BRITISH TEENAGER UPSETS THE ODDS TO REACH FINAL ROUND OF
QUALIFYING
Naomi Cavaday, one of the rising stars of British tennis
overcame a ranking gap of over 400 places to move into the
final round of qualifying at the DFS Classic, held at the
Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham.
The 17 year old from Chislehurst in Kent, ranked only 565
in the world outlasted world number 133 and 16th seed in qualifying
Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 7-6(5),3-6,7-6(6).
“It’s a great achievement for me as I know I
can compete and win against these top players now,”
said Cavaday. “They have so much more experience than
me as I only started playing senior events last November,
plus it was my first ever match on grass which took some adjusting.”
“I learned a lot from last week as I lost in the final
round of qualifying for the French Open juniors 10-8 in the
final set having held five matchpoints. That match taught
me a lot, and helped me keep my head today, especially when
she saved my first three matchpoints in the tiebreak,”
added the teenager.
Cavaday who is currently the 15th highest ranked player in
Great Britain won in 2 hours 54 mins for the best win of her
young career. Currently Britain’s top junior, the former
Bromley High School pupil is now part of the Lawn Tennis Association’s
performance programme at London’s Queens Club where
she is coached by James Trotman.
The victory will see the Kent teenager moving inside the
top 500 for the first time, having already risen over 300
ranking spots since January. If she can defeat top seed and
world number 85 Melinda Czink of Hungary in the final round
of qualifying, she will move into the main draw of the DFS
Classic, headlined by 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.
“Czink will be a tricky match-up,” said Cavaday.
“She is a fellow lefty, but I already practiced with
her earlier today so I know I can live with her.”
The qualifying event will run between Saturday 10th and Sunday
11th June 2006 with the main draw played between 12th and
18th June at Edgbaston Priory.
Due to increased demand the seating capacity of centre court
has been increased to over 1,700.
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