Having conquered SA, Fuller sets her sights on global success

Alexandra Fuller knows that her station in life is not going to be a comfortable existence for as long as she follows her dream of being a professional squash player. But the sheer tenacity and passion for the sport that South Africa’s No 1 squash player exhibits is ensuring that she is rising up the world rankings and making a great success of her career.

Fuller is currently ranked No 37 in the world; rankings that are dominated by Egyptians, Englishwomen and Europeans – the countries where the top players get more support to pursue their choice of professional career. Having fought her way to the top of the pile in South Africa, the 27-year-old Fuller is now showing the same determination as her international career inches forward.

“All squash players have a hard time and sponsors are vital. But the way the sport is treated in South Africa – it is not considered a major sport – means I don’t get any funding from government or Squash South Africa. I’m on my own and trying to make myself as professional as possible, but it’s hard to afford coaches, physios, the right nutrition and all the travel costs, the things that are looked after in other countries,” Fuller told Saturday Citizen.

So, in order to access the funds to fulfil her dream, Fuller now bases herself overseas for much of the year. As with so many aspirant sports stars, Covid-19 has added an extra stress to her career.

“I’ve been a professional for seven years but last year I based myself in Ireland and hopefully I will go back again next year, but obviously that depends on Lockdown. I joined a Premier Squash League team – Newcastle – and played league for them but this year’s competition was cancelled.

“It’s cheaper to be based over there and I have a good sponsor over there which really helps. Otherwise you feel like a rat in a treadmill trying to get money for rent, money for tournaments. Eventually you just feel exhausted and then you have a massive dip in performance.

“I tried to play in everything I could while I was over there and once that pressure was alleviated I was able to jump up the world rankings. In South Africa you maybe travel to play tournament squash once a month, but being based in Ireland, it’s a two-hour flight to anywhere in Europe, five hours to New York,” Fuller said.

The Cape Town-born Fuller won her first title on the Professional Squash Association World Tour in 2016 and 2018 was her breakthrough year as she won five times on the Challenger Tour and catapulted herself into the top-50 in the world rankings. Since then she has made steady gains, but being stuck in South Africa due to Covid restrictions now threatens to erode those advances.

“I was able to enter five $5000 tournaments back-to-back and I won all five which got me into the bigger tournaments, it meant I didn’t have to go through qualifying anymore. And it’s really worthwhile going to the bigger tournaments because that’s where you really can accumulate world ranking points.

“I made the top-40 last year and then was top-35 this year. But I’ve worked so hard to get there and once you’re in the top-50 you just make little jumps. My aim is to get into the top-32 because then you’re in the main draw for tournaments. But now I’ve missed three tournaments because I couldn’t get an Egyptian visa in time and it means all the girls around me in the rankings are playing and I’m not,” Fuller said.

But instead of railing against the inequalities in the world of squash, Fuller, like all champions, is focused on what she can control.

“I was semi-pro for three years so I know all about living every year just as it comes. So I just do whatever I can. The plan is to get back to Ireland but we’ll just have to wait and see because the UK is now back in Lockdown. Fortunately there are no tournaments I’m missing between January and March, but the off/on nature of things at the moment makes it difficult to commit to anything. It’s a crazy time and it’s hard to plan,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fuller has been continuing her dominance of local squash as she won her third SA Nationals title in October, without dropping a game, her fast, attacking style sweeping away all opposition. The event was played in the Brooklyn Mall shopping centre in Pretoria, with an all-glass court erected, allowing for it to be live-streamed and for many more spectators to enjoy the showpiece tournament. The 5’4 Fuller believes this is the way to go for South African squash.

“Playing in a glass court is very different and in Pretoria it was extremely fast. It took a while to adapt to how the ball comes off the front wall and how to control it, which is why we all had practice sessions on the court every morning. But it’s the best thing ever for exposure, the squash can be broadcast and it’s so nice to have other people watching, spectators other than just the other squash club people.

“The Wanderers Club is the only one in the country with a permanent glass court but overseas all the big tournaments are played on glass from the quarterfinal stages onwards. When we go to World Championships team events, it definitely stands out that we are not used to glass, while the Europeans practise on it every day,” Fuller said.

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