Kaja Juvan blog: The hard court conundrum
Seventeen-year-old Slovenian Kaja Juvan has hit the ground running in her transition to the professional game - claiming her first Pro Circuit titles at $25,000 level this summer. In the second of a three-part blog series for the ITF, Juvan discusses the challenge of playing away from her favoured clay, making her Fed Cup debut, and reveals who inspires her in the game.
My favourite surface is clay, but last year I played a lot more matches on a hard court so I feel like I'm getting better, and more comfortable, on that surface. I played a final in Uzbekistan (in early June) on a hard court, so I'm really close. In Slovenia there are a lot more clay courts, so when I was younger I played every tournament on clay. I really love sliding to the ball and playing drop shots.
The game is a little bit slower on clay so I can add more spin, but I'm starting to enjoy the fast courts too. If you take the ball early, which I really love to do, then I feel like it's a little less physical. It means the points are shorter so your timing has to be perfect. I think the 2016 Junior Australian Open was only my second tournament on a hard court, but I'm getting there and I'm starting to relax more on it.
I made my Fed Cup debut last year, and it was great. I always love to represent my country, I grew up playing the European Championships and the summer cups. We don't usually have the opportunity to play with other Slovenian girls and we mostly practice at home, so it's really nice to practice together in the Fed Cup environment. I get on really well with all of them. My Fed Cup experience was on hard courts so I was struggling a bit, and maybe I was a bit under pressure because it was my first time, but I loved the experience. I love the fact that the crowd is so loud and everyone is cheering for their country. It's really nice to see and there's a good team spirit.
Tamara Zidansek is one of the Slovenian players I look up to. She's just broken into the Top 100. We've practised together a bunch of times and it's really nice to see her going up. Her game is really nice. She also plays a lot of spin. I feel like she's a player that I've seen improve and I can look up to her. My coach talks to her coach and it's nice to see her climbing the rankings and that I can follow her. It's nice to see someone in your country doing well.
As for my favourite player, this is really basic, but I really, really like Roger Federer. I really like how he takes so much time away from his opponents. He plays really aggressive but also defensive. If I am able to do that then I'll be able to play on a higher level.
Kaja Juvan was speaking to the ITF's Jamie Renton, who put this blog together on her behalf. Her third blog, in which she discusses how she got into tennis, her journey through juniors and what it meant to her to collect a junior Grand Slam title in doubles, will be published on Friday.