Naomi calls it a day
April 30, 2011 2 Comments
Today I awoke to the news Britain’s Naomi Cavaday has retired from professional tennis. It came as quite a shock but evenmore so when discovering her age.
At 22 it’s a vastly premature end to her career which only last year saw her reach a peak of 174th in the world. Having not played at all this year her current position of 231 isn’t too bad either for the British number five.
In an LTA announcement she doesn’t cite a specific reason for her retirement but revealed she’s been suffering from depression as well as an eating disorder.
Despite saying she’s ‘worked through and overcome these issues’ there must be some lingering effects or her announcement wouldn’t have been made, so it’s a huge shame these problems have halted her progression.
Her greatest moments came at Wimbledon, like so many other British players. The wildcard entries the young and inexperienced players receive every year are often the only times they ever have the affection and attention of their fellow Brits.
But they frequently fall in the first round to heavy tournament favourites and this was the fate of Cavaday in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Her loss to Martina Hingis is 2007 will be particularly haunting after holding two match points.
Her decision to reject a wildcard entry last year is admirable but somewhat daft. The likes of Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong only reached the top 100 in their mid-20’s and would have used their annual Wimbledon first round match as a springboard to get there.
However, Cavaday’s frustration is understandable. To have only one real match a year where people have their eye on you must feel unjust.
And even if you win, like in the case of Sarah Borwell, you can quickly be forgotten once the second round demolition has taken place.
The truth is if you’re not a touted prodigy like Heather Watson or Laura Robson then when June comes around it is your only highlight of the tour, if not your career.
The likes of Melanie South, Georgie Gent and Katie O’Brien along with male players Alex Bogdanovic and James Ward will testify that.
Baltacha and Keothavong are exceptions but it’s sad that we will never find out if Cavaday would have joined her fellow compatriots in making the top 100.