I’ve been looking back through all my posts this year on the blog and generally reflecting on the season. It’s been a different year as i’ve taken a bit of a step back from the blog and tennis. The last few months have been quite busy for me as i’ve moved roles at work into the realms of project management. I’ll also be moving house in the New Year. It will be nice when everything is more settled!
I’m proud to still be blogging after seven full seasons of covering the tennis. During 2018, I felt like I was slowly getting back to why I started the blog in the first place. I lost my way getting too focused on the visitor stats, spending the majority of my time churning out previews and predictions just to maintain the numbers. This was the first year where I stopped getting so worked up about trying to cover every tournament and accepted that this was OK. This was a big hurdle for me to overcome.
I’ve had a lot of comments throughout the year about cutting back on the previews/predictions. I know it hasn’t been a popular decision with many readers! I’ll still do them from time-to-time for the bigger tournaments but it’s not my focus anymore and I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to. The preview posts have such a short shelf life and are redundant within a few days. Most sites do the preview posts now. I always like to try and do something different, and have a unique selling point, otherwise there’s not much point in doing this.
The new season is nearly upon us and i’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been on a tennis detox since the ATP WTFs and have barely watched anything since then. As I write this, i’m enjoying the start of the Hopman Cup! I’m going to start the new season with renewed vigour but I do wonder how long that will last. I’m not making any promises like i’ve done in the past about the content on MTB. I will take it one day at a time and see whether I have the motivation. Read on for my blog highlights of the year…
1. Australian Open review
I always enjoy writing about my tennis trips as they are fun to read back in years time and hopefully, they help out other tennis fans. I love detail so I went all in with my post about visiting the Australian Open. I’ve had so many positive reactions and e-mails about this post. There’s rarely a day that goes by that I don’t think about Oz and i’ve been reliving our trip a lot lately since it’s nearly a year!
2. V.Williams vs. Kasatkina review
Watching back the Indian Wells semi-finals on Saturday morning without finding out the score has become a bit of a tradition for me over the past few years. I had high hopes for Venus vs. Dasha and it didn’t disappoint. I was so excited about the match that I reviewed it in its entirety on the blog.
3. Interviewing Johanna Konta
Without doubt, the highlight of Eastbourne was getting to do a one-to-one interview with Jo Konta. I still can’t believe this happened. I listen to the audio every now and then when i’m having a rough day. It’s always a nice confidence booster.
4. Kasatkina quotes
Another highlight from Eastbourne was getting to ask Daria Kasatkina questions in a press conference after her win over Alison Van Uytvanck. It was the first time that I had managed to ask one of my favourite players some questions in press.
5. Countdown of favourite matches
For the eighth year, I counted down my favourite matches of 2018. It’s become a tradition on Moo’s Tennis Blog! I always start the year with good intentions of keeping a list going and watching back the good matches but it doesn’t last long 🤣.
Thanks for all the support and wishing everyone a Happy Tennis New Year! Let’s see what happens in 2019… 😁
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I’m still a fan of the blog, I always enjoy reading what you have to say and I love talking with the other visitors here. I don’t even bother with any other blogs or forums… So you just do what you need to do. 🙂
Good luck with the new job! I made the decision to go to University as a mature student in September. I’ve always regretted not going. It’s been such a big change but a challenge that I’m really enjoying
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Cheers, Andrew. Really appreciate all your comments and enjoy reading them. That’s great about going to University! What are you studying? All the best with it 🙂
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Studying law. Not as random as it sounds, it’s something I wanted to do when I was younger but didn’t pursue because I was so into performing arts and was told I couldn’t really keep both options open.
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Sounds great. Good luck with it all 🙂
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Seven years is a great achievement, especially while working.
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Thanks, David 🙂
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Just a few thoughts about the British girls.
It’s great to see a new entrant in the top 100 (Katie Boulter); she’s 22 now and there’s every reason to think that she’s going to be a permanent fixture in the top 100 at least.
Harriet Dart’s just entered the top 150 for the first time and is the same age as Katie; her star’s clearly in the ascendant too. I think Harriet had rotten luck in that her first ever WTA main tour match was also Domi Cibulkova’s comeback match after foot surgery (at Eastbourne in 2015), so it was Domi who got all the attention.
Jo Konta’s got a new coach and I think she could also do well this year; I read an interview with her in the Guardian and she was sounding very focused and positive. Heather Watson’s back in the top 100 but seems to be a bit erratic at the moment; her game depends a lot on her ability to chase and run down shots as she doesn’t have any big weapons. When she’s playing well though she can beat much higher ranked players than her.
I think a combination of Heather’s retrieving skills and Naomi Broady’s serving would make quite a player. I’ve been watching Naomi’s serving videos on Twitter recently and she’s proved remarkably adept at aiming for and hitting targets; can’t help feeling though that with one of the best serves in the WTA and yet still languishing outside the top 200, she really ought to be focusing more on improving the rest of her game.
Laura Robson’s had hip surgery so it could be a while before she’s back to her best, but those of us who have fond memories of her standout season in 2013 will hope she makes it.
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Laura Robson really has been through the ringer with injuries! Such a shame…
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Yes she has; I hope her luck improves soon. I became a fan of Laura’s after her match against Petra in the 2013 AO, when the two of them fought it out for three hours in temperatures approaching 36^C (97^F). The score in the final set was something like 11-9 (to Laura). I started out wanting Petra to win but was rooting for Laura by the end of it.
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I’m quite encouraged by the British players coming through and I thought they all gave a good account of themselves at Wimbledon this year. I’d also mention Katie Swan who I was impressed with at Eastbourne.
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Oops James, I forgot Katie Swan! She made her WTA main draw debut (by her own efforts instead of being gifted wildcards) this year at the Nottingham Open and also made it into the top 200. So did Gabriella Taylor, another player I forgot about 🙂
There’s a Scottish girl whose name escapes me who’s also had a good season in 2018 and was just outside the top 200 the last time I looked (just looked it up – Maia Lumsden).
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Yeah I’m really enjoying the young British girls coming up through the rankings. Katie Boulter is such a likeable player and she has so much potential. Some big weapons and some areas which could be improved.
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