Making the rounds in London

 

Since the ATP Finals, Maria has been making the rounds in London and taking advantage of her memberships of both The Queen’s Club and the All England Lawn Tennis Club before she heads home to Sao Paulo.

She had a hit with Philippa Coates at Queen’s, who was practising ahead of the club tournament final on Saturday in which she met an old adversary whom she had never beaten before.

“After hitting with Maria, I felt I could win,” she said at the Finals Day Dinner on Saturday. And so she did, very convincingly in fact – 6-2 6-2 against Hiroko Craven, a former WTA ranked player and a member of the Japanese National team who now teaches tennis at Duke’s Meadows.

Maria held up her end of the bargain and presented the prizes at the dinner.

“I told Phil that if she won her match, I’d attend the dinner and then they asked me to present the prizes, which I was very pleased to do!” Maria said. “It was a very pleasant evening in the President’s Room at Queen’s with about 100 people there.”

She was invited by the Vice Chairman, Stephen Raphael, who was thrilled at the new ladies champion’s result.

“Phil played so well, full of conviction and going for her shots from the very beginning. Her hit with Maria clearly inspired her!” he added.

“I love going back to Queen’s because I spent so much time there, practising for my matches at Wimbledon.

“I used to hit with Emmo [Roy Emerson] and Newk [John Newcombe] on the wood courts, which were very fast and a great way to prepare for the grass. In those days the grass at Wimbledon was very fast!

“Anyway, I have spent many hours and days at Queen’s over the years and it is nice to bring back all those memories.”

A few days later, Maria was, once again, at Wimbledon. This time she hit with Liz Bloxham, wife of Head Coach, Dan, and a coach herself, who is very much part of the Club’s Junior Tennis Initiative and The Road to Wimbledon programmes.

“We had a good hit indoors,” Maria said. “I just wish I could get to The Club more often as I always enjoy being here.”

During the ATP Finals at the O2, Maria had the opportunity to show a group of VIPs from Brazil around Wimbledon, which they really appreciated.

“This is not something that anyone can arrange to do so I was very happy to be able to host their visit. They got to play on the covered courts, had a tour of the Club and then lunch in the very fine restaurant before taking a tour of the Museum.

“After all that they took off to watch the matches at the O2!

“They were only in London for four days and packed a lot in, including several sessions of the finals.”

Wickwoods

Maria also took advantage of an invitation to visit Wickwoods Country Club, Hotel & Spa set amongst 22 acres of landscaped gardens and woodland within the South Downs National Park, near Brighton.

“We were so lucky with the weather and had a lovely drive down there where we were met by the Head Pro, Mark Weaver, who I have known for many years.

“He showed us around – it’s a lovely place – and we had a hit on the indoor courts together with Caroline, the captain of the ladies team, and Lewis Hall, the assistant coach, followed by a delicious lunch” Maria continued.

“It was such a privilege to have Maria here,” said Mark, who was ranked five in Great Britain aged 18 and reached the top 80 in the world.

“This is a relatively new project for me and I really wanted her to see the place as I think she would enjoy doing some sort of an appearance here, perhaps next year.

“We want get the place on the same level as Hurlingham and Queen’s and there are some quite ambitious plans in the pipeline to upgrade the facilities even further. It is very exciting!

It is certainly a lovely place at which members and guests enjoy the use of a comprehensive range of facilities, including a spectacular indoor heated swimming pool, sauna, steam room and hydro pool, all of which overlook the stunning mature woodland setting.

There is a fully equipped gym and several covered and flood-lit tennis courts as well as a modern fitness studio.

Set in tranquil gardens with large terraces, Wickwoods offers a comfortable bar, lounge and bistro dining at the Glass House.

Maria managed to get back to Wimbledon a few times during her latest stay and hosted several friends there for lunch.

Before returning home to Sao Paulo in early December, Maria said: “Its been a great visit and I think I timed it pretty well in terms of the weather as it has just now only got really cold!

“I’ll be going from minus four to thirty degrees so that will be quite a change!

“I’ve had a really good time and I particularly loved my new furry friend, Nelson! He grew quite a lot over the weeks of my stay and is very inquisitive and smart. Its been fun seeing him develop.

“I’ve always loved animals so to now have Nelson on the team is wonderful!”