ANASTASIA JUST CAN'T LOSE

“I CAN’T lose. I got to play every point. I need to concentrate. Be very focused. Don’t watch the spectators.” If you could have read the mind of 2004 National Women’s Singles Champ Anastasia “Tasia” Weedon when she whipped Dana Grazette 6-4, 6-2, mental coaching tips such as these, amid the sound of a pounding heartbeat, were what you would have heard. It is a battle of the nerves for the British-born teen who admitted to getting the jitters at competitions. “I started off nervous, I always do. People are watching, it’s more pressure. And I lose confidence a lot in my shots, so it is hard for me to perform as good as I do when in practice, than when I compete,” Anastasia said.

But the jitters did not linger for long. Fresh from winning the CitiBank/Tranquillity Open tennis tournament in March, Anastasia set the goal of winning her first nationals title and accomplished it on her second attempt. About her win, she said: “It feels real good because you’re playing all the best in the country.” At age 11 Anastasia entered her first tennis tournament. Two years later the 17-year-old “shocked everybody” — coaches, tennis enthusiasts as well as herself — when she made it to the finals of the Under-18 RBTT tennis tourney. With the help of coaches Wendell Mc Connie, Rolando Nieva and Alan Price, she was successful in turning her game from defensive to one of attack. With a powerful forehand paired with her fierce serves “when my match is on,” Anastasia is unstoppable!

But her drive for the sport is in want. She said that she was compelled to compete in international tournaments abroad, not only for exposure and experience, but because local tournaments were few. “I had the opportunity to compete in England and the USA. But we need more local tournaments otherwise there is no motivation to play. We need more venues and better coaching,” she said. She could have easily switched to playing another sport, as she had developed a fondness for swimming, hockey, long distance running and gymnastics. “I’ve tried like all sports, but I had always liked tennis.”

Her twin brother, Jack, must have been an influence. He, too, played tennis. Jack and Anastasia were born eight minutes apart and like the rest of the family, share an affinity for sport. “That’s about all we have in common,” she said of her elder sibling. She also has a younger brother, Alex. Her parents, Englishman Jeoff Weedon and Russian Yelena Weedon, who migrated to Trinidad a few years ago when a lucrative job offer arose, also played tennis. Her grandparents, however, were both professional gymnasts. George Weedon, Great Britain gymnast champion of the 1940s and ’50s, represented his country at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, while her grandmother Joan, competed in the Olympics of 1948.

Anastasia is very proud of her history, and is making no compromises where sport is concerned. She remains undecided on her field of study, but is sure she will attend a university in England where she can pursue tennis. The lower Sixth-form student at St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain, is currently pursuing studies in A’level Chemistry, Physics and Geography. When not at school or pounding the tennis courts at PSA, St James, on Saturday mornings, a “reliable, fairly easy-going and friendly” Anastasia, according to her mother, can be found at the beach and liming with friends at the clubs.