What a difference a year can make.
That's the lesson junior Wendy Lyons, ranked 34th in the nation, has learned while playing No. 1 singles for the women's tennis team this season.
During her first two years at Duke, Lyons had to battle numerous injuries during the fall which limited her play during the spring. But sitting out allowed her to appreciate the game of tennis more than ever before.
"Last year, I wasn't allowed to play in the fall and was in and out during the spring," Lyons said. "I think that right there prohibited me from really improving a lot last year.
"This year, I've learned to enjoy the sport a lot more. I think sitting out last year really gave me a new appreciation for playing. I just really love tennis right now, and I love working on my game and trying to develop new things."
Lyons entered this season with experience at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. She dominated the lower seeds, losing only two matches last season.
Yet she felt undermatched during those first two seasons, yearning to play against tougher competition.
"I've always felt that I was underchallenged playing at five and six," Lyons said.
Lyons got her wish with the unexpected injury to senior Christine Neuman. And with her new position at No. 1 came an increased responsibility to win at the top.
"In the past years, [with] those matches I didn't have to focus all the time, I didn't have to be mentally there," Lyons said. "This time I have to be there for every point in the match."
Lyons was able to reach the top spot on the Duke team by improving her game during the fall season. She made the transition from being a one-dimensional power player to a multi-faceted player.
"She came in and had something of a one-dimensional game as a junior, and even her first two years," head coach Geoff Macdonald said. "She worked really hard during the fall to develop strategy, tactics, different strokes, her overall game."
"She's doing three days a week extra work with me. She's been really fun to work with because for her to move on she's had to develop new things and really become more of a thinker rather than somebody who just hits the ball hard.
"That's been really fun to work with, someone who does that, because she's been really receptive to me in those ways."
Lyons also credits her improvement to a change in her mental game. Instead of being a perfectionist, Lyons has learned to accept the fact that everyone makes mistakes on the court.
"I've worked a lot on my mental game," Lyons said. "Before, I'd get really frustrated with myself and that would lead me to lose [a lot of] games in a row, and I'd just get very frustrated. I've come to the point where I can accept if something's going wrong. I've really become more moderate in my thinking."
One example of this mental attitude change was seen in her singles match against Clemson. After battling to win the first set 7-6, Lyons jumped ahead to 4-1 in the second set. Yet the Clemson player quickly battled back to bring the set to 5-4. Instead of becoming frustrated and losing the set, Lyons held tough and won the match.
"She tanked those [early] games, she gave them to me," Lyons said. "And before I might of gotten really mad and really frustrated and just lost the set as opposed to trying to hang in there, trying to keep a level mentality."
Macdonald reiterated Lyons' claim that she has become more relaxed this season.
"She's gotten a lot better about not being so hard on herself when she makes a mistake," Macdonald said. "She's more accepting when she makes a mistake, and that's huge in tennis because you
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