Simon Carr Q&A: ‘I know I can compete with all the guys here, I’ve beaten most of them’

Seventeen-year-old Simon Carr on his first Grand Slam in Melbourne, his famous father and his dreams for the future...

Q: The Australian Junior Open is your first Grand Slam experience. Tell me a bit about being around all these famous people?

A:

It’s quite cool. It’s tough trying to concentrate on what you’re doing and do your own thing. For the first few days you try to take it all in and then block it out once the tournament starts.

Q: Who have you seen around so far?

A:

Rafa (Nadal), Bob Bryan’s just over there, (Andrea) Petkovic. Everyone’s around. (Andrey) Kuznetsov and the other guys are down there. Hopefully I’ll get into Rod Laver Arena one night for a match. It’s very cool, even just watching Rafa practice, seeing how hard he hits the ball, it gives you kind of a mark of where you need to be, how far you need to get and where you need to improve. He smacks the ball. And that’s actually what I’m trying to do at the moment with my coach back home. We are trying to get my ball-speed up a bit higher, just over and over again, trying to hit the ball as hard I can. That’s the level, the target for me, that’s where it is.

Q: Who is your favourite player?

A:

Rafa. He’s had a tough time the past year but he’s looking pretty good now. I admire his intensity, his work ethic. I’d never seen him before so I keep looking over my shoulder to watch.

Q: How did you get into tennis?

A:

I started when I was nine. My mum got me into a park’s tennis summer camp and I just got hooked from then. I took to it quite quickly and I improved quite quickly. It’s always more enjoyable when you’re getting better. I joined the national academy when I was 12 or 13 and from then on it’s snowballed into my favourite sport. I’ve quit everything else to give it a go.

Q: How long have you been working with your coaches?

A:

I have been working with Lazare (Kukhalashvili) since I arrived in Tennis Ireland, so five years. He and Garry (Cahill, the technical director of Tennis Ireland) are my coaches at the moment.

Q: Not easy to come out of Ireland to be a tennis player?

A:

No, it’s mostly a minority sport at home. There aren’t many players or clubs. But I think it’s on its way up at the moment, with Conor (Niland, the former No. 129) having gotten to as high he did, it sparked interest. Conor set a mark for me to try to better that. There’s (James) McGee (the world No 205) coming up and Sam (Barry, the No. 282), all doing quite well, so hopefully I can follow suit.

Q: McGee and Niland went to university in the US. Is that an option for you?

A:

I don’t think so. Not at the moment anyway. I’ve put schooling aside and am concentrating on my tennis.

Q: Did you play other sports when you were young?

A:

I played gaelic football. I played rugby, I did swimming and all that sort of stuff. It all helps with your physical development and your hand-eye co-ordination. I got into tennis very quickly and started improving quickly, so I assume that all helped.

Q: Was gaelic football an option for you, given your family?

A:

It was, but I always enjoyed tennis more, the individual aspect of it, being out there on your own, not having to have the ball to pass or something like that. I always enjoyed it more than gaelic football.

Q: How famous was your father?

A:

He’s still asked for a few autographs these days! My granddad actually was regarded as one of the best footballers ever, Sean Purcell from Galway. So he’s probably a bit ahead of my Dad – don’t tell him I said that!

Q: Does your Dad have a big role in your tennis?

A:

My Dad’s actually got a degree in strength and conditioning, so he’s helped me a lot in that aspect. Both my parents and family give me a lot of support. Obviously it takes a lot of time, lifts up and down to training and stuff like that. My whole family’s sacrificed a lot of things, they’ve been a huge help. It’s really expensive, I’ve been lucky enough to get a few sponsors with my clothing and rackets and stuff. We’re getting a bit of financial help from a few businesses that my parents are involved in. It all helps a lot. It’s a really expensive sport…it costs about €80,000 a year to travel properly for 30 weeks of the year. You couldn’t do it without a bit of financial support. The coach is a big thing because it’s basically paying for an extra person but it helps hugely having a coach there; when you’re travelling on your own, in places less glamorous than this, you’re on your own and there’s no one to look to in your corner. It helps a lot when there’s a coach there to give you a bit of encouragement.

Q: What are your hopes here this week?

A:

Obviously I’d love to win the tournament but just taking one match at a time.

I know I can compete with all the guys here, I’ve beaten most of them. Hopefully I’ll progress to the later rounds and give it a go from there. I’ve never played a slam before but I’m not just happy to be here, I want to play and do well, compete for the tournament. Hopefully I can do some damage.

Q: Goals for your career?

A:

The dream would probably be top 20 in the world. Obviously the first goal would be getting in the top 100, to play these slams on the men’s Tour on a regular basis. Top 100, top 50 and see where I go from there.

Q: And what do you need to improve?

A:

Just working on ball-speed, getting weapons for my game, big serve, big forehand. Just keep focusing on what I’m doing.