If I asked you to name 47 AFL or NRL players you could do it with ease. They are the main sports in Australia and the players are feted and adored.
It was for that reason I wrote a poem ages ago about a Tennis player named Nicole Pratt. She was the 47th ranked player in the World and very few Australians knew about her and would consider her to be not that good because she had never won a major.
Tennis is an international sport, which means for her to be ranked 47th in the World she had to beat out players from all across the globe. The 47th best footballer in this country just needs to beat players in Australia.
Her achievements deserve to be recognised because she was the quintessential Aussie battler and living proof that hard work can take you a long way.
Born the middle sibling of five she went to a small state school in Calen and grew up on the family’s cane farm an hour from Mackay. Her parents played Tennis on the weekend and introduced their children to the sport.
Her father George was a pretty good junior in Queensland and won the local championships 20 years in a row. As a youngster he attended Harry Hopman camps with the likes of Rod Laver and Lew Hoad but decided to work rather than pursue tennis.
In those days professional tennis was not the beast it is today and was in the midst of the conversion from Amateur to professionalism. He taught all the children to play but it was Nicole who took the reins and ran with it.
“While everyone in the family valued the sport, I was the first in my family to really grab it with both hands winning state championships and nationals.” Nicole recalled.
With the nearest Tennis courts 10k away her father bulldozed a court in the dirt next to the house and put up a wooden practice wall.
“With hand and hammer and nail he put together a practice wall, and it wasn't even so the variability of when the ball would fire out off one of the grooves that was a little bit out of place certainly helped me have adaptability.”
The most defining moment for Nicole was when she received a four-year tennis scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra at 15 years of age. Her parents dropped her off and dad George provided one final lesson.
“You know what Nicole, from now on, every decision you make is your decision, and you are responsible for that decision.” He stated.
She knew she was accountable for those decisions and action you take and taking ownership of them.
Many people, especially city-dwellers do not understand the values bush kids learn and the work ethic that is ingrained in them from a young age.
“Living on the farm is hard work.” Nicole emphasized. “It requires a discipline, a commitment to wake up early in the morning, go plow the field, go plant the cane. That's what I did as young age. I used to feed the cane into the slots, cut it off and then planted it in the ground.”
It was seeing the result of hard work that stuck most. She saw every day that if you put the work in and you nurture it (the cane) you get to see the growth and the rewards of that growth.
“That was instilled in me in at a very young age. Never take anything for granted. Nothing comes easy. “
Hard work came easily for Nicole because it was fed by an inner drive and at 18 she turned professional. She quickly became known for her supreme fitness and on-court tenacity, traits that saw her win the Australian Open Junior Championships in 1991.
As a 16 year-old she won the French Open girls’ doubles with Taiwan’s Wang Shi-Ting and a year later the US Open girls’ doubles with fellow Australian Kristin Godridge.
The jump from junior to senior professional Tennis is great and it took Nicole seven years before she made her debut for the Australian Fed Cup team. In the next eight years she accumulated a commendable 15-13 win–loss record, ninth best in the team’s history.
At the Sydney 2000 Olympics Nicole proudly represented Australia and at Athens 2004 reached the third round; beaten by Gold Medal winner Justin Henin of Belgium. The period between Olympics was Nicole’s best in her lengthy career.
In January 2001 she became the number one ranked Australian player and reached a doubles ranking high of 18. She continued her form the next year when she and partner Russian Nadiya Petrova reached the US Open semi-finals.
She also made the quarter finals at the Australian and French Opens and all up she captured nine WTA doubles titles and nine ITF between 2000 to 2007.
In 2002, she made the third round at Wimbledon and the US Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of Number 35. She also won five ITF singles titles.
The next year Nicole achieved her best Grand Slam singles result when she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. In her career she played 18 Australian Opens, debuting as a 16-year-old.
Shortly before turning 31 in 2004 Nicole won her first WTA Title at the Bangalore Open and in 2006 she reached her first ever Tier I WTA quarterfinal and re-entered the top 100.
Fresh from the cane fields
At the age of 35 she was knocked out of the first round of the 2008 Australian Open and announced her retirement.
While many athletes struggle for a career after retirement Nicole had no such problems due to her extra-curricular activities. Off the court she contributed so much Tennis Australia recognised her with Player Service Awards in 1999, 2000, and 2004.
She was also a WTA Player Council’s representative from 2000-2008 and Board Director Player Representative 2008 – 2012. It was while working with the WTA on their new tour structure in 2008 that she was coerced into a coaching career.
“I played until I was 34 and retired in 2008 and really just fell into coaching with Casey Dellacqua as my first player. Casey’s fitness trainer approached me. Casey was struggling a bit and needed some tennis input, so we started as a trial and before I knew it, I was a full-time coach.”
Since retiring from her playing career Nicole has been working with the next generation of Australian players as the AIS Women’s Tennis head coach and Head of Women’s Tennis Australia and Fed Cup Coach.
“Coaching was something I knew I always wanted to do after retiring. When I could, I would help my peers and often dive quite deep into the tactical side. I loved the finer details of strategy, game plan and management, so I was always offering advice to up-and- coming Australian players.”
In Brisbane last year for Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers ties against Colombia and Kazakhstan she was told it was a decade she had been in the role.
“I had a moment today where I was like: ‘What year did I actually start? And it was like ‘oh my God, it was 2015!’ I can’t believe it. Ten years – wow.”
There’s nothing Pratt would rather be doing more.
“It was a dream, to be honest; it was a dream job. If someone said to me, ‘Nicole, what would you like to do post playing?’ I would be like: ‘Coach, captain, involvement in the Billie Jean King Cup team moving forward’.”
As a player she did not have the power to combat the big hitters and had to rely on guile and tenacity. She loves the mental side of the game and strategy required.
“It’s a great challenge for me as a coach to come up with different strategies; how we’re going to have our players go out and beat the competition in front of us, and how to maximise the week for our players so it’s not just about this week – it’s about upcoming weeks out on tour as well.”
Currently working with Australian players Kimberly Birrell and Storm Hunter both are enjoying rising fortunes. Hunter is on the comeback trail from a ruptured Achilles and won a WTA doubles title in October.
Last year, for the first time, Birrell made the main draw of Roland Garros directly on her own ranking, after cracking the top 60.
“To have someone like that in your corner is pretty amazing.” Birrell said. “She’s been there, and she’s such an advocate for women’s tennis.”
One of the ways Nicole advocates is reflected in her work to establish Tennis Australia’s Coach Connect program. The program serves as a network for women tennis coaches around the country, better engaging and educating them through mentoring and professional development opportunities.
“The challenges and barriers for women coaches are real, and if we can assist in supporting and creating limitless possibilities for coaches, regardless of where they coach within the pathway, then everyone benefits.”
Nicole’s role as Billie Jean King coach has seen her combine with a few old mates, former captain Alicia Molic and current captain Sam Stosur.
“I coached Alicia towards the back end of her career [before] she was captain and then I was coming in as coach, and I even helped out Sam a little towards the end of her career as coach,” Pratt reflected. “But equally, we’re all playing peers.
Pratt and Alicia Molik
When it comes to coaching one of the most important aspects is having belief in who you're working with. She vividly remembers the first time a coach believed wholeheartedly in her.
“I went to America and ended up working with Harvard University’s assistant men’s coach Greg Russell. And he, for me, was the first person to actually really say, ‘Nicole, I really believe in you, I believe you can become a top 50 player.’”
At the time she was in the 200s.
“To do that you're going to have to do a, b, c, d, e.”
“I actually remember saying to him, ‘You really think I can?” And he goes, yes, 100% I believe you can, but you're going to have to do all of these things.’”
Nicole did everything he said and her ranking improved to the point she was able to go work with Lorenzo Beltrami in Orlando. Some of the best in the world at the time became her training partners; Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Pete Samras.
“Great company, right? So then, you know, the belief just gets bigger. So beliefs are a big one for me.”
It is that belief in those she coaches that has led to their success, although the player’s character and willingness to scrap is something close to Nicole’s heart.
“Storm Hunter was 17 and I was quite heavily criticized for actually having her in the program, because she wasn't necessarily achieving the results that other players were achieving. However, I got to know her background and understood her as a person, the commitment, the dedication.
“She was living in Shell Harbor, an hour outside of Perth and she would catch the train in the morning prior to school to train and then take the train back. Then she would come back again to do a session in the afternoon, and then travel back again.
“She was doing four hours every single day because she had a goal, she wanted to become a professional tennis player.”
When Nicole heard her story she thought to herself that Storm had the type of character that was prepared to do whatever work was required, no matter how hard. Perhaps it was like looking in a mirror for the girl from a cane farm an hour outside Mackay.
“We created the vision board saying, I will be number one in the world. I've pretty much worked on and off with her since she was 17. And you know, last year, as a 29 year old, she become the number one doubles player in the world.”
Her approach is simple but effective and reflects her approach to the game as a player.
Storm Hunter, #1 doubles player in the world
“When I was growing up, I would stay focused by setting lots of small process-oriented goals that would help me stay on track and in the moment. I think being in the moment is vitally important to focus. Not thinking about what has happened before or what will happen after.”
On that dusty court on the cane farm she would set a goal of seeing how many balls in a row she could hit against the practice wall without making a mistake. When she got tired of doing that she would see how many volleys she could do in a row.
On the court she would focus on getting her first serve in or, if she had made too many mistakes, focus on hitting every ball cross court. If her opponent hit a winner then so be it.
She still uses that technique today as a coach by setting mini goals for herself, her players and the organisation.
“I focus on what I want to achieve, what’s important to me and try to maintain balance.”
Believing that focus is critical to achieving success in any area of expertise, she passes these techniques onto her athletes.
“I get them to set mini-goals on and off the court. Even small discipline skills like keeping eye contact during a conversation. Not only are we trying to too be a tennis coach, we are trying to teach them life skills as well.”
Focus is an essential factor is success which is why Nicole works hard to eliminate the distraction of social media. She is a realist though and knows that it is required for their “brand” and marketing opportunities.
“I still work with the younger players in a camps and one of the biggest factors for distraction and lack of focus for kids today is social media. We shut down all social media access for them one week prior to the event.
“We take it off the phone but we understand it is important to their brand, so we have strategies to ensure this is still happening.”
One player, after having her social media removed, admitted that she felt addicted to it. So strategies and boundaries around using social media were created and Tennis Australia is working towards simple guidelines, like not checking social media after a match.
“It helps athletes stay on track and focus on what is important. They appear less distracted and have more mental energy for longer periods of time. On tours and development camps, there are no phones allowed at dinner or lunch.
“To have focus you have to have energy. After education about the boundaries, it’s about respect to your coach and sport.”
It is ironic that while one source of technology is trying to be restricted another is growing. Vision is important to younger players and so every training session is recorded.
There will be a screen on court so the player can immediately see for themselves the thing they are trying to improve. There is even a mobile application for training monitoring which tracks a player’s workload and wellbeing to help guide the coach.
Not only is Nicole driving the promotion of women coaches but also looking to address the fall off of young girls in the sport. Her thoughts are illuminating and can be factored in for all sports.
Nicole with twin daughters Mathilda and Jaimie
“Girls have a greater sense of reality so from a younger age they're wanting to know where they fit; how good am I? And with sport, if they're not at the top or somewhere near it, that's when you have dropout, because they have a strong sense of reality,
“That’s why they need to have people around them to give them perspective of where they're at and also what things they can do to get towards the top.”
It is interesting when she compares the mentality between boys and girls after a match where they get beaten 6-1, 6-1. Boys are much more naturally combative and confident.
“I often see young boys, they might go out and lose 6-1, 6-1 but walk off the court and say, ‘I know I was in there. I had a chance there. I wasn't far off. I'll get him next time.
“What does the young girl do? Walk off when they've lost 6-1, 6-1 and think it's the end of the world. They're in tears and potentially saying ‘I don't want to play again.”
That is when Nicole believes those around them need to support them and nurture their development.
For players looking to make it in the professional world she asked them to look at their playing career as a business – and they are the CEO. That starts with the team you put around you to support you to achieve success.
Just like in in the corporate world there needs to be due diligence. You interview them and meet with those you trust to decide if they are what you are looking for. You have to pay them so you want the best return for your buck; and this is where she sees young players make mistakes.
“The greatest investment you can make in your professional career is investing in yourself.” Nicole emphasizes. “Let's say you get a good paycheck, don't go out and buy a $50,000 car. Invest that $50,000 in having people around you that are going to double or triple your money over time.
“It's really, really important that they grasp that concept. When they do they become more accountable to themselves, rather than blaming other people. ‘No, you're the CEO - the buck stops with you.”
