“The smallest crowd I have played in front of this year? That would be my coach and my opponent’s coach,” says Katie Swan, chuckling away. On Monday, though, the 19-year-old will make the dizzying moon leap from the ITF Pro Circuit – where players do not always get new balls every day, let alone every nine games – to Wimbledon, where she will face the Romanian Irina Camelia‑Begu, the world No 33, in the first round. It is a jump the Bristol native intends to make permanent.
But the 19-year-old Swan, a former world junior No 3 with a strong serve, forehand and work ethic, is far from alone. During the next 48 hours a new wave of British players – five of whom are 23 or younger – will be aiming to fast‑track their way up the rankings by springing a surprise or two at SW19.
They include Swan’s close friend Katie Boulter, 21, who powered past the former US Open champion Sam Stosur at Eastbourne last month and has moved from 208th to 144th in the world. Katy Dunne, 23, who has beaten two top 100 players in recent weeks and plays the No 12 seed, Jelena Ostapenko. And Harriet Dart, 21, who is likely to be put on a show court when she faces the seventh seed, Karolina Pliskova.
“There’s a group of us spurring each other on and it’s making a big difference,” says Swan, who is honest about the graft and grind needed to escape the lower echelons of the circuit. “It’s tough and some places are better than others. Some of the hotels aren’t very nice. You don’t get new balls every day. You don’t get physio treatment. You are constantly needing to save money because of the lack of prize money. And yet in some events the standard is really high, because everyone wants it so badly.”
Jeremy Bates, the head coach of women’s tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, attributes the improvement down to sweat, toil and benevolent peer-pressure. “There is a long way to go but the strides that they have all made in the last six to nine months have been really encouraging,” he says. “They’ve all worked very hard on their very specific development plans and goals, and at the LTA we have helped, where we can, with things like sports science, video analysis and nutrition. But, unquestionably, when they see one of them break forwards it is inspiring – and because of the familiarity they have with each other they drag each other along.”
Anne Keothavong, Britain’s Fed Cup captain, also sees plenty of positives but stresses that making the transition from junior to senior tennis can be choppy. “It takes a period of time to mature and become familiar with the WTA tour and adjust to the pace of the game,” she says. “When I speak to the players I am open about where I could have done better – whether it was nerves, pressure or a confusion about how best to play – all that is normal.”
Potential is one thing, the process of honing it into a grand slam victory quite another.
Katie Boulter (age 21, rank 122)
Katie is definitely one to watch out for. She is tall, with a decent serve and plenty of weapons, as she showed when beating the former US Open champion Sam Stosur recently. But there is a still a lot of work to be done to develop her game and fitness if she is to consistently challenge the better players. Grass flatters her style of play.
Harriet Dart (21, rank 171)
Harriet is a feisty competitor, which I really like to see, and leaves no stone unturned in making the most of her ability. She still needs to get stronger but she loves playing on the grass and she has got a really good attitude to match. She has made big improvements this year.
Gabriella Taylor (20, rank 180)
Last year Gabi was out through illness and injury after Wimbledon but she has improved rapidly since coming back. She is a solid baseliner, who is not as tall and strong as some, so she has to play a little differently and take time away from her opponents. But she has a great attitude and is still young – they all are.
Katie Swann (19, rank 204)
Katie is the baby of the group but she showed a lot of potential as a junior in getting to world No 3. She has also got weapons – particularly her powerful forehand and really good serve – as well as being a great athlete who works very hard. Like all the girls, she still has work to do on the physical side.
It was only just over five years ago, after all, that Heather Watson and Laura Robson, then 20 and 18, were inside the world’s top 50. Back then, Watson spoke of becoming No 1 in the world, while Robson seemed to be following in the lustrous footsteps of the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova having been voted newcomer of the year by the Women’s Tennis Association in 2012. Nothing seemed impossible, however improbable that sounds now.
Yet Jo Konta has showed the next generation that success can also be marinated more slowly, too. At the end of 2014, aged 23, she was ranked only 148th in world before she made her breakthrough the following year.
Dart says: “Jo is a great role model for us girls coming through. We also see that her hard work has been paying off and is a great player and a great person.”
Those inside the LTA say the fact Konta is committed to the Fed Cup is also a major benefit – as being around her, on the practice court, gym and even the dinner table, helps the younger players learn almost by osmosis.
As Swan says: “My long-term goal is to win slams – that’s my dream. But before then I need to keep improving, making sure I have a good attitude and make the necessary steps for improvement.” That is the Konta blueprint to a T.
There is obvious excitement in Bates’s voice as he rattles through the attributes of the young stars coming through – whether it is Boulter’s pace from the back of the court, Swan’s massive improvements in recent months or Dart’s surging confidence on court.
So should we optimistic? “I haven’t got a crystal ball and there is a really long way to go,” he says. “But the signs are encouraging. And by playing at Wimbledon the girls will learn what the speed of the game is at the top level, understand the intensity, and the lack of time they have to get to the ball and make their technique function.
“We are obviously aiming high but Andy Murrays and Jo Kontas don’t grow on trees. If we get world champions, then great, but first and foremost we need volume inside the top 100, and the top 50, and then higher than that.”
Keothavong, who went as high as 48 in the world, agrees it will take time. “I think being around better players, and competing in bigger tournaments and practising with these girls gave me the belief that I could compete with them,” she says. “It takes a few good months on the WTA tour for you to trust that you have something that is good enough – because you can do all the work on the practice court but until you are out there producing on the match court you don’t have the belief that you belong.”
As for what will happen at Wimbledon, Bates is quietly confident there could be a shock or two for British eyes to feast on. “They have all performed really well on the grass the last month,” he says. “They are competent and capable of winning matches. They are not at Wimbledon to make up the numbers.”
