Vanda Lukacs, twenty three years old member of LOVE 4 TENNIS Academy, coached by Filip Havaj and Erik Csarnakovics, already adapted in the Bratislava based academy. Since joining us, she won her first singles title and third doubles title in Italian Santa Margherita Di Pula in October 2015. Recently she was very close to taking her second singles title, but she lost the final in Hammamet, Tunisia. She was excellently prepared for the tournament after two weeks of intensive training in the L4T Academy.  

In the beginning of 2016, there have been changes in preparation of the Hungarian player (No. 500 in the singles WTA rankings), that should bring positive results and more wins on tour. “Together with Vanda we were preparing for two weeks mainly because she did not play well on her first trip in Turkey in beginning of the new season. It was caused by the fact, she was preparing by herself during winter. It was hectic and she had to travel a lot. We analyzed her situation and we did not like her previous fitness training as well. We asked our fitness coach Pavel Smela to spend some time with her,” said Erik Csarnakovics.

In late February 2016, Vanda left for Turkey to play at two tournaments. First she reached the singles quarterfinal. “Few days before leaving, she played really well, similarly when she won the 10K event. Conditions in Tunisia were very difficult in the opening rounds of the first tournament. It was very windy and she lost very difficult quarterfinal match. Then I arrived to Tunisia to see her in action at the second tournament,” said head coach, whose decision proved to be right.

He immediately realized what was wrong. “She did not play like in training. I did expect it, because it is not possible to be dominant in training, beat guys in practice matches and then leave for 10K tournaments and loose in second, third round. It did not make any sense. I wanted to see the player beating Vanda,” asked himself questions head coach.

Vanda needs to show courage and active play from the training also in the competitive matches. That is her only chance to get closer to her dream – top 100 in the WTA rankings. “She is talented to play attacking tennis, not only defensive, passive play. She was trained not to make errors. This is our upcoming homework, to get rid of these habits, to make her feel comfortable on the courts. Details like forehand and backhand, that is not something I want to talk about, because once she gets rid of the pressure on tournaments, she will get beyond 10K level. We are also going to work on the movement, on her legs, on better coordination on the court and different game variations,” says Csarnakovics. But he knows that it won’t be easy. “She played 30% of her capability. She is afraid of making errors; she looks worried on the court. After successful results in quarterfinal and semi-final in Tunisia, she admitted, we need to work on it more. It is long term process; it won’t change in one day. We are considering help of mental coach. We are organizing tournament plans together with Filip Havaj. I think we have made a good team,” added head coach of the academy.

Hammamet, Tunisia, Hammamet Open, ITF, 10 000 USD, Clay, Outdoor:
Vanda LUKACS (HUN) [5]
1R: Yuliya KALABINA (RUS) [Q] 6-3 5-7 3-0 ret.
2R: Carla LUCERO (ARG) 6-3 6-1
QF: Isabella SHINIKOVA (BUL) [1] 7-6(6) 6-3
SF: Angelica MORATELLI (ITA) [7] 7-6(3) 7-6(4)
F: Julia GRABHER (AUT) [2] 3-6 3-6
Doubles partnering Tina TEHRANI (USA)  
1R: Cristina ENE (ROU) [3] / Jelena SIMIC (BIH) [3] 2-6 6-1 [10-5]
QF: Beatrice LOMBARDO (ITA) / Federica PRATI (ITA) 6-7(8) 6-7(3)