| 30/12/2009 | The Last Three Months |
Email
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WORLD SINGLES TITLES WON: 6
WORLD DOUBLES TITLES WON: 12
HIGHEST RANKING
2009 - 99
2008 - 110
2006 - 166
2005 - 408
2004 - 416
2003 - 857
Next stop: USA
June
TRAINING BLOCK
First Round- Wimbledon Championships Singles
Second Round - Wimbledon Championships Doubles
First Round - Wimbledon Championships Mixed Doubles
Final Round - AEGON International qualifying draw
Second Round - AEGON Classic, Birmingham Main Draw
1/4 FINAL - Nottingham Main Draw
First Round - Nottingham Main Draw Doubles
May
First Round - French Open Main Draw
AEGON Team Tennis v Wilton
AEGON Team Tennis v Hampden Park
April
TRAINING BLOCK
March
Second Round - 4,500K Sony Ericsson Qualifying Draw
First Round - 4,500K Indian Wells Qualifying Draw
February
First Round - 50K Clearwater Main Draw
First Round - 220K Memphis Main Draw
Federation Cup in Estonia
January
First Round - Australian Open Main Draw
Second Round - 600K Sydney International Main Draw
WINNER - 600K Sydney International Qualifying Draw
First Round - 220K Brisbane International Qualifying Draw
December
Training in Australia
November
Nominated for Player of the Year Award
WINNER - 75K Tokyo Doubles Main Draw
1/4 FINAL - 75K Tokyo Main Draw
Second Round - 50K Kolkata Main Draw
FINAL - 25K Pune Main Draw
Training in Sydney
October
WINNER - 25K Port Pirie Main Draw
FINAL - 25K Mount Gambier Main Draw
FINAL - 25K Traralgon Main Draw
September
First Round - Tier 1V Korean Open Main Draw
Final Round - Tier 1V Korean Open Qualifying Round
First Round - Tier 1 Toray Tokyo Open Qualifying Draw
August
Final Round - US Open Qualifying Draw
Second Round - 50K Bronx Main Draw
FINAL - Monterrey Main Draw Doubles
First Round - Monterrey Main Draw
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| 1/07/2009 | ROAD TO THE US OPEN |
Melanie is now training on hard courts in preparation for her trip to America.
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| 29/06/2009 | BACK TO TRAINING |
Melanie will be back at the NTC this week and continuing her training block with Jez.
Follow Melanie's updates on Twitter
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| 28/06/2009 | RACE FOR LIFE |
Today Melanie will be doing the 5K Race for Life in Richmond in aid of Cancer Research.
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| 27/06/2009 | MELANIE IN WIMBLEDON PARK TODAY |
Melanie will be one of the professional players hitting with youngsters in Wimbledon Park today.
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| 26/06/2009 | SECOND ROUND DOUBLES |
Ladies' Doubles - 2nd Round
Anna-Lena Groenefeld(GER)[12] /Vania King(USA)[12]
v
Jocelyn Rae(GBR) /Melanie South(GBR)
Second match on Court 4
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| 26/06/2009 | South hits back at Wimbledon critics |
New Malden’s Mel South has admitted criticism levelled against British performances at Wimbledon has been hard to take considering the strides she has made this season.
The 23-year-old and partner Alex Bogdanovic exited the mixed doubles yesterday 7-5 6-3 to Dutchman Rogier Wassen and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn on court four on Thursday to continue their country’s miserable showing in SW19.
Only two Brits - including world number three Andy Murray - reached the second round of the singles events with nine bowing out at the first hurdle, while they have fared little better in the doubles.
Elena Baltacha exited the women’s singles on Thursday and insisted people need to put her performances and those of her compatriots in the context of their efforts across the last 12 months.
South has improved her ranking year on year since turning professional - breaking into the world’s top 100 in February - and is one of five British girls inside the top 200 - three years ago only British number one Anne Keothavong was ranked 141st.
The world number 129 made a tearful first round singles exit last week but believes the media hype surrounding Wimbledon masks the hard work done in the far flung corners of the globe this year.
“People have to remember this is not our only tournament. No-one sees the hard work that is done throughout the year,” she said.
“I think women’s tennis in this country has improved significantly. Most of the girls were taken to three sets in the first round. Things were close to happening for us.
“You can’t read too much into one tournament. Everyone is working hard and doing the right thing and we are progressing. Standards improve each year and each year the first round here gets tougher.
“It is hard to take when you are criticised for one performance and that is the most frustrating thing.”
South and doubles partner Jocelyn Rae play 12th seeds Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and America’s Vania King on court four today and the former Holy Cross School student is determined to extend her stay in the tournament.
“We want to get into the second week and that would be a major achievement, but we can only take each game as it comes and hopefully we can get through,” she added.
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| 25/06/2009 | MIXED DOUBLES |
After serving up 9 aces between them, sadly Melanie and Alex lost to the older and more experienced Wassen/Tanasugarn 5-7 3-6 on another lovely sunny day at Wimbledon.
Melanie and Alex will be on court later today to play their mixed doubles v Rogier Wassen (NED) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA). They will follow Venus and Serena Williams who are playing their 2nd round doubles match onto Court 4.
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| 24/06/2009 | DOUBLES DAY |
Mel South and Jocelyn Rae won 6-1, 7-6(4) v Kateryna and Alona Bondarenko, having saved several set points at 3-5 down in the second set. They now face 12th seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Vania King in round two.
From LTA site:
Jocelyn Rae and Mel South produced the win of the day by defeating the 2008 Australian Open winners, Ukrainians Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 7-6(4) on Court 5.
http://www.lta.org.uk/News/All-news-items/2009-06-22/More-Brits-progress-in-doubles/
Early morning training with Jez today is followed by hitting on the grass at Wimbledon before heading over to Court 5 to play first round doubles with Jos.
Weather is lovely again, sunshine and blue skies.
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| 23/06/2009 | Teary Mel South admits to Wimbledon regrets Summer |
Summer Sports / Tennis
Posted: Tuesday 23rd June 2009 | 11:48
MEL South was left in tears after her Wimbledon tennis campaign ended in virtual darkness.
South's recent form has seen her qualify automatically for the Australian and French Open.
She's taken time out in recent weeks to focus on improving her fitness and has fallen down the rankings as a result.
And her hard work in the gym didn't pay dividends as she narrowly lost 7-5, 7-6 to France's world number 86 Mathilde Johansson on court one - her first appearance on one of Wimbledon's show courts.
"I'm pretty gutted that I lost that match," she said.
"Going in there everything was going well for me, I'd prepared really well and I felt really strong going into the match.
"I felt good going on to court one. I'm really upset with myself that I didn't really perform like I know I can and show what I can do.
"I've worked really hard in the last couple of months and I couldn't really put that into my play.
"The late schedule didn't help me but it was the same for everyone and I'm not going to complain about it."
South's focus will now be to climb the rankings again, having reached a career high 99 in February.
"In terms of my career, I've only just started the hard training that is specific to me and I've made a lot of gains over the last couple of months," she added.
"By next year, I'll be in the best physical shape of my career and I think I'll be able to develop my tennis even further and show that I have got huge potential.
"Wimbledon is the tournament everyone focuses on and that's why I'm so disappointed to lose - but I'll be back stronger next year."
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| 23/06/2009 | READ, WATCH, FOLLOW |
Read
Melanie's latest blog on the LTA site. 'The rock & roll life of a pro'
Watch
Mel South takes BBC Sport's Last Word challenge
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8098053.stm
Follow
Melanie on Twitter and Facebook
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| 23/06/2009 | STRAIGHT BACK TO TRAINING |
Tuesday, Melanie will be up early this morning and training with Jez.
Wednesday, may be doubles day with Jos.
Sunday, Melanie will participate in the Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research in memory of a close friend.
Follow Melanie on Twitter.
From BBC Sport
Britain's Melanie South lost a tight match 7-5 7-6 (7-5) to Mathilde Johansson on day one at Wimbledon.
In gloomy conditions at 2100 BST, South faced match point in the second set but rallied to win the next three points and take the match to a tie-break.
But South, who had lost the first set 7-5, lost it 7-6 (5) to the Frenchwoman.
However, as the sun disappeared on Wimbledon's opening day, South, Britain's number four, battled bravely but was eventually outclassed by France's Johansson on Court One.
South, who reached the second round three years ago, bounced back from losing the first two games but dropped her serve in the 12th game to lose the first set 7-5.
The 23-year-old from Surrey did brilliantly to save a match point in the 10th game of the second set to force a tie-break.
South trailed 2-0 but edged ahead when Johannson double-faulted, but the French player held her nerve to take the tie-break 7-5.
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