Former Canberra junior Annerly Poulos is hopeful mental toughness sharpened during last year's COVID layoff will underpin her charge at this week's UTR tournament at Lyneham.
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The 18-year-old, now based out of Brisbane, is back in her home town for one of two $25,000 events to be held at the Canberra Tennis Centre this month.
She heads into the event as second seed after a string of strong performances in Queensland already this year, built off the back of a productive enforced stay in Australia.
"With COVID and everything I was just training for the whole 12 months," Poulos said.
"Mentally it really helped me because the previous years before that I was constantly travelling around the world. Having the whole year off was a blessing because it finally gave me some time to rest, emotionally, physically, and really just catch up with family and spend time with them.
"Those are things that are important to me and I think it was just really good to finally balance things out."
Poulos said the rest had also worked wonders for the mental side of her game.
"Mental strength has always been a little down for me, when I was younger," Poulos said.
"I've had time to strengthen it and different techniques on what works for me when I'm on the court and especially off the court.
"It was very clear when I was training and when I was in matches [since COVID], I wouldn't react the same way, I'd be a lot more calm and my thoughts would be more organised.
"It helped me get the results that I've achieved because mental strength is so important and something that I haven't mastered yet either, I'm still working on it."
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Meanwhile, local boy Charlie Camus tuned up for this week's UTR tournament in perfect fashion after winning the 14 and under Australian Junior Claycourt Championship final in Canberra on Sunday.
Camus downed Queenslander Hayden Jones 4-6 6-1 6-3 in the final in preparation for his entry into the UTR men's draw.
"It's been great to have the championships in Canberra, with a home-ground advantage," Camus said.
"The courts have been looked after so well, and are in perfect condition".
The men's draw is spearheaded by South Australian Li Tu, who received a wildcard entry in this year's Australian Open.
He took a set off the Spanish former world number 12 Feliciano Lopez in Melbourne, but dropped the next three and missed the chance for a monumental first-round upset.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
