Luksika targeting Australian Open breakthrough

The 21yearold has reached the second round of the Australian Open over the past two years which marks her best performance in a Grand Slam till date. As a qualifier she went on to upset Sofia Arvidsson 76 64, then ranked 39th, in the opening round of the 2013 Australian Open. A year later, she staged the biggest upset of her career with a 62 16 64 win over world No 6 Petra Kvitova also in round one.

“Deep in my heart I feel that I can do better than the past two years. But this year I have to play in the qualifying round so I have to take it one match at a time. The first match is important as I need to boost my confidence,” said Lukiska who dropped to No 115 in the world, after failing to defend her title in Toyota last November.

Luksika, however, admitted that the injury to the right shoulder that that affected her since the Asian Games last August is still preventing her from maximising her performance.

“The pain is bothering me and I cannot serve the way I want to. In my recent matches, I just could not serve hard and my opponents attacked my serves. But in terms of my strokes, I still can hit like normal,” added Luksika, who explained that the tight schedule made it impossible for her to completely cure the injury and work on her fitness.

“To treat the injury, I have to take a long break. I have to stop playing for months which is impossible as I have to compete week in and week out. If I stop playing, my rankings will drop and I have to start all over again. As long as the injury is not severe I will keep on playing,” Lukiska said and added that making her shoulder muscle stronger is an option to ease the injury.

The Thai No 1, who won the Asian Games gold medal along with her idol Tamarine Tanasugarn in Incheon, admitted she also needed to improve on her physical condition.

“It’s difficult for me to play good tennis everyday as I’m not physically fit enough to maintain that level everyday. That’s why over the past two years I played well in the Australian Open in the first round and then lost in the second round. However, I had a whole month in December to train at the Pyramid Academy and work on my fitness.”

The Thai ace is also working with her new coach, Braen Aneiros of Panama, the former coach of Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana and a current coach of the Cambodian national team.

“I need to have a travelling coach who can accompany me on tour. I have a threemonth deal with Braen starting from Australia. We get along quite well as I’ve known him for a long time. What we are working is mostly on the mental aspects and proper shot selection in different situations and fitness,” Luksika said.

The 21yearold has reached the second round of the Australian Open over the past two years which marks her best performance in a Grand Slam till date. As a qualifier she went on to upset Sofia Arvidsson 76 64, then ranked 39th, in the opening round of the 2013 Australian Open. A year later, she staged the biggest upset of her career with a 62 16 64 win over world No 6 Petra Kvitova also in round one.

“Deep in my heart I feel that I can do better than the past two years. But this year I have to play in the qualifying round so I have to take it one match at a time. The first match is important as I need to boost my confidence,” said Lukiska who dropped to No 115 in the world, after failing to defend her title in Toyota last November.

Luksika, however, admitted that the injury to the right shoulder that that affected her since the Asian Games last August is still preventing her from maximising her performance.

“The pain is bothering me and I cannot serve the way I want to. In my recent matches, I just could not serve hard and my opponents attacked my serves. But in terms of my strokes, I still can hit like normal,” added Luksika, who explained that the tight schedule made it impossible for her to completely cure the injury and work on her fitness.

“To treat the injury, I have to take a long break. I have to stop playing for months which is impossible as I have to compete week in and week out. If I stop playing, my rankings will drop and I have to start all over again. As long as the injury is not severe I will keep on playing,” Lukiska said and added that making her shoulder muscle stronger is an option to ease the injury.

The Thai No 1, who won the Asian Games gold medal along with her idol Tamarine Tanasugarn in Incheon, admitted she also needed to improve on her physical condition.

“It’s difficult for me to play good tennis everyday as I’m not physically fit enough to maintain that level everyday. That’s why over the past two years I played well in the Australian Open in the first round and then lost in the second round. However, I had a whole month in December to train at the Pyramid Academy and work on my fitness.”

The Thai ace is also working with her new coach, Braen Aneiros of Panama, the former coach of Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana and a current coach of the Cambodian national team.

“I need to have a travelling coach who can accompany me on tour. I have a threemonth deal with Braen starting from Australia. We get along quite well as I’ve known him for a long time. What we are working is mostly on the mental aspects and proper shot selection in different situations and fitness,” Luksika said.