Haydon in strong form after success in Liverpool

Alex Haydon has started the year in good form on the PSA Challenger Tour, highlighted by last week’s semi-final appearance at the Liverpool Cricket Club Open in the UK.

Going into the tournament as the fourth seed, Haydon had a comfortable first round victory, however her next two matches provided lessons in what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

In the quarter finals, Haydon successfully navigated her way out of dropping the first two games to record a memorable 3-2 victory over eighth seed Ali Loke from Wales (5-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9).

She couldn’t repeat that magic in the semi-final, with second seed and eventual runner-up Alicia Mead (England) overcoming a 2-1 deficit to claim the final two games and victory (8-11, 11-6, 1-11, 11-3, 11-3). 

“My quarter final match took a lot of mental and physical strength to come back from 2-0 down and against that particular style of play,” said Haydon. “I did feel a bit fatigued going into my semi final which made it hard to keep the quality and intensity as high as I would have liked.

“It’s all about learning to back up match after match to win these events and finding ways to win even when fatigued, let alone backing up tournament after tournament amongst all the travel.”

The 21-year-old is getting used to the city-hopping which comes with being a professional athlete, believing the difficult times on the road can still be turned into a positive.

“The best part has been the new and exciting places and people I’ve been lucky enough to visit and meet,” said Haydon. “I also love how much I am learning and growing from all these high and low experiences.

“I’m enjoying all the new perspectives and expanding my horizons. The hardest part is that there are a lot of uncomfortable feelings that come with being outside of your comfort zone, away from home and in foreign countries.

“Sometimes I miss that comfort of home and feel a bit out of whack from being on the move a lot. It’s all worth it though.

“The hardest parts are what makes the best parts so damn good and where we grow the most!”

Having played five tournaments in the space of seven weeks in Canada, the United States and England, Haydon is now in Edinburgh preparing for the PSA World Championships Qualifying event in Birmingham next week. Three wins is what it will take to make it into the World Championships draw for the first time, with Haydon believing her result in Liverpool stands her in good stead for Birmingham and the rest of the year ahead.
”It is exciting to feel the progress and improvements in my game coming along,” she said. “I was able to implement a lot of the things I've been working on in training.

“This event was a great confidence boost. It feels good to win consecutive matches and see improvements off the back of tough first round losses in other events.

“It's all part of the process. Time to keep working hard, knowing that I'm another step closer to winning my first PSA Challenger Tour title - one of my many goals for this year!”