JORDANNE Whiley is not expecting to return to court until next month despite the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Tennis was among the group of sports cleared by the government for a limited restart last month.
Without the coronavirus pandemic, this weekend the 27-year-old, who lives in Steventon, would have been hoping to claim a third French Open wheelchair doubles title.
That attempt will have to wait until the autumn and with Wimbledon later this month cancelled altogether, Whiley intends to wait until her normal facilities reopen before resuming regular tennis sessions.
She said: “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.
“The LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) 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.”
The most beneficial part of the support has been the one-to-one online sessions with the LTA’s fitness coaches.
The world No 5 said: “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.”
Whiley is the only British player to have won all four major titles in a single year, 2014, alongside doubles partner Yui Kamiji.
After the pair won in Australia in January they were aiming for a repeat, which is now on hold after the loss of Wimbledon from the calendar.
Whiley, who is also aiming to compete at the rescheduled Tokyo Paralympics next year, said: “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.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here