Welcome to the latest instalment of Kamilla Bartone’s blog. The 18-year-old enjoyed a promising campaign in 2019, and hoped to continue her progress this year before the COVID-19 pandemic saw tennis suspended until August. Kamilla is writing regular pieces for the ITF, providing insight into life as an aspiring player in these challenging times.

There is only one place to start. I was so pleased to win my first professional title at W15 Haabneeme on Sunday.

I felt good and really calm throughout the tournament, not nervous at all. I was just going on court and doing my job during every match and the final was no different.

I had confidence in my game so knew I just had to stick to the plan and, if I did, success would follow. The second set of the final against Stephanie Visscher of the Netherlands was tougher than the first so when I won there was just a release of emotion.

I could feel the tension, which is normal during a match, leave my body and I was just delighted. I travelled alone to Estonia so immediately after the trophy ceremony I rang my parents and they were really happy for me. I also received plenty of messages from my tennis friends.

This year has been a difficult one. I haven’t been able to show my true level of tennis in many tournaments and it has been tough mentally because I was working in training but wasn’t feeling myself during matches.

This had an impact upon everyone, my family for instance, who were sad that I was working hard but that effort wasn’t being reflected in my results. But I am glad there is a happy ending and all the hard work and sacrifice has paid off. Perhaps sometimes the hard work needs time to show up.

However, as cool as it is to have won, I must look forward. Tennis doesn’t end with winning one title and this is just the first step towards competing regularly at Tour level. I am already focusing on training, upcoming tournaments and achieving bigger goals.

Looking ahead, W25 Selva Gardena in northern Italy is a possibility in mid-December. This would be my last event of the year but, if I don’t make the acceptance list, I plan to take a few days off before starting pre-season.

Hopefully in 2021 the situation with regards to Covid-19 will be better worldwide and we can move towards a more normal schedule of tournaments. I really hope 2020 was just a one off and we don’t have another year like it, ever.

It has been a tough year and it’s taken its toll on me and no doubt other players as well but, looking back, it has probably made me stronger off court and, as a consequence, stronger on it.

As I say, I really hope in the coming months we will have lots of competitions to contest and that everyone is healthy enough that we don’t have to wear masks everywhere.

In terms of goals for next season, I just want to try and get my ranking as high as possible. I don’t want to tell myself that I have to be Top 250 or anything like that. A tennis career is a marathon, not a sprint so I will just try and get as high as I can.

Aside from tennis, I am studying a lot at the moment as this is my last year of high school and my final exams are fast approaching. My spare time will be taken up with study over the coming weeks but I am looking forward to the festive season.

I usually spend Christmas with my parents, Viktor and Grazina, and I just hope we can all be together this year, whether in Latvia or Germany, because during the season I don’t see a lot of them.

The older I get, the less bothered I am about receiving gifts. Especially after the year we’ve had, spending some quality time with my family would be the best Christmas present I could ask for.