Australian tennis coach Beti Sekulovski joined tennis reporter Jedd Zetzer and former pro player Jake Eames in this weeks episode of The First Serve's 'Aussies Only' podcast.
The former pro player turned coach joined the show to provide an insight into her journey and revealed some of her coaching philosophies.
Sekulovski reminisced on her playing career, touching on her career highlight, making the second round of the Australian Open doubles with Cindy Watson in 2005.
"Probably six months prior to that I was actually contemplating giving up the game. I was suffering from a lot of injuries and kind of fell out of love with the game, Cindy (Watson) was someone I practiced with a lot, we shared the same coach. I just found a love of the game again and it lead into a really good summer. We played some really good doubles, I was really just enjoying it. Being able to play grand slam tennis and winning a round for the first time was unbelievable in front of family and friends. There's really nothing like it when you're hearing random people cheering you on from the side of the court and asking for your autograph. There's nothing like it to be honest," Sekulovski said.
Sekulovski touched on the Tennis Australia performance review and revealed her thoughts on the changes:
"It's interesting now that I'm in the private market, I'm getting a better feel for how it could possibly play out. I think it's really positive for coaches on the outside to have more involvement in their players development down the track, it creates the ability to be able to plan a little bit more long term. I think if we can collaborate more, it's a win win for everybody. You're going to have a kid who comes into a club and develops a relationship with a coach and I think it allows them to keep building on that relationship, that trust, and develop a longer process of thinking," Sekulovski explained.
Sekulovski also explained she feels it would be majorly beneficial for Australian players to have a base overseas: "I think it's great to have a base overseas. Hopefully that's something that's looked at in the future. I do believe for us to be competing with some of these players around the world, we need to be close to them. Having a base overseas would be fantastic," Sekulovski said.
To catch the full discussion with Beti, make sure to listen in below on your preferred podcast platform!