Welcome to Kamilla Bartone’s blog. The 17-year-old has enjoyed a promising campaign, reaching the quarter-finals of two Junior Grand Slams and qualifying for the season-ending ITF Junior Finals in Chengdu. 2020 promises to be a big year for Bartone, who intends to make the transition from Juniors and play an increasing number of professional tournaments. Bartone will be writing regular pieces for the ITF and providing insight into life as an aspiring player. Follow her progress here.

Achilles injuries can be nasty and after reluctantly withdrawing from the ITF Junior Finals in Chengdu in late October I have returned to full fitness and I am back on the practice court.

It was such a shame to have to pull out of the ITF Junior Finals so early as it’s an event I have wanted to compete at for years.

I have spoken before about my former coach Jelena Jakovleva bringing me a gift – a cuddly panda – back from Chengdu when her daughter, Jelena Ostapenko, contested the first ITF Junior Finals in 2015.

Ever since, the panda has sat on a shelf in my bedroom and acted as a source of motivation, inspiring me to work hard and to ensure that one day I qualified for the season-ending tournament.

Once there, it didn’t quite pan out as I expected but I couldn’t risk aggravating the Achilles problem and being sidelined for anything up to six months – it’s such a dangerous injury.

It was crucial that I took some time off and worked through the rehabilitation advice of my doctor. Thankfully, I feel much better now and I’m up and running again.

I may have one more tournament to play before Christmas, but I am effectively in pre-season and fully focused on improving my game before the 2020 campaign.

Under the supervision of my coaches, Jasmin Woehr and Barbara Rittner, I am currently training in Stuttgart and really looking to clean my technique and improve my fitness for the new season.

In terms of my technique, I want to have more consistency with my shots, so they are not different every time, showcase a better forehand and a more potent serve.

It is a relentless schedule. For six days a week, I wake at 7.30am and have breakfast, usually porridge with honey and fruits, before heading off to fitness training, which lasts for an hour and a half.

From 10.30am until 12 noon it’s tennis practice and then lunch, after which I try and get some rest and maybe a power nap. Tennis practice starts again at 2pm before more fitness and conditioning work at 4pm.

During the early stage of the week the fitness regime tends to be intense, whereas towards the back end there is a greater emphasis on core and stability work. Needless to say, as we get towards Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I am very tired.

That said, I know I must work hard if I want to build on a positive year and move my career forward during the next 12 months.

When I reflect on 2019, I look back fondly having reached the quarter-finals of two Junior Grand Slams – the Australian Open and US Open. On both occasions, I lost to the eventual champion.

Alongside my very good friend Oksana Selekhmeteva, I was also crowned doubles champions at Flushing Meadows, while we also made the SW19 final.

Overall, I was happy with my season, while there were some aspects I absolutely loved: the Australian Open and Wimbledon were particular highlights.

The people are so nice and kind in Melbourne, while Wimbledon is something else and the atmosphere is amazing there. I also really enjoyed wearing all white.

I have always said that if I wasn’t a tennis player I’d like to be a model. They are fashion icons who always look beautiful and confident. Wearing those white outfits at Wimbledon, I remember feeling like royalty.

But while providing happy memories, that is now the past and I am intent on seeing real improvements in my game. My intention is to enter the girls’ draw at the Australian Open in January, although my coach has said that is likely to be my last Junior Grand Slam.

If that does prove to be the case, I will be doing everything possible to go out on a high as a Junior Grand Slam title would be amazing. After Melbourne, I will be entering a greater number of professional tournaments.

There is a lot of hard work to do between then and now, but I am also very much looking forward to spending some time off over Christmas. It’s important to enjoy down time and regenerate before going again.

I am not a huge fan of winter generally but I do value the holidays as it is a lovely time of year with plenty of presents and sometimes snow.

I will probably go to Belarus for my break, where I have family. I am very much looking forward to spending time with my mum and dad and my siblings as I see so little of them during the year.

Family time is the only thing on my Christmas wish list this year.