Having first heard about Tennis Europe while playing the Nationals in the UK at a young age, Tara Lawal has been a regular on the Junior Tour for the past couple of seasons. With ever-improving results, the Brit landed in the Top 8 of the Race to Monte-Carlo earlier in the year, so we met up to ask for her thoughts on the Junior Tour so far…
How did you first hear about the tour?
There is always the blue and white banner! But I've known what Tennis Europe is for a while and then I started playing them and last year I went abroad for tournaments.
And what has your experience been so far on the tour?
I think that the TEJT events are organized really well. Sometimes when you go to an event, they would give you transport or shuttles or accommodation - that mostly happens at the French tournaments I’ve been to. For me, the French tournaments in Europe are really good. Of course, local events are easier to get to by car, but each event has its own individual feel.
What’s been your favourite tournament?
I really liked Les Petit As. It's really cool, with the warehouses and the lighting and the stands, it’s a really cool environment to be around and even the games and extra activities. I just feel like it's a very cool opportunity and I was glad to be able to play it this year. There was another tournament called Tim Essonne, which I really liked as well - the transport, the courts and the dinner area and how it was set up as well.
How did you first get into tennis and when did you think “I want to dedicate my time/my life to tennis”?
When I was three years old, my mother watched a lot of tennis, so she decided to put me in some tennis lessons. I only played for half an hour a week and I wasn't very good. And then when I turned seven, I played my first tennis tournament, and I was still really bad (laughs).
You can’t have been that bad!
Well…. I was hitting all the balls into the car park!! (laughs) So that's when I started playing a bit more, maybe twice a week for an hour. And then when I turned eight, I went to this club called Batchwood and they had a program called Tarbes, which is the pathway to Les Petits As. So that was cool. I became more serious about tennis when I turned ten and when I started playing more competitively. When I turned ten, I also had a better perspective of the sport, I would say.
With playing so much and maybe traveling more than before, how do you combine that with schooling and education?
At my school I have loads of WhatsApp groups with my friends who will send me work or I have Google Teams.
What are your favorite subjects?
I like Physical Education and English quite a lot. One of the subjects that I really like is drama. I really like acting and performing movements and like doing things in class. A lot of the time you just have to just sit down and work, so I think drama is a really good and active.
What are your goals this year and beyond?
I want to develop as a player because sometimes I have a good game, but I don't really put it together or perform well so I really want to be able to perform at a high level consistently over various tournaments.
Do you have any hobbies or other interests that you do in your spare time?
I really like athletics and like I mentioned I really like drama as well. So, I also enjoy long jump and the hundred-metre sprint and 75m hurdles. I really like cooking as well. I cook most of my meals at home.
For everyone or just for yourself?
(laughs) Sometimes for my siblings … but, yes, I do really like food! (laughs)
So you cook, travel, play tennis, athletics …That's pretty impressive!
I also really like dancing! I make loads of reels on Instagram because I’m not allowed to use TikTok, but I do really enjoy dancing! I like making dances, following dances with my siblings or my friends or by myself.
Who are your best friends on the tour?
(laughs) I have lots of friends on the tour, British friends … but also when I go abroad, I meet a lot of new people and it's nice to see their faces. I am quite good friends with the British girls, and I also like seeing some other girls. Sometimes when you go to a tournament, you’ll see a person over and over again, maybe even exchange numbers and then you come back a year after and you see each other again and it's quite nice.
How does it feel when you have to play against friends?
Especially at tournaments abroad and when a lot of your friends go with you the draw is designed so you're not really supposed to play each other for a while. You have to both do really well, but when I'm back in England you do play your friends a lot, and we would be really interactive with each other, but then maybe when the match before us is about to finish, you get into “the zone” and go away from your friends. Even tournaments abroad, I’ll be with my friends but when one of us has a match, you have to kind of leave the group and start warming up, but after you finish your match, and you cool down you can go back to your friends.
Looking at the professional tour, do you have any favorite players?
I really like Rafael Nadal. I think he's the best of the top three. I know Djokovic is winning the race, but I still think Rafa is number one. I really, really like Coco Gauff. I think she's an inspiration in her level of athleticism as well. I like Leylah Fernandez a lot. I like her composure on court. I like the way she composes herself, especially after big points. I also like watching some players like Sabalenka. She hits the ball quite hard over and over and I watch her and see how she does it. Sometimes I watch people and then I try to mimic their game instead of following it. Obviously, there are a lot of professionals that I love and love watching, like some of the ones I just mentioned or whose game is closer to mine, that's why I would pick them specifically.
What’s your tennis dream?
(thinks for a long time) I want to win Wimbledon and I want to be number one.
Those are great goals! Thanks again for your time and good luck!
