Maia Lumsden wins first tennis tournament back after 10-month lay-off

Lenzie-based tennis star Maia Lumsden put 10 months of injury and lockdown frustration behind her by winning her first tournament back.
By Craig Goldthorp
Published 16th Jul 2020, 15:40 BST
Updated 16th Jul 2020, 15:42 BST
Maia Lumsden was victorious on her return to competitive tennis action in London last weekend.Maia Lumsden was victorious on her return to competitive tennis action in London last weekend.
Maia Lumsden was victorious on her return to competitive tennis action in London last weekend.

After victories in three earlier rounds in the week two event of the LTA Series’ British Tour, Maia (22) saw off Alicia Dudeney 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 in Sunday’s dramatic final at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, London.

“It was a good win because it was my first tournament since September due to being injured before the lockdown,” second seed Maia – Scotland’s number one ranked women’s player – told the Kirkintilloch Herald.

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“I didn’t really have any expectations as I hadn’t played for so long.

“I was just trying to focus on playing my game.

“I don’t think I played my best in the final.

“She (Dudeney) was playing really well and had beaten the top seed in an earlier round.

“I was not playing great in the first set but then I started playing better in the second set.

“Just to win a close one is good. I was the favourite but it was a tough one.

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“It’s obviously been so long since I had those feelings in a competitive match so that’s good to have going into the tournament this week.

“It was a bit strange because it’s the longest I’ve never played a tournament for.

“But after a couple of matches I started to get into it a bit. Everything was so different from normal tournaments with all the rules and guidelines (due to coronavirus restrictions).”

Maia is this week playing in a St George’s Hill Pro Series event, also in London.

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“I’ll probably just stay in London for a few weeks and play events,” she added.

“There are no tournaments in Scotland so I’ll just play these ones in London for the rest of the month.”

Meanwhile, Maia is one of 11 young Scottish stars getting tailored coaching, funding and promotional support from Tennis Scotland as part of a new agreement.

They will have access to centralised training in conjunction with the University of Stirling, home to the Scottish National Tennis Centre and GB National Tennis Academy.

In addition, they will receive expert sport science and medicine support via the sportscotland Institute for Sport and financial grants.

Related topics:LondonScotland