Liam is the current Interpro captain of the Munster Senior and U-18 teams. He is a playing member of the Munster Vets O-45 team and has represented Munster Seniors for an amazing 17 years. He has recently being selected to play in the World Team Championships in Mexico and still finds time to coach.
The following is an interview Liam did for the blog.
Name: Liam O’Brien
Club: Rushbrooke L.T.C.C
Grade: Senior: Premier
Vets Age Category: Over 45’s
Coaching level: Level 1
A few easy questions to get you into things:
Do you prefer singles or doubles? Doubles
Your Racket of Choice? Fischer Black Granite/M-Comp 295gm
What do you like about it? It’s nicely balanced
Favourite ball? Wilson all Court
Favourite Surface? Clay
Favourite player and why? Borg – has been my idol for years
Favourite Grand Slam? Wimbledon
If you could pick any 3 others to play in your dream doubles match who would they be? Woodford, Woodbridge, L. Paes.
Personal Tennis questions:
Strengths as a player? Intense (maybe too intense at times) good team player, strong serve/volley & forehand not too bad either.
Strengths as a coach? I think I’m a good motivator & expect results from every session I complete. But also expect people to enjoy & have fun during lessons.
What's next for you in tennis as a player? Senior World Team Championship’s in Mexico “Dubler Cup” 29th March 2010 “Potter Cup” IC Team travelling to Barcelona - 26th May 2010.
What's next for you in tennis as a coach? Continue to help all my junior players to improve & hopefully compete at the highest level in the country & maybe even higher.
Questions about Irish Tennis
At what stage do you think Irish Tennis is at? Irish Tennis is improving with the success of Sorensen/C. Niland & a few others but we really need more affordable indoor facilities throughout the country for Irish Tennis to really improve.
Where can tennis go from here? The sky’s the limit! If we had a blank cheque book and under the current economic climate it’s not really achievable at present but who knows what we can do in the future.
Achievements/Highlights:
3 “World Team Championship’s” (Dubler Cup) over 45 – Antalya in Turkey 2008, Majorca 2009 & Mexico City 2010.
3“Four Nations Internationals” – Over 35’s – Jersey, Wales & N/Ireland.
17 Munster Senior Inter-provincials.
Captaincy of the Senior/Under 18 Inter-provincial Teams for the last five years.
What was your most memorable match? I suppose winning my first International match over 35’s but I have many more which there are too many to mention.
What are the highlights of your career to date? Being picked to play on International/Provincial Teams throughout my tennis career & also being able to play at a high level of tennis at my age.
