Jodie Burrage will tackle the “madness” of her first US Open sharing long-distant support with her Scotland rugby star boyfriend. The British No.2 organised her Saturday practise session here so she could watch scrum-half Ben White play in a Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Georgia.
And the busy sporting power couple will reverse roles tomorrow (Tues) when she plays her first main draw match in New York against Russian Anna Blinkova.
“Yeah it’s a bit of carnage right now,” laughed Nottingham finalist Burrage. “I wish he could be here and they won and he wishes I could be there. But he’s got a World Cup coming up and being here at a Grand Slam it’s pretty good. We’re both very very excited.”
Burrage revealed White, who is joining Toulon after London Irish went bust, does not help with her diet as he “eats whatever he wants”. She said: “He is always trying to put on weight and I am just like: Don’t buy it! Don’t have it in the house!’ And he pretty much smashes me in every fitness we do!”
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news
But the British No.2 added: “There is definitely a crossover in the mental side in just dealing with being a professional athlete. We want to stay there and want to keep going. And that is hard to talk about with someone who is not going through it. Speaking to him every day, he understands it. The pressures and all of that. I feel that mentally we can help each other that way.”
Burrage plans to fly to Marseille for Scotland’s opening match against South Africa on September 10 on her way to the Guangzhou Open in China.
But first the world No.96 will play her first main draw match outside Wimbledon after cracking the top 100. Her preparations also saw go to Court 10 to watch her friend Lily Miyazaki – who also works with coach Craig Veal – come through the final round of qualifying while Taylor Swift songs blared out over the tannoy.
“It definitely feels a bit surreal and Flushing Meadows is very different from Wimbledon,” Burrage said. “It’s madness out there but it’s great fun. It’s nice when you are friends you can enjoy success with them and hopefully next week we can do some damage in the main draw.”
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
British No.7 Miyazaki, who was born in Japan before moving to the UK with her family aged 10, had to extend her New York hotel stay after qualifying for her first overseas Grand Slam.
“I was supposed to check out today!” said the world No.198. “Obviously I am really happy. It feels great to qualify here. Playing Wimbledon last year was amazing. But as a wildcard, I don’t know if you truly believe like you belong.
“I think this time qualifying is giving me a lot of confidence and hopefully I can carry this momentum.”
Miyazaki, who has a degree in maths and an MA in IT management from the University of Oklahoma, is the first British singles player in action on Monday against Russian Margarita Betova. The other six start on Tuesday.
Source: Read Full Article