matches.  You just have to want it enough.”

But her preparation for the big time doesn’t stop there.  She doesn’t just want to play in Wimbledon, she wants to win it.  And for that to happen, and to be the best, everything must be perfect, something Joanna has realised at an early age.  She revolves her lifestyle, and her diet, around tennis.  Asides from training for two to three hours a day, sacrificing her less essential school subjects in the process, she also carefully monitors her diet and overall health.

“I have cereal, toast, jam and a banana for breakfast – sometimes I train in the morning so I need to have a lot of fuel!  I also eat a lot of pasta – I’m not a big fan but it’s the carbohydrate I have to have.  And I eat lots of vegetables and fish.”  Not many 13 year old girls could say the same.

“I also have physio once a week to work my muscles and prepare them, to prevent injury.  The Grampian Institute of Sport give me great support, and it’s great to have them there.”

But what In The Winning Zone admires most about Joanna is her drive and determination to be the best, to be a winner.  She is without doubt a multi-talented, well balanced young lady, and could put her hand to any number of sporting or academic disciplines.  But it isn’t talent that will take you to the top.  It is the will to get there, and she has that will in abundance.

“I just love being competitive, going one on one with someone else.  You just have to want it enough.  I’ve learned that whatever I need to do to win, I can do it, so with that attitude I can go into a match with a level head.”

Of course, it is vital to have a role model as well, and who better for a young lass such as Joanna to look up to than Andy Murray.  “What he’s done for Scotland and Scottish tennis, to have become one of the top 10 in the world, is amazing.  He lets others see that it can be done, and it is inspiration to me to see how far I can go.”

How far Joanna can go is a question that has had many mouths chattering, and she is sure to set a few more off in the forthcoming months and years.  Joanna Henderson has the presence of mind and strength of body to become something very special in the tennis world and, as she said herself, she is currently cultivating her game to ensure she has all the right tools to win when it counts.  She is by no means complete package – yet.  An ominous thought for her rivals that there is still more to come.

It has been an exciting year for Joanna, and hopefully she will see her hero Andy Murray set the standard for her yet again by winning a Wimbledon Crown this year.  So watch out centre-court Queens, this is one Princess that has the game to knock you off your thrones.

RO

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Thanks to Rob Eyton-Jones for lower photograph