Jordanne Whiley sets her sights on more tennis glory

But with the coronavirus meaning the Halesowen wheelchair tennis star is unable to repeat that success this week, she has her sights firmly set on future glory.

The British number one is the only player from these shores to have won a calendar year Grand Slam in any discipline after she and doubles partner Yui Kamiji, from Japan, won the women’s doubles wheelchair titles at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2014.

The pair won their tenth Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open – Whiley’s first title since becoming a mother – but the possibility of them repeating their 2014 triumph was stopped in its tracks by the coronavirus. “The last time I played at Roland Garros, in 2017, I had just found out I was pregnant with Jackson and I’ve worked hard to get back to automatic qualification for the Grand Slams, so it’s a real shame,” Whiley said, who is engaged to fellow wheelchair tennis player Marc McCarroll.

“I said to Yui after Australia, ‘Shall we try and get the calendar Slam again?’. I was definitely confident we could do it, so we’ll just have to wait and see if we get the chance to do it next year.”

The French Open has rescheduled its dates, now aiming to take place in September, only a week after the US Open finishes, which is still scheduled to take place.

Wimbledon has since been cancelled, alongside the LTA’s British Open Wheelchair Championships in Nottingham. “Wimbledon’s my favourite tournament of the year,” Whiley added.

“It’s my home Grand Slam, me and Yui have had so much success there with four titles in a row and Marc and I got engaged there last year, so it’s such a special place to us all and it will be strange not to be there again this year.”

The easing of lockdown restrictions now means that players can return to the court while observing social distancing and safety protocols, however the 27-year-old has decided not to return to on-court training until July.

“I train at the White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre in Abingdon and as a multi-purpose facility it’s not open yet, but I’ve still been training at home six days a week,” she said.

“The LTA have been great I’ve had regular contact with them, I had a set of wheelchair rollers sent to me early in lockdown and an FK Pro suspended bodyweight system that goes over the door, so I could do push ups, pull ups and exercises like that.

“But the one thing that’s been most beneficial is the one-to-one online access to our LTA strength and conditioning coach Alex Cockram and LTA physio Sam. They take me through regular shoulder maintenance sessions, and it helps massively to be able to do that together.

“I’ve also been able to get out on my own hand bike in all the nice weather.”