高雄市的網球小將, 葛藍喬安娜, 在這次在OPI美傑士盃獲勝, 首次18歲A級冠軍, 16歲雙打冠軍, 雙料冠軍, 完美的結束這次的比賽。
葛藍喬安娜本人是台英混血兒, 10歲時搬來住台灣 。由爸爸是啟蒙教練, 大概在7、8歲接網球, 10歲開始參加比賽。
這是小混兒連續第五年參加本賽事, 她在不同的四個歲組拿下四冠。2012年在12歲會內第二輪止步, 2013年搭配國小同學陳延玲拿下12歲組雙打冠軍, 2014年a級單打首冠, 14歲組冠軍, 去年可惜14歲組單打冠亞不小心輸掉, 16歲組雙打也季軍, 今年拿下18單16, 雙料冠軍。
喬安娜去年失去14歲冠軍門票往新加坡參加WTA未來之星比賽, 今年馬上挑戰18歲組, 我們來聽她對這次比賽的心得 :
「我
去年還在拼14、16歲, 沒想到這次會拿冠軍
。因為去年14歲冠亞軍沒拿下, 這次很想拼回16歲冠軍, 去新加坡參加未來之星, 但我爸覺得這應該是最後一次打國內的比賽了, 就挑戰看看18歲組吧。」
「剛到台北時一直下雨, 來了三天沒賽程, 練球時間也短短不到一小時, 在這種情況下要知道怎麼處理。前三場比賽表現的不是很好, 但到了四強遇到白雅妘就放開打, 多主動, 6-0, 6-3拿下, 第一次贏她。冠亞軍碰上自己的學姊夏荷喬, 輸過幾次了, 這也是第一次贏。」
喬安娜也笑笑的說: 「其實我原本忘了有WTA名日之星, 但拿下18歲組單打冠軍就很開心, 覺得沒去也沒關稀, 替學妹李冠儀(14歲組冠軍)及卓宜岑(16歲組冠軍)開心。」
今年也是本賽事首次看到14、16、18的單打冠軍集中在同一場比賽, 由明日之星組合李冠儀/卓宜岑 對上葛藍喬安娜/張庭沛。緊張又刺激又精彩的一場比賽, 最後由葛藍喬安娜/張庭沛6-2, 4-6, 13-11險勝
「我這次拿下冠軍真的很開心, 因為全中運剛拿下兩金, 我想證明那不是意外, 不是運氣好。首先要感謝佘志倫教練指導, 他一直對我很有信心, 而且他來台北帶隊已經10天了, 很辛苦。還要感謝爸、媽和弟弟們的配合, 媽媽回英國照顧爺爺奶奶, 帶弟弟回去唸書, 但為了讓我待在台灣訓練及比賽, 爸爸就要留在台灣照顧我, 見不到媽媽和弟弟。希望往我之後能往更高層級邁進。」- 葛藍喬安娜, 2016/04/15
Kaohsiung's 14 year old tennis player Joanna wins the 18u singles and 16u doubles at the national championships, and becomes national champion for the fourth time.
joanna garland is half british, half taiwanese. her family moved to taiwan when she was 10. she started tennis at the around the age of 7-8 with her dad as her coach. she started playing COMPETITIVE tennis at the age of 10.
this is the fifth year in a row joanna has taken part in the nationals. in 2012 she lost in the first round of the 12u singles, in 2013 she won the 12u doubles partnering her team mate yen-ling chen. in 2014 she won the 14u singles, in only her first year of 14s, competing with the age group above her. last year UNFORTUNATELY she lost in the finals of the 14u singles, and came third place in the 16u doubles, but this year she managed to make up for last years losses, winning the 18u singles and the 16u doubles.
last year she lost the chance to represent taiwan in the 14u wta future stars event in singapore, this year suddenly jumping to 18u whilst she had the chance to represent the country in 16s, here is what she had to say :
"Last year i was still FOCUSING ON 14 AND 16U'S , i never imagined this year i'd be capable of winning the 18u nationals. because i lost in the final of the 14u's last year, this year i wanted to win back the title of the 16s and represent taiwan in the wta future stars event in singapore (only has 14s and 16s), but my dad said it's the last time i'm going to play the nationals, why not have a go at 18u?"
"When i firsT ARRIVED AT TAIPEI THIS WEEK IT KEPT ON RAINING, AND I WAS HERE THREE DAYS WITHOUT ANY MATCHES. PRACTICE WAS SHORT, LESS THAN AN HOUR EVERY DAY. THESE ARE SITUATIONS YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH. I DIDN'T PERFORM SO WELL IN MY FIRST THREE MATCHES, BUT IN THE SEMI-FINAL AGAINST YA-YUN PAI, I PLAYED AGGRESSIVELY, WITHOUT PRESSURE, AND WON 6-0, 6-3, BEATING HER FOR THE FIRST TIME. IN THE FINAL I ALSO BEAT HO-CHIAO HSIA FOR THE FIRST TIME, 6-2, 6-2.
jOANNA HAD A BIG SMILE ON HER FACE AS SHE SAID : "TO TELL THE TRUTH I ACTUALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE WTA FUTURE STARS EVENT, BUT AFTER WINNING THE 18S IM PRETTY HAPPY WITH MYSELF, AND I'M ALSO HAPPY FOR K.LEE(14S CHAMPION) AND Y.CHO(16S CHAMPION) WHO ARE GOING TO REPRESENT TAIWAN THIS YEAR.
THIS YEAR WAS ALSO THE FIRST EVER TIME IN THE NATIONALS WHERE GOT TO SEE THE 14U , 16U AND 18U SINGLES CHAMPIONS ALL TAKE PART IN ONE DOUBLES MATCH. WTA FUTURE STARS PAIR K.LEE AND Y.CHO VS J.GARLAND AND T.CHANG, A NERVE-RACKING, CLOSE MATCH. IN THE END gARLAND AND CHANG TOOK THE TITLE WINNING 6-2, 4-6, 13-11.
"i'M REALLY HAPPY FOR MYSELF FOR WINNING THE 18U NATIONALS, BECAUSE I RECENTLY WON TWO GOLD MEDALS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS GAMES, AND I WANTED TO PROVE IT WASN'T A ONE OFF, AND I DIDN'T WIN BY LUCK. I'D LIKE TO THANK MY COACH CHI-LUN SHEH, HE ALWAYS HAS CONFIDENCE IN ME. AND HE'S BEEN HERE FOR ALL 10 DAYS OF THE TOURNAMENT LOOKING AFTER OUR TEAM PLAYERS, SO HE DESERVES A REST. I'D ALSO LIKE TO THANK MY MUM, DAD AND BROTHERS FOR HAVING TO COOPERATE WITH ME. MY MUM IS IN THE U.K LOOKING AFTER MY GRANDPARENTS, AND MY BROTHERS ARE ATTENDING LOCAL SCHOOL THERE, BUT SO I CAN TRAIN IN TAIWAN AND PLAY TOURNAMENTS AROUND ASIA, MY DAD IS IN TAIWAN LOOKING AFTER ME, SO HE DOESN'T GET TO SEE MY MUM AND MY BROTHERS. I HOPE I CAN TAKE MY TENNIS TO A NEW, HIGHER LEVEL, AND START PLAYING HIGHER GRADED INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS." - jOANNA GARLAND, 15/04/2016.
