My life in sport: Sacha Jones

Sacha Jones. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland teenager Sacha Jones is beginning to make a habit of winning.

The 18-year-old won her first ITF US$10,000 tournament in the States in June, kicking off a winning run in which she raced up the world rankings.

This month, she won three straight US$25,000 tournaments in Australia, and made the semifinals of one other, leading her to the Kiwi No 1 spot.

Jones hopes her strong run of form continues in the US over the next two months. The talented teenager left for the States yesterday where she will play five tournaments before heading back to New Zealand for Christmas.

New Zealand No 1 - how does it feel?

It's a great feeling, it's also really cool that Marina [Erakovic] is back healthy again. Even though I'm number one it has sort of come about in strange circumstances because she's injured.

What inspired you to become a professional tennis player?

My older brother [GD Jones] is a professional tennis player as well and when I was younger I pretty much played every sport under the sun, but I probably showed the most promise in tennis. When I was 11 or 12, I was pretty much playing tennis most days, but I wasn't taking it that seriously and that's when I made the decision to really commit to the sport. I was already really involved with tennis so it was kind of just a natural progression.

Were there any other sports you fancied yourself as a future star in?

I played hockey for Auckland, and played a bit of netball for school, but I was more just an all-round athlete. I enjoyed the team sports for the social aspect as well. I guess you could say I was alright at hockey but I never wanted to pursue it professionally.

Describe your job.

If I'm training for example, it would be probably play tennis from 8-10am, then go do my gym programme and then play tennis probably 2-4pm and then depending on the day, some sort of running or fitness as well, five days a week. But it's very different when you're at a tournament. At a tournament all your energy is basically focused on playing your next game. You need to keep fresh and relaxed in your mind.

Are you in a position now when you can make a living out of the sport?

At this stage I'm still reliant on help from Tennis NZ and Sparc and support from my family. Hopefully it will change soon, because clearly there are many opportunities in tennis to make good money. We're pretty fortunate that it is one of the professional sports that once you're good enough you can make a decent living out of it.

What's the best thing about being a professional tennis player?

Getting to travel the world and getting to meet some really great people. You just learn so many things about life when you travel. It's obviously not going to last forever, but it's a great way to travel the world and discover different cultures.

And the worst thing?

The worst thing would have to be wasting time at airports every week, staying in a different place every week and missing the continuity of life really.

What's the greatest achievement of your sporting career?

I think probably winning the three tournaments in a row I've just won. I'd never actually won a tournament of that level before, so to win the first one was awesome and then I got three in a row, so I think that was definitely the most rewarding because I was playing girls ranked quite a lot higher than I was.

What was your darkest moment?

I've had quite a lot of injuries, which is not fun at all. It can be a really frustrating time. And last year was probably a year when I didn't have so much guidance from a good coach. So that was probably the toughest point in my career.

What's the one career ambition you'd like to realise before you retire?

I'm may be being over-ambitious, because I haven't reached that level yet, but I'd really like to win a grand slam.

Who is your sporting hero?

I have quite a few. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps, just because they are all just so dominant. If I had to single out a couple then I would say Roger Federer and Tiger Woods because not only are they great champions, but they really do a lot of good in the world as well with their foundations.

Tickets for the ASB Classic go on sale on Monday.

CV
2009: Became New Zealand number one after reaching a career high ranking of 208 on the back of three consecutive WTA tournament wins in Australia.
2008: Played in the main draw of the ASB Classic tournament in Auckland, losing in the first round to Russian Vera Zvonareva.
2007: Reached a career high of 11th in the junior world rankings. With older brother GD, became the first siblings to win their respective Residentials national titles in the same year.