Getting to know Jordanne Whiley
British wheelchair player Jordanne Whiley spoke to Wimbledon.com ahead of the NEC Wheelchair Masters, the season-ending tournament which starts in London on Wednesday at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. A bronze medallist at the 2012 Paralympic Games, Whiley won all four Grand Slam doubles titles this year.
On playing at the Masters:
"I've been looking forward to this for a long time now. It's our end-of-season world championships. It's going to be a tough competition, as you're playing against the best in the world, so you definitely don't expect anything less. Yeah, the competition is just ridiculous now. Because it’s two years out from the next Paralympic Games, everyone’s pushing themselves and they’re improving now at a high rate. This is the strongest top eight there has ever been. This is a massive event, very prestigious to win, so my training has been intense, and I'm going in strong. I feel very confident and I'm in good shape."
On achieving the calendar-year Grand Slam with her Japanese partner Yui Kamiji - winning all four majors:
"To be honest, that wasn't even one of my goals going into the year. It was only when we won the Australian Open that we thought to ourselves, 'We could actually do the calendar Grand Slam this year as we performed so well'. So we set that goal. It was amazing. There was a lot of pressure in New York. The only other time I've ever felt that sort of pressure was during the bronze-medal match at the London Paralympics. It meant so much to me to win in New York, so I couldn't let the pressure get to me and affect our performance. We did really well to keep on track."
Watch a documentary about Jordanne Whiley
On the sacrifices her family have made:
"My parents have sacrificed so much. My mum had to quit her job when I was small and my dad worked up until last year when he retired. So yeah, it’s been a tough road because I came along when tennis wasn’t a professional sport, it was a hobby and now it’s one of the most professional sports out there."
On the Murray family:
"I haven't met Andy, but I know Judy. We sometimes tweet each other. She calls me Slice Girl because she likes my backhand slice. But yeah, she’s a really, really nice lady, she’s very supportive of wheelchair tennis and is great to be around as well, she’s great fun. I’m hoping that I’ll meet Andy one day."
On her rate of improvement:
"I feel as though I've improved a lot, even from the Australian Open at the start of year until now. I am really competing against the top players, I’m really pushing them now and I have beaten a few of them since then. I feel like I am improving a lot and I’ve upped my training as well, and got a new coaching team, so I hope I’ll be improving even more."
On her memories of winning a bronze medal at the Paralympics, which was played at the same venue as the Masters:
"When I won my medal, that was one of the greatest moments of my life. To be honest, I was relieved to have got off the court, having won. Having my friends and my family there, and having the support of the British public, it was an incredible atmosphere, so I'm hoping that when I go back this week, I'm going to feed off that atmosphere. I've watched the winning moments back as my parents videoed it on their phone. I feel quite emotional watching that back as at the time I only saw it from my eyes, and in the video I'm seeing it from everyone else's eyes. The phone was shaking a bit, it was everywhere. I don't watch it that much. Other things have happened since then - like winning all four Grand Slams this year - and I hope that there are a lot more things that are going to happen in the future."
On her trophies:
"I've got so many trophies that I can't fit them in the house any more. I want to have a special shelf for my four Grand Slams and my Paralympic medal. That is yet to be built. I couldn't even put a number on how many trophies I've got. I've kept them in the garage at my parents' house. They are at my parents' house, in the garage. And then when I moved out of my parents' house, all the non-important ones were put in a chest of drawers. The good ones are all over the house somewhere. It's getting a bit ridiculous now. Sometimes when I'm away, my parents will go to awards nights on my behalf, and they'll ring me up and say, 'You've won another trophy'. And I'll say, 'Mum, just keep it at your house, I can't have any more trophies.'"
On playing tennis with Boris Johnson this week in front of City Hall:
"Boris is always a good sport. He's always enthusiastic. It's great when you do stuff in places like that because people stop to see what's going on and then you've got a crowd. Everyone loves Boris."
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