Naomi Cavaday

Cavaday at the2015 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Residence	Chislehurst,London
Born	(1989-04-24)24 April 1989 (age 35) Sidcup, London
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	2005
Retired	2011–2014, 2015
Plays	Left (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$191,742
Singles
Career record	163–102
Career titles	6 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 174 (10 May 2010)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	Q2 (2010)
French Open	Q1 (2008)
Wimbledon	1R (2006,2007,2008)
US Open	Q3 (2007)
Doubles
Career record	44–51
Career titles	2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 184 (5 April 2010)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	1R (2007,2008,2009,2010)

Naomi Kathleen Cavaday (born 24 April 1989) is aBritish former professionaltennis player fromSidcup, London. She retired in April 2011 to take up a coaching role with theLawn Tennis Association.^[1] At the time of her retirement, she was the British No. 6, with a ranking of world No. 231. Her career-high ranking was 174, achieved in May 2010. She won threeITF singles titles and two ITF doubles titles.^[2] Her coach at retirement was Rob Smith. She was formerly coached byDavid Felgate, the long-time coach ofTim Henman.^[3]

In 2014, Cavaday returned to professional tennis, regained a world ranking, and won three additional ITF titles. She finally retired in 2015 and has since worked as a coach and as a commentator forBBC Radio Five Live's Wimbledon coverage and on Amazon Prime.

Cavaday was born in suburban south-east London. Her mother is a sport psychologist and her brother has played tennis at county level and in America forNorth Carolina State University. Up to the age of 13 years Cavaday studied atBromley High School before getting a tennis scholarship toQueenswood School inHertfordshire. She has also studied at the highly prestigiousNick Bollettieri Tennis Academy inFlorida. Cavaday took a course in journalism and creative writing and expressed an interest in becoming a sports journalist when her tennis career was over.^[3][4] She appeared as a guest on theAl Jazeera English programmeThe Stream in July 2015, as part of a discussion on issues of female body image and its impact on sportswomen regarding their physiques.^[5]

Cavaday became an ambassador forBeat, theeating disorder charity, in 2011^[6] and as of 2016 is a mental health ambassador for the LTA.^[7]

In July 2019, Cavaday was married[1] and in November 2020, Cavaday and her husband produced a baby boy[2].

Cavaday's brotherNick is a tennis coach currently working withEmma Raducanu.

Cavaday competed on theITF Junior Circuit from May 2004 to July 2007. She was a quarterfinalist at a total of nine tournaments, one of which was the2006 Wimbledon girls' championships where she lost toUrszula Radwańska, 3–6, 2–6. She reached the semifinals of the ITF Junior Cup Copenhagen, Danish ITF Junior Tournament and the Optus Nottinghill International and was a finalist in the Malta ITF Junior Tournament, Safina Cup, French Riviera International Junior Open and the Tournoi International Juniors de Beaulieu sur Mer. She won one junior singles title at the Istres International Junior Tournament in April 2006 where she also won her only junior doubles title in the same year. Her best result at the Australian Open junior tournament was a first round defeat at the hands ofAlizé Cornet, 1–6, 6–7⁽⁵⁾, in 2007. She participated in the French Open and US Open junior Grand Slam events only once, losing in the second round of qualifying for the French and the second round of the main draw of the US Open where she lostTamira Paszek, 6–4, 4–6, 0–6.^[8]

Her career-high junior combined ranking was world No. 23 (achieved 19 March 2007) and her win–loss records for her junior career were 55–21 in singles and 28–19 in doubles.^[8]

Cavaday made her debut on theITF Women's Circuit in January 2005 and in only the fourth professional tournament of her career she qualified and beatIsha Lakhani, 6–4, 6–1, in the final to win the event. Nevertheless, she finished 2005 without a world ranking.^[9]

In January 2006, Cavaday qualified for and reached the semifinal of theTipton $10k event and at the start of February she competed in her first ever$25k event inJersey where she was beaten, 4–6, 1–6, byAnne Keothavong in round one. One month later, Cavaday qualified forSunderland $10k and reached the final where she was defeated byGaëlle Widmer in three sets, 1–6, 6–3, 1–6. This was immediately followed by a quarterfinal appearance in the $10k inSheffield and a semifinal appearance in another $10k event, this one inBath, where she lost to up-and-comerUrszula Radwańska, 6–7⁽¹⁾, 3–6. In her very next tournament, she yet again lost in the semifinal before receiving awildcard into the Tier IIIBirmingham Classic qualifying draw. She won one tough three set match againstTatiana Poutchek, 7–6⁽⁵⁾, 3–6, 7–6⁽⁶⁾, before losing another to HungarianMelinda Czink, 6–3, 5–7, 5–7. This was followed by Cavaday's first everGrand Slam main-draw appearance, courtesy of a wildcard into home Grand SlamWimbledon. She played Japanese veteranAi Sugiyama and lost 4–6, 5–7.^[10] During September and October, Cavaday played in one $10k tournament (where she lost in the quarterfinal) and three $25k tournaments where she reached the semifinals, quarterfinals and second round. She rounded off her 2006 season in Australia with three more $25k tournaments inMount Gambier,Port Pirie and Nurioopta where she reached the quarterfinal of the first tournament and the first round of the other two. Her year-end ranking of 2006 was world No. 401.^[9]

During January and February of2007, Cavaday competed in two $25k events in Great Britain and reached the quarterfinals of one of them. She then headed to the U.S. in March where she won eight consecutive matches to qualify for and win the $25k inOrange, California. In April she reached the quarterfinal stage in another $25k tournament, this one inJackson, Mississippi. She reached the semifinal ofPalm Beach $25k in May before heading back to England and playing in the main draw of the Tier III Birmingham Classic courtesy of a wildcard where she beatVasilisa Bardina, 6–2, 6–1, in round one.^[11] She was then demolished byMarion Bartoli, 6–3, 6–1, in the second round.^[12] She was immediately given a wildcard into the qualifying draw of theInternational Women's Open, a Tier II tournament held in Eastbourne, England. She was beaten in a tight two set match byYoulia Fedossova, 7–6⁽²⁾, 7–6⁽⁴⁾, in the first round. A third consecutive wildcard allowed Cavaday entry into the main draw ofWimbledon for the second year running where she was drawn to face a resurgent former multiple Grand Slam champion in the form ofMartina Hingis on Court 2, the "Graveyard of Champions". The court almost held true to its name when Cavaday had match points in the second set but failed to convert them, eventually losing 7–6⁽¹⁾, 5–7, 0–6.^[13]

After Wimbledon, Cavaday played one more tournament on grass, the $25kFelixstowe (where she reached the quarterfinal), before heading to the U.S. in preparation for theUS Open qualifying tournament. She was given a wildcard into the qualifying draw for theTier II eventPilot Pen Tennis in New Haven where she fell just short of qualifying, losing toTatiana Poutchek in three sets in the final round. She then headed to the US Open qualifying for the first time in her career where she also lost in the final round of qualifying in three sets, this time to GermanSandra Klösel. After this, her ranking was high enough to enter her into qualifying for theTier IIISunfeast Open on merit. She won two matches to qualify before falling in the first round toEkaterina Ivanova, 3–6, 6–2, 2–6.^[14] This was then followed immediately by Cavaday attempting to qualify for theTier IVKorea Open but again losing one match short of qualifying for the main draw. At the end of the 2007 season, she played four more $25k events (reaching the quarterfinal of one, the semifinal of another and round two in the other two). She then attempted to qualify for theASB Classic, a Tier IV event in Auckland, where she lost toAhsha Rolle in the final round, 2–6, 2–6. Her year-end ranking was world No. 196.^[9]

From the start of2008 until theFrench Open, Cavaday competed primarily in $50k and $75k events. She reached the semifinal ofNew Delhi $50k (losing toYanina Wickmayer in straight sets, 1–6, 3–6) and the quarterfinals ofPatras $50k andMonzon $75k. In May, she competed in the qualifying tournament of the French Open for the first time in her career but lost, 3–6, 5–7, in the first round toStefanie Vögele. In June she received another wildcard into the Tier III DFS Classic where she dominatedJill Craybas with her tricky serve and impressive forehand in the first round to win 6–0, 6–4^[15] before going on to lose in the second round to IndianSunitha Rao, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6.^[16] CompatriotElena Baltacha then beat her in the opening round of qualifying for the Tier IIInternational Women's Open in Eastbourne in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4. Another wildcard granted Cavaday access to the main draw ofWimbledon for the third year running where she was drawn to face defending champion and 12-time Grand Slam finalist,Venus Williams. She led Williams in the first set but eventually lost, 6–7⁽⁵⁾, 1–6, in a match which led Williams to suggest that Cavaday could go far in the game with coaching from her fatherRichard Williams.^[17]

Following Wimbledon, Cavaday hit a patch of bad form, winning only two of her next six matches including losing in round one of qualifying for theUS Open toKristína Kučová, 6–1, 3–6, 1–6. Following this, Cavaday did not play any more matches in 2008 due to a viral infection which saw her unable to train properly for the next three months and struggling to climb flights of stairs. It was the first serious setback Cavaday had been faced with in her young career but she gradually recovered and began light training once again in November in preparation for the 2009 season. She said of the setback,"As an athlete it was very worrying".^[18] Her worldwide ranking at the end of 2008 had fallen to No.268.^[9]

In her first event since the2008 US Open qualifying, Cavaday enteredWrexham $10k in January as a wildcard and the No. 2 seed. She reached the semifinal before being overcome by fifth seedClaudine Schaul from Luxembourg, 6–2, 6–0.^[19] The very next week, she reached the quarterfinal of the $25k tournament inSutton before falling to compatriotKatie O'Brien, 1–6, 1–6.^[20] She then entered the $25k event inStockholm where she was beaten byTatjana Malek, 2–6, 1–6, in the semifinals.^[21] At the 2009 WTA International in Birmingham she received a wildcard, and overcameJulie Ditty and 12th seedTamarine Tanasugarn to reach the third round.

In 2014, Cavaday returned to professional tennis, receiving a wildcard into the $50k grass-court tournament in Nottingham, England. Further tournaments in England and in Egypt followed, and in September 2014, she won the first title of her comeback at a $10k tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, defeating top seed Barbara Haas at the quarterfinal stage, and second seed Ana Veselinović in the final.^[22] In consecutive weeks in October – November 2014, she won back-to-back $10k titles in Stockholm, Sweden.,^[23][24] beatingTayisiya Morderger in the first week's final and Margarita Lazareva in the second final.

Cavaday was restricted by a wrist injury in the first half of the year and played only three matches. On 7 October 2015, she posted on her website that she would no longer be competing professionally.^[25]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	6 November 2005	ITF Pune, India	10,000	Hard	Isha Lakhani	6–4, 6–1
Loss	1–1	12 March 2006	ITF Sunderland, UK	10,000	Hard	Gaëlle Widmer	1–6, 6–3, 1–6
Win	2–1	18 March 2007	ITF Orange, United States	25,000	Hard	Karin Knapp	6–1, 6–1
Win	3–1	3 May 2010	ITF Brescia, Italy	25,000	Clay	Andrea Hlaváčková	6–2, 6–4
Loss	3–2	14 September 2010	ITF Darwin, Australia	25,000	Hard	Olivia Rogowska	2–6, 6–2, 0–6
Win	4–2	28 September 2014	ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt	10,000	Hard	Ana Veselinovic	6–4, 6–4
Win	5–2	26 October 2014	ITF Stockholm, Sweden	10,000	Hard (i)	Tayisiya Morderger	7–6(7–3), 6–4
Win	6–2	2 November 2014	ITF Stockholm, Sweden	10,000	Hard (i)	Margarita Lazareva	5–7, 6–3, 6–3

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents	Score
Loss	1	28 May 2006	ITF Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Georgie Gent	Antonia Xenia Tout Nataša Zorić	1–6, 2–6
Loss	2	23 September 2006	ITF Nottingham, UK	Hard	Claire Peterzen	Georgie Gent Emily Webley-Smith	6–3, 5–7, 4–6
Loss	3	8 June 2007	ITF Surbiton, UK	Grass	Elena Baltacha	Karen Paterson Melanie South	1–6, 4–6
Win	4	3 March 2009	Soweto Open, South Africa	Hard	Lesia Tsurenko	Kristína Kučová Anastasija Sevastova	6–2, 2–6, [11–9]
Loss	5	6 February 2010	ITF Sutton, UK	Hard	Anna Smith	Irini Georgatou Valeria Savinykh	5–7, 6–2, [8–10]
Win	6	3 May 2010	ITF Brescia, Italy	Clay	Anastasia Pivovarova	Iryna Brémond Valeria Savinykh	6–3, 6–7(5), [10–8]

Europe/Africa Group I
Date	Venue	Surface	Round	Opponents	Final match score	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
19–21 April 2007	Plovdiv	Clay	RR	Luxembourg	1–2	Singles	Mandy Minella	6–4, 6–7(2–7), 4–6 (L)
				Poland	0–3	Singles	Agnieszka Radwańska	3–6, 2–6 (L)
			PO (9th–12th)	Sweden	1–2	Singles	Johanna Larsson	2–6, 6–1, 1–6 (L)

• Naomi Cavaday at theWomen's Tennis Association
• Naomi Cavaday at theInternational Tennis Federation
• Naomi Cavaday at theBillie Jean King Cup (archived)
• Official website

• 1989 births
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• People from Sidcup
• Tennis players from the London Borough of Bexley
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• Tennis players from the London Borough of Bromley
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