Anna popescu

TENNIS

Tell us about the highlights of your sporting career?

My sport is tennis, which I started playing in an after school club when I was 4 years old. I loved all sports growing up but my favourites were tennis and football, and I played football for Watford F.C growing up too. By the age of 13, I picked tennis and started travelling more for tournaments and did everything I could to be able to play professionally one day. Winning my first match in a professional tournament when I was 18 in a British grass court event in the run up to Wimbledon stands out to me. It was only a few months after I had come back from a really long injury so it meant so much to me to get to play in a big event. Secondly, winning my first professional doubles title with one of my best friends in her hometown, Gothenburg in Sweden, was such a cool moment, and it was both of our first professional tournament wins so it was amazing to share that moment together. I've also loved all the travel I've been able to do for tennis and meeting and connecting with people from all over the world.

What were some of the challenges you experienced and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge I faced in my tennis journey was an injury I got when I was 15. I fractured a small bone in my pelvis during a tournament and with that injury and a couple of others which came after it kept me out from playing tennis for 3 years. It was an incredibly difficult period for me, and took a lot of opportunities I could have had as a junior tennis player which I had been working towards for years. I had many moments where I thought I wouldn't get back to playing tennis at all. In some ways the time passed incredibly slowly, but in other ways it flew by and I can't believe I lost 3 years. When I played my first professional tournament when I was 18, all the rehab felt worth it.

What have been your highlights while working at the Trust?

I have only just joined the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. I have really enjoyed training and connecting with the other athletes from different sports within the Trust so far.

What do you do now alongside working for the Trust?

I do a few things. I play tennis. I coach tennis in my local club and across local schools, working across a range of ages. I am also studying a degree (part-time) online with the Open University in Psychology.

What life advice would you give a young person?

The best bit of advice I was given was "everything you are feeling is okay." It came to me at a difficult time in my life when I was 18. I had spent so much time being ashamed of and shutting down my feelings, and Ray, who gave me this advice, helped me to understand that all feelings are valid, and everything was okay with everything I was feeling and going through. It's okay to struggle. It is advice I have taken with me my whole life.

What experience do you have of working with corporate organisations? 

None! I'm allergic to sitting down too much in a day, so I've never worked in a corporate setting. Maybe that will change as I grow older!

Competitive
Record

Top 10 ranked junior player in GB junior rankings in age group

WTA world ranked British tennis player

Ranked in top 600 in the world in doubles and top 20 in the UK

Winner of 5 professional doubles tournaments