England’s Lucy Beecroft Eyes Top 20 Berth By End of Season

England’s Lucy Beecroft has enjoyed a great start to her 2023-24 PSA World Tour campaign and is aiming for a top 20 spot before the campaign is through.

Following two RD3 Platinum event appearances, as well as narrowly missing out on a Gold event quarter final in Houston, Newcastle-born Beecroft recently broke inside the world’s top 30 and has jumped 10 places since the start of the season.

Beecroft graduated from Yale University in 2020 and is now permanently based in the USA, living and training out of New York with an experienced team that she says “have been so impactful”.

We caught up with the World No.28 to talk about her start to the season, mental resilience and her goals for the rest of the season.

Q. How would you sum up the start to your 2023/24 season?

LB – “I’m very happy with how the season has started! Other than the 3-2 loss to Farida Mohamed in Houston, it realistically couldn’t have gone much better, with my only other losses being to top 10 players. The two wins in Paris gave me so much confidence and they were something I really needed after struggling to convert opportunities against top 20 players last season. I knew I was right there, but actually doing it and getting over the line was another step I had to take and I feel really excited about the rest of the season.” 

Q. You came through two big battles with Hollie in Paris and Hana Moataz in Philadelphia. Is that grit and hanging tough in big moments something that is new to you? Would the Lucy of old not dealt with those situations as well as you are now?

LB – “Yes, definitely! Learning to win when I’m not playing my best has been something I’ve been working on from the mental side of things. Sometimes the consistency in my squash hasn’t been there, but being able to problem solve and stay mentally in the moment and just persevere has been a big change. I was very proud of the comeback against Hana [Ramadan] in the U.S. Open. I was so irritable and fighting against myself so much in the first two games, and my squash was nowhere near good enough to beat her, but I managed to regain control and switch the momentum and pull out a win in the fifth. There’s no way I would’ve won that match last season!”

Q. Coaching wise, obviously you’ve had the influence of some English coaches in your junior days but more recently you have built a team around you in the USA. Your attacking play has always been a great strength of yours, so who have you been working with and what have you been working on with them?

LB – “Yes, I feel so lucky to have the team I have around me. A couple of seasons ago, when I first started full time on tour, I was just kind of doing it all myself and it was impossible, so building the team I have around me now has definitely allowed me to have the success I’ve had up to now. On court, I’ve been working with Alex Stait, and more recently in NYC with Peter Nicol and Simba Muhwati, who have both been great additions to the team. We are trying to really increase the tempo of everything I’m doing on court, so I’m trying to keep my natural flare and attacking game and make everything a lot quicker and more direct.

“I also have Paul Price as my mental coach which has had a huge impact on my game over the last year, it was great to have him over from Australia at the U.S. Open. And last but not least, Mark Burns takes care of my fitness program and makes sure I’m doing everything off court to compliment what I’m doing on court. The physicality in the women’s game is so good right now, so having a specific program is so important to keep making improvements physically and making sure I’m utilising my time well between events.

“Having these guys in my corner has been so impactful, squash can be a lonely sport at times, but having the trust in my team is so motivating and helps me to keep pushing to get to where I want to be.”

Q. You moved into the world’s top 30 for the first time last week, now sitting at 28. Is that a bit surreal for you or are you just now looking ahead to pushing towards the top 20? 

LB – “Getting to my highest ranking of No.26 and cracking the top 30 is definitely a big milestone that I can tick off, but I am hungrier than ever now to keep pushing and break into the top 20. It is a bit surreal when I think of my U13 self who always said they wanted to go professional, and now I’m actually doing it and getting to play in all of the big events that I watched growing up! I’m definitely not done yet though and breaking into the top 20 by the end of this season is a big goal of mine.”

Q. You’ve come up against a couple of the top players in the world now, the likes of [Nouran] Gohar, [Joelle] King & [Nour] El Tayeb. What’s the main difference between them and yourself at the minute do you think? 

LB – “The biggest difference is just the speed and accuracy at which they do everything, I think. I know I have a natural style and an attacking game, but when I come up against the best women, it breaks down a lot easier and is nowhere near consistent enough.

“This is what I’m working on now a lot with Peter and Simba, I’m trying to make my base game a lot more solid and speed everything up so that I can start to compete with the top 10 women. Being able to play at this higher tempo obviously requires a higher level of physicality too, so I’m always working hard to develop that as well, which is definitely not the part that comes naturally to me! I’ve learned to love the hard work though and seeing it starting to pay off just makes me excited to keep going with it.”