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Rosco will answer 10 new questions every Monday. Get in touch!
Why don’t you team up with Jamie Murray in the grand slams?
To be honest it has just been a matter of a couple or things – often we already have set partners so its tough to split just for the slams. Also we have not both been high on the rankings at the same time. I think Jamie is a very strong doubles player and I hope we will play a lot together in the future.
What’s the secret to a top spin (kick) serve?
The top-spin serve is a serve that is very effective once u have it. Try keep your shoulder turned as long as possible before contacting the ball, keep the ball toss over your head and not in front of you, brush up the back of the ball with the same acceleration as a first serve but just taking less of the ball on the strings. Good luck!
What basic strategy would you advise for two novice guys just starting to play lower level club tennis?
Do the basics well and don’t complicate things – a high first serve percentage makes it much easier for anybody in tennis. Take extra care on the tougher shots and closing the net down on easier volleys is always good. It’s really important to get confident that you can ‘groove’ returns in cross court and once you have that sorted try to experiment more.
After you qualified at Johannesburg this year, would you consider playing more singles tournaments?
I’ve been asked this a lot and I have thought about it on many occassions, but the hard part is that I’m at a high level on the tour now playing doubles and if i wanted to play singles i’d have to go to futures around the world. I am going to try play qualifying of some tour events where I can and hopefully do well in them!
Hi Ross, do you have a girlfriend?
Thanks for writing in. I do have a great girl, Lindsay, who i’ve been with for over seven years now – she has somehow put up with me all this time.
I overheard you say ‘bus lane’ to Hussy on court – what does that mean?
A very very good former partner taught me this over many matches we played together at county week – to this day my most successful partner! I have a feeling u may know what that one means, to anyone that doesn’t its big wide on the ad-court!
If you hadn’t gone into tennis, what would you be doing right now?
I reckon I’d still be a sportsman. I got pretty good at golf at a young age, so probably that. There’s a lot of money in football, but golf and tennis are the sports I’d advise kids to get into because they make you a more rounded individual
Do you reckon you’ll ever play singles again?
Never say never, but I don’t think so. It’d be tough to start from scratch. I hit a lot of singles in practice, which is far more fun and keeps up the enjoyment factor – if I beat a guy at singles I can brag a bit more because I’m not even a singles player!
What age did you start out in tennis?
I had a racket in my hand in the back garden at age five, but I properly started out aged six or seven
Have you got the 2012 Olympics in your sights?
Definitely! I’m going to try and turn out for England at the next Commonwealth Games next year in Delhi – I hope I get picked…
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