2015 was a breakthrough year for Alison Van Uytvanck. The 21-year-old born in Vilvoorde, a small city 20 minutes away from the Belgian capital of Brussels, made a major breakthrough halfway through the season on the red clay of Paris at the French Open. Van Uytvanck took advantage of a wide open draw to secure a quarter final berth at the French Open, her best showing at a slam to date, before falling to Timea Bacsinszky. However, the WTA Rising Star didn’t have it all her own way – like all athletes, she had her statistical and emotional ups and downs in 2015.
In an exclusive sit-down interview with VAVEL USA, Van Uytvanck sat down to discuss her 2015 season, goals for 2016, how her dream run at the French Open changed her, and what it’s like to play against some of the greats of this generation.
The daughter of Krista Laemers and René Van Uytvanck, Alison Van Uytvanck began playing the game of tennis at an early age for fun, but quickly began to take the sport more seriously – consequently developing an ambition to turn professional.
“I started to play tennis when I was 5,” she said. “It just started like fun tennis and then slowly on, I started to play more and more.”
Going back to the aforementioned Roland Garros quarter final showing in late May, Van Uytvanck was never expected to make the last eight of that major in particular as she was unseeded and in a section with Eugenie Bouchard, one of two 2014 semi finalists. However, after Bouchard made a shock exit at the first hurdle, the draw opened up considerably. Taking full advantage, Van Uytvanck battled past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and 32nd seed Zarina Diyas, before rolling past Kristina Mladenovic – Bouchard’s conqueror – and Andreea Mitu to reach her first quarter final at a major. Despite being knocked out in the following round by Timea Bacsinszky, the 22-year-old gave a valiant effort, and proved she could be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
“Definitely my quarter final in Roland Garros was one of my highlights of the year,” she said, when asked to reflect on her 2015 season. “I had a good year making it into the top 50 [for the first time].”
“I've been working now on a lot of things, [my] serve, [my] consistency is better and [I have] more variation in my game.”
“I was already around [the] top 100 for two years and now it was one of my best years. I think mentally, I grew a lot and my game improved as well.”
This season in particular, was also a big learning experience for Van Uytvanck because she was given the opportunity to play some of the world’s best players. Kicking off her season down under, the 21-year-old was given the ultimate test in her opening round match, drawing world number one Serena Williams. Despite being defeated 6-0, 6-4, the Belgian made a big name for herself, and proved she has what it takes to reach the top 10, pushing Williams throughout the second set. Matches against Andrea Petkovic in Antwerp, Ekaterina Makarova in Washington D.C. and Roberta Vinci in Beijing followed suit, and despite being on the losing end of all three matches, Van Uytvanck was able to gain valuable experiences that can help her in the long run.
However, one of the highlights of her season came in her last tournament of the season – the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open. After winning her first match of the week against Richel Hogenkamp, Van Uytvanck came up against former world number one Ana Ivanovic. What followed suit was arguably, the match of the 22-year-old’s career thus far. In a magnificent display of powerful serving and ground strokes, Van Uytvanck outlasted Ivanovic in a three hour marathon, winning 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-5 to capture one of the biggest wins of her budding career.
“It's an amazing experience to play them [the world’s elite],” she said. “I have so much respect for them and they are great role models.”
Speaking of the world’s elite, Van Uytvanck’s homeland has also produced two tennis greats: Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. Since retiring from the game for a second time in recent years, Henin and Clijsters have opened their respective tennis academies and are still very much involved with the game that has changed their lives forever. Because of this, there have always been questions surrounding whether or not these legends have played a part in mentoring their 22-year-old compatriot. When asked about this, Van Uytvanck said, “We actually don't talk a lot. They have their life now besides tennis. Still, they [have] inspired all of us.”
Having someone you can talk to is very important for an athlete very early in their professional development, especially if you have enjoyed the success that Van Uytvanck has in recent months. The importance of this can not be stressed enough as since tennis is such a mentally-taxing sport, you can go from being on the highest of highs one week, to the lowest of lows the following week. Success can also change someone for better or for worse, so it is vital that you have someone or something to keep your grounded.
“I didn't change a lot, I think,” the 22-year-old said. “It was hard to deal with some things after the quarter final. I felt more pressure on my shoulders but later, it helped me a lot to deal with that kind of [pressure].”
That pressure showed as shortly after leaving Paris, Van Uytvanck struggled to find her feet on the grass and American hard courts, winning just one of her seven matches. However, the Belgian number two would later find some of her old form during the Asian swing and short European indoor hard court season – which were highlighted by two semi final showings in Seoul and Luxembourg.
Heading into 2016, Van Uytvanck has a clear goal in mind.
“[My team and I] did put up some goals for 2016,” the current world number 43 said. “We decided to try and end [2016 inside the] top 32.”
A place inside the top 32 automatically guarantees a player a seeding at a Grand Slam, and since Van Uytvanck has put a lot of emphasis on going deep at all four majors, a seeding will keep her away from playing another seed until the third round, and it will also eliminate any chances of playing a top player in the first or second rounds.
If Van Uytvanck can stay healthy, while continuing to improve in all aspects of her game, there is no reason why this goal can’t be attainable twelve months from now, and why she can’t go on to do bigger and better things in the coming years.