Beau Greaves has admitted that she is now more open to playing men more often after feeling like her game has grown “stale” over recent months.
Greaves, who exits the Grand Slam in the group stages, finished her time in Wolverhampton off in style with a dominant 5-1 victory over Cameron Menzies.
It was another example of just how good the women’s world champion can be, her treble-hitting sensational as she sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Following her victory, Greaves gave an honest assessment of where she feels her game is currently at, acknowledging that she can be “stubborn” about the events she plays and that she needs to be more open to playing in other tournaments if she is to feel in her element on the big stage.
“I don’t know, maybe. I just know I need to start playing different people. I need to start pushing myself to get better,” said Greaves.
“I think I’ve gone a bit stale just doing what I’m doing so I definitely want to look into 2025 as doing more stuff.
“I am very stubborn in what I decide to play in and it would benefit me if I was open to playing different stuff, so (playing men) is definitely a possibility.
“It’s not the women’s fault, I just want to be a better player than I am now, be more comfortable on the stage. It’s hard to go up there when you are not used to playing the top players.
“I didn’t play very well (on Sunday) and felt I was going to get beat before I went on stage. I have had a very good ladies’ career but maybe if I am going to get any better I need to push myself.
“I’d love to be at the standard to play against the men all the time. It’s just right now I don’t think I can. I know I’ve got the game, it’s whether it happens on stage or not.
“The difficult part is the not knowing. I know what I want to do so hopefully I can get that sorted.
“I have enjoyed playing here (at the Grand Slam) this year more than last year. I know my results aren’t quite as good, which is annoying, so it’s about playing better players and making myself hardened.
“I would like a Tour card at some point, I just don’t know when. I’m not in a rush and there is nothing wrong being happy where you are in your life and what you’ve done.
“I have won a hell of a lot of darts tournaments so I want to do it in my own time. That’s my whole attitude to the game: appreciate what you’ve done and where you’ve been to get it.
“I’ve been through hard times so I’m not going to be too hard on myself after this weekend.”
Choice between Ally Pally and Lakeside is ‘stupid’: ‘I would love to do both’
Despite being the best women’s player on the planet, Greaves insists that growing the women’s game and ensuring the standard of the women’s game as a whole improves and gets bigger is her main focus.
With that, Greaves will head to Lakeside to defend her Women’s world title, opting out of the PDC World Darts Championship, but believes having to make the choice between the two is “stupid” as she would love the opportunity to play at both.
“The ladies’ game is massive to me. I wanted to be a women’s world champion and I got that at Lakeside, so I can’t not go back. I don’t know why people would think I wouldn’t do that,” Greaves said.
“The game is not just made up of me, Fallon (Sherrock), Lisa (Ashton) and whoever. There is a whole bunch of us that need to get better. Hopefully other ladies can get involved and back each other.
“I don’t really want me to do that well. I just want the the ladies’ game to get bigger and bigger. I am more for that sort of stuff. They deserve it. As nice as the men are to watch on telly, there is room for the ladies.
“There are 100, 200 players who want to play but don’t think they are good enough for the men’s game. I want to make sure I am flying the flag for them who don’t get mentioned.
“It’s a shame they make you choose (Ally Pally or Lakeside). I don’t understand that, I think it’s stupid. I’d love to do both,” she added.
“I wouldn’t win Ally Pally but I’d give it a good crack and see if I played well – but ultimately I want to be a ladies’ world champion.”
What’s next?
The Grand Slam of Darts continues on Tuesday November 12 with eight more matches coming your way as we find out who the other eight players are in the last 16, the likes of Michael Smith, Luke Littler, Gary Anderson, and Michael van Gerwen in action.
You can watch live on Sky Sports+ and Main Event from 7pm.
