Ray Wood: How dad's goal to create 'two of greatest female tennis players ever' changed

1 year ago 60

Liv Wood serving during a signifier league successful Brisbane

The occasional weed is sprouting done the unusual ace connected the greenish factual tennis tribunal of the Graceville Uniting Church adjacent Brisbane.

A mates of miles distant from the Queensland Tennis Centre, wherever satellite fig 1 Iga Swiatek was among the names competing successful January's United Cup, 14-year-old Liv Wood is investigating her backhand against gait and spin.

Liv is the eldest girl of Ray Wood - the Liverpudlian whose imagination was to "create 2 of the top pistillate tennis players the satellite has ever seen".

Since my last gathering with the Brisbane-based household successful 2018, that extremity has changed.

Ray's eight-year-old girl Paloma has chosen shot instead.

But Liv - who took up tennis aged 3 - is inactive pursuing a vocation successful the athletics and successful January competed successful her archetypal unfastened nonrecreational tournament.

In caller years, Liv has turned her backmost connected inferior tennis successful disillusionment astatine the cheating of players who telephone their ain lines.

She has tried her manus astatine swimming and Australian Rules Football arsenic tennis took a backmost spot for a portion to defender against injury.

But she figured it would instrumentality a agelong clip to get bully astatine either of those sports. So it was clip to measurement it up connected the court.

"I'd emotion to spell connected to the tour," says Liv, who was midway done Australian erstwhile satellite fig 1 Ash Barty's autobiography erstwhile we met.

"I cognize my imagination is to go fig one, and hopefully it comes true. But I'd emotion to spell connected the tour."

A archetypal sensation of the big nonrecreational world

The Bayside Open successful Redland Bay, with a full prize money of 2,100 Australian dollars (£1,155), was the venue for Liv's archetypal unfastened nonrecreational tourney successful January.

Three events into her fledgling career, against invariably older and acold much experienced players, she is inactive searching for a archetypal wage cheque.

But this is her aboriginal now. Her inferior vocation is down her, arsenic Ray and the household decided erstwhile she was 12 that it was excessively stressful.

"I deliberation there's a batch of unit from a batch of the parents. The juniors telephone the lines themselves and unluckily you bash get a batch of precise indifferent calls and it makes it not enjoyable for the kids who are genuine and bash play by the rules," helium explains.

"She's hitting with men and women. Don't get maine wrong, she's being cleaned disconnected the tribunal immoderate weekends by immoderate truly high-level antheral players but she much than holds her ain against pistillate players."

Liv admits "there were immoderate challenging games" arsenic she recalls her inferior days.

"I got affected a small spot mentally and would sometimes travel disconnected the tribunal crying," she said.

"The umpires would ever determine with the different player, due to the fact that it's ever their call. You've got to beryllium connected to everything, and ever beryllium watching what the different subordinate is doing."

Liv mightiness person been competing and surviving successful Spain by present if it had not been for the pandemic. Ray and his Australian woman Angela opted to enactment successful Brisbane, but Liv is expecting to walk up to 8 weeks this twelvemonth astatine the Catalunya Tennis Academy successful Barcelona.

Avoiding wounded during a maturation spurt

Liv lone resumed her afloat tennis docket successful October - aft an 18-month play successful which she did conscionable 4 to six hours a week to defender against overuse wounded successful puberty, and sapping enjoyment levels.

Ray was wary of the dangers from his acquisition successful elite football, which includes spells astatine some Paris St-Germain and Leicester City.

"It looks similar it's worked retired good arsenic she's travel done the different extremity with nary injuries," the 43-year-old says.

"She's 5 ft nine, 5 ft 10 maybe, and inactive growing. There's 2 girls we cognize of, who Livi's friends with.

"One went done a afloat enarthrosis reconstruction. One went done a wrist cognition - and that's purely conscionable for the magnitude of hours they are doing connected the tennis tribunal arsenic their assemblage is going done the change."

Liv added that "it was bully to person a break".

"We were trying to get retired of the regular of getting up for grooming each day," she said.

That regular changed further successful January, erstwhile Liv enrolled astatine Kelvin Grove State School connected a afloat tennis scholarship. At the disbursal of a mates of world subjects, she is present capable to bid for astir 8 hours a week during the schoolhouse day.

Paloma prefers football

Ray has not coached Liv for galore years, but was inactive picking up the balls successful the grooming sessions I watched connected a typically sunny and humid Brisbane day.

And astatine the property of eight, Paloma is present aged capable to connection her older sister a portion of seasoned proposal from the broadside of the court.

In Ray's archetypal program for his daughters - which ran to much than 100 pages - helium was going to make 2 champion tennis players.

He maintains that implicit a 10 to 15-year play helium could make a champion successful immoderate athletics - but that you person to enactment flexible.

"We gave her an accidental to effort tennis," Ray explains.

"We said to her you are going to person to take a athletics that you are possibly going to springiness a bully spell astatine and she chose shot implicit tennis, and we were blessed to enactment that.

"Now we person 1 tennis player, and 1 shot player. And they volition some play for England which is good, truthful hopefully 1 volition triumph a World Cup and the different volition triumph a golden medal astatine the Olympics."

Ray Wood and his girl Liv pictured successful 2016

What mightiness the aboriginal hold?

"You mightiness arsenic good bargain a lottery ticket" was the mode 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova summed up Ray's imagination erstwhile we discussed this past successful 2018.

"Champions are born, and past they person to person the close situation to beryllium made. Putting each the eggs into this 1 basket, it puts a batch of unit connected the kids," she added.

Ray's steadfast content is that anyone tin marque it to the top.

"I've worked with boys who were 11 oregon 12 erstwhile I worked successful the Premier League astatine Leicester City and a batch of radical would accidental these boys are ne'er going to get an accidental due to the fact that if Leicester request a subordinate they'll conscionable spell and bargain one.

"I've worked with players similar Luke Thomas and Harvey Barnes - and if they tin bash it, past my girl tin bash it and anyone's children tin bash it."

Ray says helium remains assured Liv volition marque it connected to the WTA Tour, and hopes Grand Slam titles volition follow. But this was the archetypal clip successful our 3 meetings I person heard him admit the communicative whitethorn not extremity successful rather that way.

"I'm ever a large instrumentality of aiming arsenic precocious arsenic possible, and if you autumn a spot abbreviated that mightiness inactive beryllium a bully outcome," helium says.

"I've ne'er ever told Livi this, but I deliberation for maine conscionable the accidental to get a assistance and question overseas and survey astatine a college, that would beryllium inactive a superb outcome. There was a small spot of science down it."

Coach Glenn Moodie and teenage tennis subordinate Liv Wood

One of Liv's coaches successful Brisbane is Glenn Moodie. Before the household headed disconnected for immoderate luncheon and an crystal bath successful betwixt sessions, helium drew parallels with Richard Williams.

"The statement implicit here, without anyone knowing the ins and outs of it all, was that helium was crazy," helium says.

"But I ever thought that helium was trying to make thing for his kids wherever if they didn't marque it they had a bully enactment ethic, bully morals and were processing bully habits to win successful immoderate they program to do.

"I ever thought that was bully provided they are not getting dragged connected to the court. It's a bold program but I deliberation you person got to person 1 - I deliberation you person to get determination by design.

"From what I've seen, I consciousness similar if she stays motivated and wants to bash it for herself, Liv could beryllium playing the Australian Open 1 time for sure."

You tin perceive to Russell Fuller's interrogation with Ray Wood connected 5 Live Sport from 21:00 GMT connected Monday, 13 March.

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