Spotlight on: Yuriko Lily Miyazaki
Lily Miyazaki enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ITF World Tennis Tour in 2022, winning the biggest title of her career at W60 Glasgow in October and ending the year (in which she competed in qualifying at all four Grand Slams) with a runner-up finish at W60 Kyoto.
The 27-year-old Brit, who began 2023 at a career-high No. 186 in the world, opens up on her entry into the sport, recounts facing a seven-year-old Belinda Bencic, and explains why going to college aided her progression in the sport.
I was born in Japan and lived there for five years. I moved to Switzerland due to my Dad’s work and that’s where I started tennis. I moved to London when I was 10 and I’ve been living there since then. My Dad enjoys playing tennis and tries to play every week. My mum plays a little bit as well. I have an older brother who joined a tennis club which is how I started getting into it.
Swiss tennis was taking off when I lived there. That was the time when Roger Federer had won his first Wimbledon and was just breaking through, so tennis was getting quite popular. Belinda Bencic is a couple years younger than me. I remember playing her at one of these local tournaments when I was about nine years old. She must have been about seven - she was really good back then as well!
We moved to London because of my Dad’s work. He found Sutton Tennis Academy, and they had a really good junior programme at the time. I stayed there from the age of 10-18 and then I went off to college in the States.
I went to the University of Oklahoma. My undergrad was in Maths, and I also did a Masters in Management of IT. I was over there for five years. I was lucky to have a scholarship for all five years, so I thought I might as well stay out there and make the most of it.
I had played quite a few ITF junior tournaments before that, especially in Europe, but I was quite physically small. I think I struggled because of that. Some girls were a lot bigger and stronger than me when I was a junior. That’s why I went off to college when I was 18. That helped me to develop physically, first of all. And tennis-wise as well, I was lucky that I had some good coaches out there. Once I graduated I was ready to go on the pro tour. I feel like my game is in a good place now. It’s going in the right direction.
Playing the ITF junior tour, you still travel a lot. In that sense, when I went on the Tour, playing 15ks in middle-of-nowhere places sometimes, maybe I was prepared for it. This year I’ve managed to go to all the Grand Slams and every time I’ve been kind of overwhelmed by the whole event and experience of it. I definitely appreciate being at those tournaments.
Going to college helped me because other girls my age would have been grinding on the tour for eight years or something by now, but for me it’s only been three years, so I’m still enjoying it and appreciating travelling. Off the court, when I’m home, I like to play a bit of golf, play a bit of piano and see friends.
I think British tennis is in a really good place right now. For me, personally, it’s been really great to hit at the National Tennis Centre with the other top British girls. Getting used to that higher level, having more higher-level tournaments as well in the UK, it’s really beneficial.
The main difference between players at lower-level (W15, W25s) and higher-level (W40, W60, W80 and W100) ITF tournaments is consistency. At the higher events, the girls are on it every single point. Maybe at the 15ks, some girls have lapses in focus, but I’ve found at the higher levels you just have to be on it every point.
I try not to get too consumed by rankings. My goal for 2023 is to try and push on well into the Top 200 and then obviously try and qualify for a Grand Slam.