GEORGIA ADDERLEY has never shied away from the fact she wants to make it to the very top.

As one of the most promising squash players this country has ever produced, the Edinburgh native had a distinguished junior career, winning multiple British Junior titles and competing impressively with players considerably more experienced than herself.

It is in the senior ranks, however, she really wants to make her mark.

Having only been allowed to enjoy a few months as a fully-fledged senior before the pandemic hit, shutting down the international squash calendar in an instant, Adderley was champing at the bit to get her teeth into a run of tournaments when the circuit resumed this year.

That said, despite the fact she spent the early period of lockdown hitting a ball against her living room wall, she was one of the lucky ones who was able to take considerable positives from a severely testing time for athletes across the globe.

“I’m actually really thankful for having had this time, I think I needed it to sort myself out, both on and off the court, the 20-year-old says.

“To be brutally honest, I was probably a bit delusional – I was telling myself I was working as hard as I could but in reality, I wasn’t.

“It was also about understanding what hard work looks like. Hard work isn’t just sweating every session and running lots, it’s about working on what you need to work on and lockdown gave me the chance to do that.

“I thought a lot about what kind of player I wanted to be and how to do that. “Looking at how I can be the best I can be with what I’ve got and that’s the basis of my training now.”

Having some time to reflect has certainly benefited Adderley’s results. 

Her record this summer has been hugely impressive, winning three PSA Challenger Tour events and reaching the final of two more, as well as seeing her ranking rise to a career high of 74.

It’s been a hectic spell but has been the perfect lead-in to her home tournament, the Scottish Open, which begins in Inverness on Wednesday.

Adderley is seeded eighth but has made something of a habit of making life uncomfortable for those ranked higher than her in recent months, especially as she is starting to come to grips more with how the senior style of play differs from the junior game, in which she so excelled.

“For me, when I first came into seniors, losing was very hard. When I was a junior, I wasn’t that good at squash – I was good at moving and good at getting the ball back which, at that level, is enough to do well but in seniors, you have to build the rally otherwise you’ll get nowhere,” she says. 

“I’ve also done so much work with my mental coach over the past year and a half though and that’s helping me win ugly when I’m not playing my best, which is something I was never able to do in the past.

“My last Scottish Open, in 2019, I had a good run and beat a couple of seeds on the way to the quarter-finals so I’ve got good memories of this tournament.

“It’s always a great tournament and it’s nice going into these kind of tournaments knowing I have a chance of doing well.”

These improvements are vital if Adderley is to get to where she aspires. 

Competing with the best isn’t enough for her, she wants to be beating them regularly.

“I want to be world number one and I’m not going to shy away from that,” she says. 

One of the tricky things about saying that though is do you actually believe it? The past few months have emphasised it’s going to take a lot of work but I’m only 20 and squash players tend to peak around age 30 so I’ve got a while to work on these things, which is exciting.”

Scotland’s squash players have an impressive record at the Commonwealth Games and despite Birmingham 2022 being still ten months away, Adderley has already turned her attention to reaching her first Games, as well as ensuring she will be fighting for silverware when she gets there.

A Commonwealth medal would be quite  an achievement but, as she is well aware, the only way forward is to set lofty goals.

“Birmingham is the big goal – it has been for the past four of five years and so I’m just trying to do everything I can to get selected,” she says.

“And if I do get there, I want to do well. Scotland is very good at doubles and definitely a goal of mine is to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. You’ve got to go in aiming high or else you’ll never get there.”

 

The Scottish Open draw is available at: https://bit.ly/3DVWJKg

The live stream is available at: https://bit.ly/3DT8elJ (from 12pm 22nd Sept)