Gold Coast rising tennis star Kim Birrell on injuries, lows and high of the pro tennis tour

Aussie tennis star Kim Birrell reveals how she pulled herself back from the brink of quitting - to now “knocking on the door” of the top 100 players in the world. Read her story

Gold Coast tennis star Kim Birrell is about to step on court against her idol.

She’s in Montreal playing the $3m 2023 Canadian Open, having won two qualifying matches including beating fellow Australian Daria Saville to make the main draw.

Her first round opponent is 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, one of the stars of the game playing her first match back since retiring to become a mum.

Birrell, 25 and ranked 115 in the world, has been playing well, and believes this is going to be a “big breakthrough moment”.

“I had built up in my head I need to have a big moment and this was going to be my big breakthrough moment. I’m going to beat Caroline Wozniacki on centre court.

“That was her first match back, out of retirement, so there was a lot going. I was walking out on court and they were playing Sweet Caroline, a banner said ‘Welcome back Caroline’ and I’m like ‘ooookay’,” Birrell muses, admitting in 2018 to “rooting for (Wozniacki) to win the Aussie Open”.

Gold Coast top tennis player Kim Birrell training at Queens Park in Southport before the start of the Australian tennis sunmmer. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

“I cried when she won because she had been in the finals so many times and lost. Then all of a sudden she was on the other side of the court and you have to take the emotion out of it and just focus on yourself.

“They are another person hitting the ball back.”

Birrell lost 6-2 6-2, admitted she was “disappointed” with herself and says it was “one experience I learned a lot from”.

“I’ve had a few experiences like that (in 2023) where I realised it’s not just about tennis - there are a whole lot of other things you need to manage: emotion and the crowd - and you need to be able to concentrate.

“I didn’t play my best on the big points, the big moments. That has been a bit of a theme this year. But I don’t think you can play your first match against an idol in front of a huge crowd and expect to play your best. You have to experience it, learn from it and know next time you can do x, y and z better.”

Disappointment aside, she was appreciative to have the experience at all - at one point she contemplated quitting the sport altogether.

Gold Coast's Kimberly Birrell pictured with her parents John and Ros Birrell after her win against Daria Kasatkina in Brisbane in 2018 Picture: AAP/David Clark

***

Five years earlier, aged 20, and ranked 283, Birrell announced herself to the tennis world. She beat 10th-ranked Daria Kasatkina in the Brisbane International 5-7 6-4 7-6. She then won two rounds at the Australian Open, upsetting 29th seeded Donna Vekic 6-4 4-6 6-1 before losing to world number one Angie Kerber.

The young Gold Coaster, with tennis-playing parents Ros and John (her father is her lifelong coach) seemed destined for a breakout year. It wasn’t to be. Injury struck a troublesome elbow. Surgery followed.

At one point she contemplated giving up her dreams and quitting altogether when in 2021 another surgery was “on the table”.

Speaking to the Bulletin three weeks ago, after a training session at her family’s Queens Park Tennis Plus centre in Southport, a resurgent Birrell recalls: “I decided I can’t do it - I don’t think I can get through another surgery mentally. I thought I would stop rather than go through that.

Kim Birrell shakes hands with Germany's Angelique Kerber who won their Australian Open third round women's singles at the 2019 event. Picture: William West, AFP

“But I gave it a bit more time. It wasn’t painfree but it was getting a little better.”

Her brilliant Aussie summer of 2018 got her to 157 in the world. If injury strikes, rankings are “protected” by governing body the WTA for three years but by the start of 2022 Birrell’s was due to expire. If she didn’t play, she would be starting from scratch.

“I had to start playing. I thought I would just play one tournament. I felt like I owed it to myself to at least try. I started to play and the pain started to improve because it adapted - and I was doing all my rehab.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play one more tournmanent or five. And now we are here.”

“Here” being at the end of her first full 12 months on tour in 2023, having played 34 weeks of the year, 34 tournaments, surging to 100 in the world at one point but now back at 115.

She’s also had a fulltime coach in American Andy Fitzell who credits her father John, a personal friend, for doing “all the ground work - she’s pretty much a finished product”.

“In American baseball terms, I’m a third base coach - she’s in a position to score and I’m just helping bring her home,” Fitzell says.

Gold Coast top tennis player Kim Birrell: “I didn’t know if I was going to play one more tournmanent or five. And now we are here (34 tournaments later).” Picture: Glenn Hampson.

“Now it’s about refining and continuing to improve and building off the foundation she already has. She is knocking on the door but she has to believe.

“This is a marathon, not a sprint. You can’t microwave it,” he said, adding coming through the adversity of her elbow injury “helps”.

“I enjoy working with her or I wouldn’t be here. The focus is on the process, what you do on daily basis, the little one per centers to get better every day, just try to keep getting better, compete as best you can, learn from every match, keep improving.”

The pair have have been through some formative experiences on the tour in 2023. Their first tournament, Orlando, she won five matches and the title, pocketing $10,000.

A few weeks later she lost a tight three-setter in Mexico, meaning if her and Fitzell hustled and drove through the night they could make qualifying for one of the world’s biggest tournanments outside the four majors, the $8.8m Indian Wells event.

Tennis coach Andy Fitzell is currently working with Gold Coaster Kim Birrell: “This is a marathon, not a sprint. You can’t microwave it.” Picture: Glenn Hampson

She won through qualifying with Fitzell happily telling her “you just won $25,000”.

Birrell credits her father for adding Fitzell to her team: “My dad is my coach and I really trust my dad.

“I’m so lucky (my dad) has had the foresight to know he doesn’t know everything. He always says don’t be the smartest person in the room. He’s always surrounded me with people who care about me but also know so much about tennis. I know he loves me and if I decided to put my rackets down today he wouldn’t think any less of me and that is probably the most important thing.”

After winning a 2023 Australian Open round she has reinvested the six-figure prizemoney in her game - formalising Fitzell as coach.

“He could go work with a lot of players but he really believes in me. We both know if I can improve certain areas I can be top 50 and it feels good to have someone on my team who believes in me enough to do crazy stuff like drive through the night.”

Gold Coast top tennis player Kim Birrell is playing Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the Australian Open. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

***

She’s appreciating everything.

“When you have a long-term injury you never forget what it is like to be able to do what you love. I’ve tried to really put it behind me. I’ve gone back and forth between ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ to being glad I have people around me like my Dad, coach, and boyfriend to remind me of it sometimes because it is good to reflect and remember this life is pretty amazing.

“I’m lucky to be able to wake up and do what I love. Sure sometimes I don’t want to go fly to Japan - I want to go home and see my dog. But I know tennis and sport, especially after having an injury, it’s only a short window. I want to make the most of it.

“That’s my biggest fear - not living up to my potential, not doing everything I possibly can to get the most out of my talent.”

In the Australian Open main draw she faces 10th-seeded world number 12 and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostepenko.

She won’t be building it up as a potential “big breakthrough moment”.

Gold Coast top tennis player Kim Birrell training at Queens Park in Southport, a club run by her parents. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

“I’ve realised it is more about the small little moments that make up your career. It’s not just one big breakthrough - it’s a process,” she said.

“It’s more about consistency, week in, week out, showing up, playing well, having a good attitude, working hard. Then those moments will definitely come.”

She’s come a long way already. A year ago she was just happy to play. Now she’s readjusting her goals again “to make them bigger”.

“As a kid you dream of being world number one and winning grand slams. With my injury, I had to adjust it back, to being back on court, playing one match. This year took my by surprise a little bit and I need to re-evaluate and make my goals bigger again.

“Why not. For so long I didn’t think I was even going to be back.”

Follow @keenatGCB

Originally published as Gold Coast rising tennis star Kim Birrell on injuries, lows and high of the pro tennis tour