Day 7

We have been in Australia for a week now and there are two things that have become clear about this country: 1) they LOVE sports here and 2) it is impossible to figure out how cricket works! Today was a tough day. I woke up early and ate breakfast, which consisted of crumpets, granola bars, and some chocolate milk, in the room. We then got on the shuttle and headed to the courts to practice at 9:30. I practiced with the Slovakian player Filip Horansky who I had lost to in the first round of the French Open 8-6 in the third set. We played a set in very windy conditions, which has become the norm here. After the practice, we went back to the hotel and relaxed before we headed back to the tennis center to practice at 2 pm with Nick Chappell, the other American. We practiced for about 45 minutes before we were basically forced to stop due to the winds. The winds today were gusting up to 70 mph, which made keeping the balls in the court impossible. Nick and I ate a hearty lunch at the site and watched the first set of the Andreev-Federer match, which went to Andreev. I went back out and practiced with a Finnish player by the name of Micke Kontinen, who I will also be playing doubles with at the Australian Open. We practiced for about 45 minutes before we played a practice set of doubles with John Morrissey and Bartozs Sawicki, a Polish player. It went pretty well even in the windy conditions, and after the doubles we played best of 5 sets of mini tennis volleyball. It was intense to say the least, and Micke and I lost 10-8 in the fifth set in an absolute heartbreaker! We pulled all the tricks with stalling, fist pumps, and the occasional argument over a close call. Vinh and I went to dinner after that with Nick and his coach to a chicken place which had surprisingly low prices and large portions. One of the surprises of the day didn't come here in Traralgon, but rather in Melbourne with a Colombian by the name of Santiago Giraldo. He beat Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-2 6-2 today, which was an upset since Robredo was seeded. However, what made me feel good about this result was that I played Giraldo at the Legg Mason this year and had given him quite a battle losing 6-2 6-3. While you can't do indirect results in tennis, it just gives me confidence about playing at the next level. One final thing I'd like to say is that tennis is a sport where the difference between winning and losing is quite small. In a sport where this is the case, you have to be sure to take care of all that you can control. You have to respect everyone but not fear anyone. Anyone can beat anyone, so it won't matter that my name is in red and I have a number next to my name. But then again if I can put everything together, there is no reason why I can't succeed against anyone!