The ATP players blogs

[davis]

Player Name: Thomas Johansson
Blogging From: Rome
Last Entry: Thursday, May 11, 2006




Monday, May 8, 2006
There's a lot of pressure on me this week to follow Tursunov's blog. I can't promise to be that entertaining but I'll do my best. I was practicing last week with Ivan Ljubicic in Monaco and he asked me if I had read Tursunov's blog on the ATP web site. I said 'no' and he told me I should take the time to read it because it is amazing.

It feels great to be back on the tour and to be around my friends again. This will be my first tournament since my freak eye injury in Rotterdam. I was practicing with my doubles partner Mario Ancic and we were hitting serves from opposite sides of the court. He must have miss hit one; the ball bounced and then rocketed into my left eye. It was very scary and I didn't see anything out of my left eye for the first 10 minutes - it was like someone had pulled a curtain across my eye. It was totally black and I was in a lot of pain.

I went to the tournament doctor and she said that it probably wasn't anything too serious but if I wasn't 100 percent by the next day that I should see an eye specialist. We had beaten Aussie Open finalists Damm and Paes in the first round and were scheduled to play our second round Friday, the day after my injury. We hit in the morning and I couldn't judge the distance of the ball - my forehand was really late. I knew then that I couldn't play the match. I went to an eye specialist in Rotterdam and he said they would have to operate – that day! Everything happened so quickly.

Mario and his Swedish coach Fredrik Rosengren were both really concerned. They came to see me after the surgery and Mario must have called me twice a day for the next four weeks. No-one is happier to see me back playing than Mario. We are very good friends and I felt sorry for him that it happened. It's probably the first time on the ATP circuit that a player has been injured like that.

To try to explain the injury in the simplest terms, the blow to the eye caused a hole in my retina. A lot of fluid, including blood, came into the eyeball and they had to put what I describe as a type of miniature pillow on the hole so that it blocked the flow of liquid into the eyeball. They also put gas into my eye to keep pressure on the spot where the pillow was.

I wasn't allowed to fly for four weeks, so that meant a long trip back to Sweden. By coincidence, the day I got injured was the day my wife arrived - we had planned to travel to Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami together. So between us we had two big Samsonite bags, two Dunlop sports bags and my racquet bag - and I was under doctor's orders not to carry anything!

Richard Krajicek, the Rotterdam tournament director, said we could have a tournament car to drive back to Sweden, a trip which I guess would take about 15 hours. But instead we decided to be driven to Germany, and from there we took a midnight train to Copenhagen, where the plan was for my sister's boyfriend to pick us up and drive us to our hometown of Linkoping.

It was freezing cold, I couldn't see squat and I couldn't carry any of our luggage. So my wife, who is pretty small, and the driver had to carry all the bags onto the train. Then we were in this tiny sleeper carriage. Only one of us could stand up at one time. We arrived into Copenhagen around 9 am and then drove home.

I wasn't allowed to do anything for the first two weeks and during that time I had to have six sessions each day where I would lay down on my right side for 45 minutes to an hour and remain completely still. I'd wake at 8, have breakfast and then would have to go back to bed for an hour! Get up, watch a movie, then back to bed.

I looked liked Hannibal Lecter when I went to bed, so I'm not sure my wife was happy to see me. But fortunately I only had to wear the patch when I went to sleep.

I had this bubble in my eye, which made me feel like one of those levels that a builder uses. It was black and would go around my eye. The first few times that I started walking I felt seasick because the bubble moves with your head. I thought I could make a little extra money during my rehab by moonlighting as a builder.

I was in Sweden for 3-4 weeks and was seeing an eye specialist in Stockholm. After four weeks when the bubble disappeared and I could fly, I went to my apartment in Monaco. I had my first hit with Jonas Bjorkman the week before Masters Series Monte-Carlo. My eye specialist in Nice said that I wasn't allowed to move too much on the court, so for that first week I was a pro hitting partner. I could stand in one corner but I couldn't play any games. But it was still a lot of fun and it gave me a lot of time on the court with guys like Kiefer, Oli Rochus, Zimonjic and Robredo.

I'm sure I'll be more nervous than normal tomorrow when I walk out to play Italian qualifier Fabio Fognini. I haven't played a match since Rotterdam, although I've always enjoyed the Rome tournament - the clay is quicker and I like the city.

I still don't have 100 percent vision in the eye - it's probably at 60-70 percent. When I got hit my lense went backwards and every week it's been moving forward a little bit. They say that it won't be until six months has passed that I’ll know if I have sustained permanent damage, but everything has been going well to this point, so there is nothing to suggest that I won't make a full recovery.

The reduced vision has not affected my play - it's not like I'm spraying forehands when I'm tracking the ball with my left eye. The only problem I have is that I haven't got my night vision back. I don't drive when it's dark and I've put in a request that my match tomorrow be played during the day. Fingers crossed.

Sorry my first entry is so long. Dmitry set the tone last week when he wrote a novel each day!

More tomorrow, Thomas


Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Post-match media
I received some nice encouragement today. Dmitry was one of the first guys to tell me he had read the blog and he said 'I think you're doing pretty good.' It's always nice to get a positive comment from the master himself. "The first one is always easy," he said with a smile. Not many people knew the full background of the injury so it was good for them to know the true story. When Mario came to Indian Wells there were a lot of different stories out there.

This morning I slept to 9 or 9.30 and then met Jonas Bjorkman for breakfast in the hotel. I love the coffee here in Rome so I had two cups. Normally I'll have three to five cups a day but on match day I try not to drink coffee with lunch.

Jonas and I are best friends and neither of us are traveling with a coach at the moment, so we try to help each other out. We spoke before the match and he was waiting for me in the locker room after the win. I knew he was in the stands watching the match but I didn't know he was text messaging my wife, Gisella. She's back home in Sweden and couldn't see the match on TV. He'd throw in a little commentary during each changeover. I started off well, breaking in the first game of the match but then I dropped serve in the next game after leading 40-15. So Jonas' message probably read something like this: "Great start but now can't put a ball in the court. " But I can assure you everything is above board between us and the wives. I'll also text message Petra during Jonas' matches.

I'm not sure if my opponent read the blog or not, so I don't know if he knew that I only have 60-70 percent vision in my left eye and that I don't see too good when the light is fading. We were third on from 1 pm, and when I woke up it was pouring with rain and lightning was flashing. I thought we may be in for a very late start and that the whole match may be played under lights. Fortunately matches started on schedule but Gaudio and Malisse and then Nalbandian and Vicente both played three-setters.

Waiting in the locker room I grew increasingly worried about starting the match under lights because as it gets dark I have problems judging distance, which is pretty important when trying to hit the ball. I was also really, really nervous playing my first match since Rotterdam in February. In practice I'd be very good one day and then very bad the next. You could see that I struggled for consistency in the first set but I was very satisfied with my game in the first set tie-break and then after that things felt a lot easier and I felt better the longer the match went on as my legs got going. It takes a while to wake up an old man. We played in natural light for the first set before the lights were turned on for the second. In the end I was happy with the way I saw the ball and I don't believe my vision impaired me today.

On Wednesday I play fourth match on from 1 pm, so that will be played 100 percent under lights. I'll do my best before now and then to find a SWAT team and get a pair of those night vision goggles. Then I'll be able to do some real damage.

Because I finished late tonight we had dinner at the club - me, Jonas, Fredrik Rosengren (Mario Ancic's coach) and Robbie Koenig, the former doubles player who now coaches Moodie and Bhupathi. I had some Italian appetizers and then I went for the lasagne - a good choice! And coffee, of course. We talked a bit about soccer and Fredrik also had his laptop out. There is wireless internet on site so 'Fidde' took full advantage. He could pass for a computer nerd or office worker. There he was with a web cam attached to his laptop, talking to the wife and kids back home.

I called my wife while we were having dinner and she was very excited. Neither of us expected a win in my first match back. My parents - who along with my sister and her boyfriend are probably my biggest supporters - were able to see the match. My parents get a special channel in Sweden that shows all the Slams and Masters Series events. I called dad after the match from the hotel room and spoke about the match, which was nice.

Talk to you tomorrow, Thomas


Wednesday, May 10, 2006
In action against Henman
I had a little panic attack before I went out to play tonight. I was watching Marat Safin's match in the locker room with Roger Federer and Tim Henman and the television started to play up. The lines were going up and down and then they weren't even straight. I asked Roger and Tim if it was the TV or my eyesight and they said "The TV is perfectly okay." Of course, they were just having a little fun at my expense.

A lot of fans probably don't know just how loud and funny Roger can get. He has a really, really good sense of humor. People think of him as very quiet and calm but watching the Safin match he was screaming and yelling along with the rest of the players as the big Russian let a 6-1, 4-1 lead slip away against Ruben Ramriez-Hidalgo. I hope Roger controlled himself a little better when he met the Pope earlier in the day. Roger is also a genius with languages. He used to be coached by Peter Lundgren, so I can almost speak Swedish with him.

I actually spent quite a bit of time talking to Tim today while we were waiting for our match to go on. You don't often socialize with your opponent the day of a match but Tim and I are very good friends and we've been on the tour for so many years together that it didn't feel unusual or awkward. It was tough for both of us today trying to prepare for the match. It looked like Safin was cruising to a quick win but in the end the match lasted just over three hours. Guys were saying to us 'You've been warming up for two hours - what is going on?' Actually, I'm surprised some guys noticed. There was a hot magazine kicking around in the locker room today - 'Stuff,' with lots of girls in bikinis - and that proved popular with a lot of the guys.

I had a long breakfast with Jonas this morning because we both had late matches today and I didn't get on site till about 1 pm. I warmed up with Marat and then we had a bit of a chat afterwards about the knee injuries we've had in the past. We spoke about how frustrating it is to be off the circuit for a long period of time. I had a late lunch with Simon Aspelin and later dinner with Simon, his doubles partner Todd Perry and Leander Paes.

As expected I found it very, very tough out there under lights with my vision. Judging the distance was the biggest problem. I had requested in my first tournament back to play during the day so it was disappointing to get two matches that were played under lights. Still, I don't want to blame that for the loss. I played a good first set when Tim wasn't on top of his game and had a set point. In the second set Tim played very well and overall he was the better player on the night.

I'll still be around Thursday so check back for another blog tomorrow.


Thursday, May 11, 2006
In action against Henman
I began today with a long breakfast with Jonas. Despite all the time we spend together off the court we never run out of conversation. Our wives are really good friends also. The ATP Chairman Etienne de Villiers came up and we spoke about different tournaments and about what we could all do better to improve the game. All the players are pretty excited about the the future of the sport and a lot of things seem to be happening with the new leadership of the ATP. But I couldn't let our meeting pass without getting something personal off my chest. I was still a little disappointed that I was scheduled to play two matches under lights in my first tournament back from the eye injury. So I made my point known!

Later, we went to the club and had a little lunch with Roger [Federer] and Tony [Roche]. Roger told us about his meeting with the Pope. The aide who introduced him said that 'This is the World No. 1 in tennis." "Tennis is a powerful sport," the Pope said to Roger.

Then I had a hit with Jonas and Max Mirnyi. They're still in the doubles. We hit for an hour or 90 minutes. I was just glad to get in the extra practice. It was a quieter day in the locker room. The magazine was gone - I guess the locker room attendants confiscated it!

Jonas and I had a nice dinner tonight. By chance, Peter Lundgren and Marat Safin picked the same restaurant, so we chatted with them for a bit.

A lot of the players who have lost in Rome will be taking the same 1.45 pm flight tomorrow to Hamburg for next week's final clay court Masters Series event. I know Ljubicic, his coach and Grosjean will be on the same flight. I'm going to hit with Ljubicic in Hamburg tomorrow evening.

I've had fun doing the blog this week and I'd like to leave you with one funny story before I sign off.

One of the first people I bumped into here in Rome was Greg Rusedski. We're pretty good friends so I thought it was a little unusual that when I saw him here for the first time a few days ago he just walked past me. So I wondered if he had seen me. Then I started to think back to Monte-Carlo, where I impersonated him during the annual Players' Revue.

I impersonated Greg and ATP trainer Bill Norris. Jonas was Kenneth Carlsen, Nicolas Lapentti was Feliciano Lopez, Max Mirnyi was Fernando Verdasco and Mahesh Bhupathi was Anand Amritraj. We gave each other a hard time, mimicking what 'our guy' says or does a lot. I started wondering if I had pushed it too far.

"Did you hear I played you at the show," I said to Greg. "I heard you made fun of me," he replied. I had to own up, but said that I didn't go too far. He must have taken me at my word because we talked like normal after that. Greg's a lot bigger than me so I don't want to make an enemy of him.

Thanks for reading the blog. Take care, Thomas

[davis]

PART 1

Player Name: Tommy Robredo
Blogging From: Hamburg
Last Entry: Sunday, May 21, 2006




Sunday, May 21, 2006
I guess a few of you are wondering what was going on at match point when I took off my shirt. Well, here's the back story.

Last night at dinner with Michael and Juan they said, "Tommy, if you win let's do one thing. The soccer players, they put their shirts down and they write something and they are ready if they score a goal. You have to be ready if you win to do something original. Not just lay down on the clay like everyone else." I said, "Well, come on, help me, what can I do?" Juan suggested that I take off my shirt. Before the match point I asked myself "Am I going to do this? Yeah, yeah, I have to do it." It was funny.

At this time after the semifinal I had 21 text messages. Right now it's 41 and a few calls. I guess that's the difference a final makes. I already spoke with the chief of the Partido Popular [the opposition political party] in Spain, Mariano Rajoy.

It's nice that he remembers me and supports me. Alex Corretja just called me and I have a lot of messages from David Ferrer. After I beat him in the quarters he sent me a text message saying: Come on, Tete, now that you have beaten me you must go on and win the title. When I beat Ancic he called me and said "I saw you on TV and you were great. Keep going like this."

I am so, so happy. After the match I just wanted to do my press conference as quickly as I could and then go back to the hotel, lay down on the bed and think about what I have just done. Winning a title is important; winning a Masters Series title is even more important... and I think I'm going to be No. 7 in the world. I'll run a hot bath and soak in the bath with lots of bubbles. Then I'll have a great dinner.

I have a 12.30 flight tomorrow to Barcelona and one of my best friends will be there to meet me. And at night I'm going to get dressed up in a suit and go to the Laureus Awards.

Last night I took a full body massage and then went to a Japanese restaurant with Juan and Michael. I turned off the TV at midnight but I didn't sleep too well. I got to sleep at 1 am and got up a few times. I wasn't thinking about the match but my body knew a great moment was arriving. I got up at 9.30 and couldn't eat breakfast too well. I practiced with Ollie again at the club and then had some pasta.

Before the match today I was dancing and singing. I have an iPod, the ATP gave us one in Miami. I just put 695 songs on it, I have Mozart, Bach, any kind of music. It just makes me feel good, it takes my mind off the match. Today I listened to ZZ Top, Coldplay, Mana, for example, among others.

What will I do with this beautiful trophy? I will put it behind my plasma TV in my living room and I will tell my cleaning lady, Carmen, to clean it especially well.

I hope you've enjoyed reading the blog. I've had a lot of fun doing it and it's brought me a lot of luck. I have already asked if I can do it again at Roland Garros!

Adiós!
Tommy


Saturday, May 20, 2006
At my locker after my semifinal win I had a great win today over Mario Ancic to reach my first Masters Series final, but before I talk about that let me get the important stuff out of the way. My trainer Juan Reque was most upset that his picture mysteriously disappeared from the blog yesterday. So I'm on strike... no more blogging until the ATP editor puts the photo back! That's only fair. Well, I'll trust the editor to put it back... and besides, I don't want to stop blogging now as the blog has brought me good luck all week.

When I got up this morning breakfast had already closed but Juan had already got something for me, which I ate in the room. (He'll do anything to get that photo back up.) Then we had a 10-15 minute run around the lake.

When you get late into a tournament week it can sometimes be hard to find another player to hit with. I didn't have anyone lined up to hit with today so last night I asked Nicola from the ATP and the guy at the practice desk if they could find me someone. So this morning I hit with a local guy by the name of Ollie, and he gave me a good warm-up.

I had a little pasta and fish for lunch and then went through my normal routine before the match. I was very happy to win today and reach my first Masters Series final. I now have the chance to reach No.8 or No. 9 depending on if I win or not. If I could win my third career title and first Masters Series title in the same week that Barcelona wins the Champions League then it would be a perfect week for me.

About 10 minutes after the match I had 21 text messages on my cell phone and I now also have six or seven voice messages from family and friends. I haven't returned any of those calls yet because I just want to cool down a little and relax. Tonight I will get back in touch with some of them and on Monday I'll be sure to get in touch with all of them to thank them for their support.

Tonight I'll go to a nice dinner with Juan and ATP trainer Michael Novotny to celebrate today's win. Before that I will have a massage in the room with Juan. Tonight I want to get a good sleep because the final is best of five sets and I want to do everything so I'm perfectly prepared for the final.

Adiós!
Tommy


Friday, May 19, 2006
Tommy at the restaurant in which he almost got locked inside It’s midnight and I am very happy right now, not only because I won my match against David Ferrer, but also because I will be able to sleep at the hotel!!!

I’ll explain the situation. After doing the interviews at the press room, getting my massage and putting some ice, I went to eat something in the restaurant and for some reason someone closed the door and locked me inside. If wasn’t for my strong arms, I would still be locked inside the restaurant and have to sleep there before my semifinal match against Mario Ancic tomorrow.

Today I played very well against my good friend Ferrer and was able to win in two sets. In the first set, I was down 6-1 in the tie-break and I don’t really know how I came back to take the set. I guess I played some good points and he made a couple mistakes. I am very happy that I won because I'm always setting new goals and after breaking into the Top 10, my next goal is to win a big event like a Masters Series.

Lately I have been receiving some funny e-mails from my friends asking me to talk about them in my blog. I wish I could do that, but if I did my blog would be eight pages long. Sorry guys, maybe next time!

Last night I received a phone call from one of my best friend’s girlfriend. She came to town and wanted to see me. We went to eat dinner at a nice restaurant and then we walked around the lake for a little while. It was nice to see her and chat a little bit.

This morning I didn’t have to wake up early because my match was the last one. After my breakfast, I went to the club and warmed up from 11:30 to 12:00 and then came back to the hotel to rest. Whenever I play night matches, I don’t like to stay at the tournament site for too long because it drains me down.

Tommy at the press conference

Back at the hotel I chatted with some friends on the MSN and also watched some news from Spain. It’s always nice when there is a Spanish TV channel in the hotel.

Around 4:30 I went back to the club and stayed in the locker room preparing my rackets. David was also in the locker so we were chatting and telling jokes to each other such as: “David, you played so good yesterday. I am sure you are going to beat me today.”

Then he would tell me: “Tommy I feel pain in my shoulder. I am sure you are going to win today.” It was pretty funny and we were having a good time before our match.

Davydenko’s match was long so when we got to the court it was late and cold. It’s unfortunate that I had to play David in the quarterfinals because we were both playing very well, and maybe we could play each other in the final. Also, it’s tough to play against a good friend such as David, but that’s tennis. We all know that we will have to play against our friends at some point.

In my press conference today, the journalists made a lot of questions about my Blog. I told them that it’s a lot of fun to let the tennis fans know what happens to us (players) inside and outside of the courts. I would be very interested to know what Tiger Woods does in the golf tournaments and what he thinks when he is about to putt.

It’s a great initiative from the ATP to do blogs with the players and I love doing it.

It’s past midnight and I need to go back to the hotel and get some rest. Thanks to my strong arms I won’t have to sleep here!

Adiós!
Tommy


Thursday, May 18, 2006
At the press conference after my match
Barcelona Campeón!!! As everyone knows, my favorite soccer team F.C. Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-1 in the final of the UEFA Champions League last night. Instead of watching the match in my room, I went to the player’s party because I knew they would have a TV there. Also, they served sushi for dinner and since I love sushi I couldn’t miss that.

Fernando Verdasco, Pato Clavet and Juan Reque were there with me watching the match. I was pretty disappointed after Arsenal scored the first goal but when Barcelona came back with two goals in less than 10 minutes, I went crazy.

You might be asking: Where was David Ferrer? Well, he was in his room watching the match by himself, and according to his coach Ferrer was going crazy also almost 'breaking everything'! He told me that he didn’t want to watch the game with everybody else because he was afraid that people would be annoyed about him screaming too loud.

At the beginning of the match there were only 10 people watching the final. But at the end, when Barcelona scored the first goal to tie the match 1-1, more people were there. Not many people cared too much about the game because no German team was playing.

When I woke up this morning it was raining. Because of that I had to warm up with Nikolay Davydenko later than we had scheduled. When we got to the club the courts were wet but we still had to warm up, so we hit for about 30 minutes on a court that had a huge puddle in the middle.

The photo is back! Juan will be very happy! Today I played a very good match against Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the beginning he was hitting the ball very hard but then I adjusted a few things and was able to play my game and win 6-3, 6-3.

When I left the court today, I saw something I had never seen at a tennis tournament in my life: Cheerleaders! I have seen cheerleaders at basketball games but never at tennis tournaments. I was walking to the press room to give interviews and there were about 12 girls jumping up and down and screaming. I thought it was very funny.

If I was a tennis fan I would love to see more of these activities at the tournaments such as cheerleaders, concerts, magicians, etc. I think that would be a lot of fun for the crowd.

Tomorrow I will have a very tough match against Ferrer. He is in great shape physically and has been playing well lately. We are very good friends and have never played against each other. We ate dinner together for most of the week, so if he wants to go out to have dinner I will be glad.

I would like to thank all my young tennis fans that have been supporting me since my first round match in Hamburg. These kids are so much fun!

Thanks guys and los veo mañana.
Tommy


Wednesday, May 17, 2006
My ice cream treat!
Today is shaping up as a perfect day. I won my second-round match against Florent Serra and tonight I'm getting set to watch the UEFA Champions League final between my team Barcelona and Arsenal. And last night chatting to my friend on messenger I learned that he had found a ticket at the last minute, so he won't have to try to sneak into the stadium. Apparently there was a guy in Madrid who returned his ticket at the last minute and my friend was able to buy it as part of a package that included an airfare for about 500 or 600 Euros. He's flying to Paris right now. I told him that now the only way I'd visit him in jail is if Barcelona wins and he makes an unbelievable party.

Right now I'm going back to the hotel for a siesta and then I will chat again on messenger. I'm sure most of the talk will be about the football. The players' party is on tonight at the hotel but for sure I will miss that. I'll just get room service for dinner and then a lot of the players will try to find a room to watch the match as a group, which will be more fun. David Ferrer and his coach, who are Barcelona supporters, will be cheering with me but Ferrero and Verdasco will be cheering against Barcelona because they support Madrid. They don't care if Arsenal wins; they just want Barcelona to lose. I think that Carlos Moya, who is a Barcelona supporter, has flown to Paris for the game.

It's probably better that we don't use my room to watch the game. The room itself is very tidy; I'm someone who has a place for everything. I'll put my shirts in one place, my pants in another, my socks in another... But the bathroom is a different matter. There you'll find my used socks and clothes and my match shoes with clay on them and my running shoes. It's not a pretty picture and neither is the smell.

This system all came about when I was younger and traveled to the US for two weeks of tournaments. After each day I would just put the sweaty clothes into the same bag. My parents came over in the second week and I asked my mother to clean my clothes. But when she opened the bag it smelled so bad we had to throw all the clothes away. There may even have been some mushrooms in there! My parents were screaming at me and told me I had to let the clothes dry.

Late yesterday I started to watch Under the Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane before going out to dinner with David Ferrer and his coach at a restaurant close to the hotel. After that I watched the end of the film and then got to bed around 12.30, which was later than it should have been with an 11 o'clock match. But it was tough to get to sleep after that siesta I had.

I am a Spaniard so I don't like getting up at 8 o'clock, which is what I've had to get up the last three days. I'm going to have to talk to Giorgio, the ATP Tour Manager, and ask for later starts! I need the extra sleep.

I practiced with Stepanek, who also was first match on today, from 9.30 to 10. I talked with Vliegen and Nieminen in the locker room before we went out to play. Most players are normally pretty quiet before they go out. Then with 10 or 20 minutes to go I put on my iPod, did a little jumping and moving about. I knew today's match would be tough and Serra beat me the last time we played in Adelaide.

I limited myself to just one ice cream after lunch - I didn't double up like yesterday. I saw Ferrero and Garcia-Lopez in the players' lounge fighting to see who could make the fastest lap time in a Formula 1 car game.

I was asked to do a STARS activity today that involved an abseiling rescue. But I had to say no to that one. I don't want any mishaps before tomorrow's match.

Hasta mañana, Tommy


Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Nicolas Kiefer made an impact in his match shirt
My blog seems to be getting plenty of attention. Players and other people I speak to during the day say "Remember to speak about me in the blog and say my name."

After my post yesterday I had an interesting messenger chat with one of my friends back in Olot, a town where I used to live. Like me, he's a great supporter of Barcelona, who will play Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris on Wednesday. He is going to Paris tonight even though he doesn't have a ticket. He's had some success in the past sneaking into stadiums without a ticket but this one will be tough to pull off. I wrote to him: The police are going to take you to jail. But the good news is that I'll be in Paris in a couple of weeks for Roland Garros so I will visit you and bring you a Coke and something to eat.

Unfortunately the Brazilian models were busy last night so we had to postpone dinner. But I haven't given up hope and there may even be a chance to go to a nice restaurant tonight. I had dinner with them earlier in the week with my friend from Octagon and they knew I was here by myself this week. They said that we should go out to dinner again or maybe catch a movie.

I just hope they don't ask me to go out tomorrow - I will be watching the football. For sure the soccer is more important. My favorite team only gets to play in a big final like this once every few years... the girls have to understand that. I will switch off the cell phone and not move from the TV. If Barcelona loses I won't be in a good mood and if they win all I'll want to talk about is soccer. But of course after the match I would be happy to go to dinner, whether it is with the girls or some of the players.

Last night I had dinner with my friend Danny at an Italian restaurant and then took a walk around the Alster to let the food settle. That's a better way to appreciate the lake than running along its banks like I did with David Ferrer and his coach.

This morning I got up at 9 and had a little practice with David before our doubles match with Chris Haggard and Wesley Moodie. We tried changing sides today; we hadn't been winning with me playing in the ad court so I switched to the deuce court. It worked well in the first set! We won it 6-1. But they kicked our butts in the second set and then they won the Match Tie-break. Afterwards we ran and did weights.

After lunch I had two ice creams for dessert - an almond Magnum and a Magnum Blanco (white chocolate around the ice cream). And each day I also like to eat a few Haribo candies.

Then I went into the Tour Manager's office with a little request before tomorrow's schedule is made. I told Giorgio that I needed to be free after 6 pm to watch Barcelona play. I said I would kill him if I was scheduled to play late. Then I asked him to call me on my cell phone when the schedule was made as I didn't want to hang around on site to see what time I played.

I also watched a little of the Kiefer match. He's creating quite a stir wearing his name and the number 69 on the back of his shirt. I don't know what the story is with the number but I'll try to find out. I can think of three possible answers: It's his lucky number, the number has been given to him by his football team, Hanover, or... I don't even want to think about the third reason.

Now I'm going to go back to the hotel and have a one-hour siesta before chatting again on Messenger. And I'll keep working on trying to get a dinner with one of the models!

Hasta mañana, Tommy

[davis]

PART 2



Monday, May 15, 2006
Yesterday I practiced for one hour and then went for 30-minute run with Juan Reque. After the run I lifted weights for about 20 minutes because I had problems with my shoulder last year and to recover from my injury I have to do weights three times a week for 20-30 minutes.

After practice I went to grab something to eat and watched the F-1 race for a little while. Then I played a Spanish game of cards called ‘mus’ with Fernando Verdasco, his coach Pepo, Feliciano Lopez and their trainer. We really love to play this game, so we were playing for about two to three hours.

Before going out for dinner I took a Spanish siesta. A friend of mine that works for Octagon, my agency, arrived on Saturday night. I didn’t know he was coming, so it was a great surprise. He is a guy who knows a lot of people and has many friends. And he's like my dating coach. We went out to eat in an Italian restaurant close to the hotel with two Brazilian girls who are models. After dinner I went to bed around 11:30 pm.

I had a match at 11:00 today, so I got up around 8:00 because I like to wake up three hours before my match and have a practice 90 minutes before my match. At 9:00am I was already at the tournament site moving my body a little bit with Juan. From 9:30 to 10:00 I warmed up with Robin Soderling because I signed up to hit with anyone and Soderling wanted to hit with me.

From 10:00 to 11:00 I prepared my three racquets to play. Every time I play a match I like to get my racquets re-strung. I had to put on the grip and then prepare my energy drinks.

Before the match I have a routine. I like to go to the bathroom and then put my iPod on and listen to music for about 20 minutes. Nobody can distrub me. I have about 1,000 songs on my iPod but before the matches I like to listen to rock because then I arrive little bit more motivated on the court.

I played Jiri Novak, who I played many times and always lost. He is a good friend of mine. We played doubles together here last year. I always told him “Please, before you retire let me win once.” He always joked about that. Even though I knew it was going to be a tough match I knew as well that he was coming back from an injury, so I wanted to make him move a lot. I played a perfect match winning 6-3, 6-2 and in the end he told me at the net “You finally beat me.” He is a really nice guy. He was joking even when he lost.

After the match I went to the gym to do some weights on my shoulder. Then I stretched a little bit and got something to eat. In the afternoon I am going to the hotel to rest and chat on the messenger. It’s like a routine for me when I have some time off in the hotel to chat with my friends and family.

At 6:00 pm I am going to meet Juan and David Ferrer for a 30-minute run nearby at a really nice lake.

Tomorrow I will let you guys know more about what happened tonight. As you might know I broke up with Gisela Dulko, who I dated for one year. Tonight I am going to try to arrange a dinner with the Brazilian girls we met last night. I like being in good company!

Tommy


Saturday, May 13, 2006
I'm happy to be doing the blog this week. I read Dmitry's and thought it was great. This week hopefully I can give you an idea of what a day in the life of a player is like during Masters Series Hamburg.

I've got to say it was a little stressful getting here. On Friday I decided to take a late afternoon flight so I could practice in Barcelona during the day. My flight was scheduled to stopover in Mallorca and then continue to Hamburg. I arrived at the airport at 5pm and the first flight was fine. Then in Mallorca I waited for all the people to board before getting on. But as I walk to the door the girl at the desk tells me that she needs four passengers to get on a different plane. "We are waiting for some passengers from Santiago, so this will make this plane leave late," she says. "There's another plane that will leave sooner and you'll arrive on time in Hamburg." So myself and three other people rush to a different gate but when we get there... no plane! It had already left. So we have to go back to the original gate.

On my way to Hamburg I turn to my instrument of work - my phone. I was arranging things for practice. I have my physio, Juan Reque, with me in Hamburg, but I am still without a coach. I sent Juan a text message: Please arrange practice for me in the morning and in the afternoon we can go running. I also was surprised to see a text message from Mahesh Bhupathi, one of the world's best doubles players: Hey Tommy, do you want to play doubles with me in Hamburg? I've lost in the first round of doubles about 10 times in a row so I wasn't sure if he was drunk. Maybe he just wanted the first-round prize money. Anyway, I had already arranged to play with David Ferrer so I had to say no.

In the end we arrived 90 minutes late into Hamburg and then I had to wait another 30 minutes for my racquet bag to show up - they made me send it with the checked luggage. Thankfully my courtesy car driver was still waiting for me at the airport. We had to walk a little way to the garage where the car was parked. We took the elevator to the fifth floor before the driver realized the car was on the fourth floor. So we went to the fourth floor and then she said it was actually on the third floor. When we eventually found the car it was on the second floor.

I got to the hotel around 12.30 am. I unpacked my bag and went straight to bed.

Today I had breakfast in the hotel with Alberto Martin. When we got to the site I left one racquet with the stringer to try out in the afternoon to see if it's the tension I want to play with here this week. I warmed up with Juan at 10.30 and then practiced with Guillermo Coria. It was just a half hour hit and we were sharing a court with two other guys who had a match coming up. Then we played some games. He was leading 5-2 when we stopped. But that's okay... it was my first day getting used to the courts and the balls. I was finished by 12.30 and my next practice wasn't until 3, so that gave me time to have a shower and get something to eat. I had some pasta and then some ice cream - I love the sweet things.

Then I played the trivia machine... they ask questions about sports, geography and art. Then I watched the battle for pole position for Sunday's Formula 1 race on TV.

I had a practice with Nicolas Kiefer. We just warmed up for five minutes and then played some games. It was 5-4 with no breaks when we had to stop because Safin and Gaudio had the court.

Then Juan and I wanted to find a place to go for a run. We found a school with a running track but there was a fence so it didn't look like we could get in. But we found a hole so we snuck in and ran on the clay track for half an hour. Then we came back to the club and stretched.

Tonight I will have a massage and on Sunday I will practice with Juan Carlos. I'm told that I play Monday against Jiri Novak so I will take it pretty easy Sunday. I have played Jiri three times and have never beaten him. I told him that before he retires I want to beat him once. He's been injured for six months but he played in Rome last week. So maybe this is the best chance I've had yet to get a win. We'll see.

It's an amazing feeling to have made the Top 10. You always set goals during your career. Early on it was to make the Top 100, which I did at 18, then I wanted to win a title, which I did in Sopot in 2001. Then we won the Davis Cup for Spain. Then the Barcelona Open in 2004. But there are always new goals and this year one of those goals was to make the Top 10.

But I was very disappointed to lose in the first round in Rome to Rusedski. It would have been like Greg losing to me on grass in the week that he made the Top 10.

[davis]

Player Name: Mario Ancic
Blogging From: Duesseldorf
Last Entry: Saturday, May 27, 2006



Monday, May 22, 2006
I love playing for my country The best laid plans... Ivan Ljubicic and I were supposed to be in Barcelona tonight to attend the Laureus World Sports Awards, which is like the Oscars of sports. The Croatian Davis Cup team had been nominated for the Laureus World Team of the Year for winning the 2005 Davis Cup, so we had the tickets in our hands and were ready to go. Originally we were supposed to play our first match at the World Team Championship on Sunday and our second match Wednesday, which would've given us enough time to make our Laureus appearance and play in Duesseldorf. But I think because of my late showing in Hamburg - where I made the semifinals - the tournament thought it best to put our first match back till Monday.

The winners won't know they've won until the night, so it's pretty exciting. It's an unbelievable honor just to be nominated alongside the Barcelona and Liverpool football teams, the New Zealand rugby team, the Renault Formula 1 team and the San Antonio Spurs basketball team. We're just a small country nominated alongside these giants of world sport. I really hope we have a chance to win, but being nominated itself is such an unbelievable thing. Our team had a tremendous year in 2005, beating the odds to win the Davis Cup.

I arrived in Duesseldorf Sunday afternoon from Hamburg and of course I feel a little tired after a big couple of Masters Series weeks. It's a good feeling to be tired like this though. I played in the quarterfinals in Rome with a lot of tough matches, and twice came back from match point. In Hamburg, I came to the semis and I was three times down a set and a break, so it's pretty unbelievable. I showed great fighting spirit and I was leaving heart on the court. It was so tough to come back and win those last two matches, and it means a lot to me that I won against two top 10 guys back-to-back. It definitely gives me a lot of confidence!

Croatia has played the World Team Championship before, but this is the first time that Ivan Ljubicic, Ivo Karlovic and I are here. I'm really looking forward to it because I love playing for my country! I spoke with Ivan and Karlovic and told them I'm tired and a little stiff in the back, so that it's better that Karlovic plays for me today and can give 100% while I get back ready for Wednesday.

After some exercise this morning, I came on site to watch a bit of the Italy-Germany match and to support the team. Ivan won against James Blake and Karlovic lost, so it was great to win the doubles rubber to clinch the win over the United States. They had unbelievable effort in a great doubles match, and it was a great achievement that they beat the Bryans on clay. All three of us are top players, and it’s nice that I could have one day off, the guys can still win and I can prepare for Wednesday. Even if we are already out of Davis Cup, maybe we can go all the way here this week and win this.

Instead of the Laureus, we'll be at another award party tonight here in Duesseldorf. We have the gala dinner, where the Fair Play Trophy will be given out. I didn't get a chance to vote, but I'm excited to see who will be selected. My guess is that James Blake will be the guy to win it. My coach, Freddy Rosengren, has been to Duesseldorf many times and he and a lot the players say that it's one of the best weeks of the year with the great matches. Also, there's always a lot for the teams to do, like the Gala dinner, so I'm looking forward to being part of this whole experience!

I'll get back into practice tomorrow, but sometimes it’s nice to have one day off without racquets so the head can rest and you can get your energy back. I’m a really good worker and I give 100% in every practice, but I learn with the more years on tour that rest is just as important as working hard, and that in the end it could be much, much better for your career and for your tennis.

Talk to you tomorrow,
Mario


Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I really enjoyed the Gala last night. I didn’t get to go to the Player Party on Saturday because I was in Hamburg, but I heard it was unbelievably nice as well – organized great, good buffet, and then a fun party. Last night, I went for the first time to the official dinner, and it was very nice music, great, great food, and James Blake got the award as the Fair Play winner – so my prediction was good! This kind of tournament is really nice because the atmosphere is so relaxed and players get together in the night, dressed outside of tennis clothes, and talk easy. It’s of course nice preparation for Paris, and I think everybody is taking this week relaxed outside, but on the court very serious.

We didn’t get a chance to watch the Laureus awards on TV, but Ivan got an SMS with the news while we were at the dinner and he told me the Renault team won. From Croatia, Janica Kostelic won (as Sportswoman of the Year). I’m very proud that she’s won. She’s really, really nice and a down-to-earth girl, and the last time she was nominated, even though she won three gold medals and one silver, she didn’t win. It’s nice that now she is on top of the world where I think she belongs.

As well, tennis got awards for Roger and Rafa Nadal. I think they both had extraordinary years and deserved it 100%, and it’s great for our sport. I think it’s really good for tennis that we had a lot of nominees. We had Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis as Comeback Player, and then us as a team. So almost every category there was someone picked for tennis. The more these stories, the more good characters we have – like our story, the Davis Cup – it’s better for promoting tennis and I’m really happy we are a little part of that.

After the nice dinner, most of the players went back to the hotel. This morning I slept in because I was still tired from Hamburg, so I came down for breakfast pretty late. I met with some journalist from Croatia, talked a little about what was happening in the country, and also met with some sponsors and signed autographs.

But, we're having a tough time with weather again. It has not really been a big friend of the tournament because there have been many rain delays already. But I've already finished my workout for today. I was in the gym this morning, and was able to hit and the conditions are almost similar as in Hamburg. Like I said, it was very important to feel the ball, to feel the court, and to get in shape for tomorrow’s match.

If the weather helps, the coaches and player will get together at 6:15pm to play football, which is something I'm really looking forward to! I played for Hajduk Split when I was 12, and I played a little bit of basketball and also water polo because Split is on the seaside and we have a lot of water sports. Even though my town is small – it’s only 250,000 people – we have so many big sports names. The whole country is so talented, but especially my region. We have basketball players like Toni Kukoc who won with the Chicago Bulls and Dino Radja who played for the Boston Celtic, then Goran Ivanisevic, Zeljko Franulovic and Nikola Pilic for tennis. There’s really no need to list them all because it would take 15 minutes and I don’t want to forget somebody! In every sport we have somebody unbelievable – soccer players, basketball players, now handball players. The best handball player in the world, Ivano Balic, is from Split, so whichever sport you take, we have somebody in history or at the moment. We have unbelievable name athletes. Even though I was not in tennis, I would do some kind of sport. We are very competitive from that part – we always want to win!

I'll let you know how the football match goes tomorrow!

Take care,
Mario


Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Because of rain, we had no football yesterday. It’s bad luck that it was postponed for today because the day was completely busy! We had our match so it was impossible to play football.

Today was my first match after Hamburg, and I was really happy to come back and play for the country. It’s nice to get some rest, but of course you are here to play and I was really looking forward to start. I played the second match after Ivan and it was a completely different situation than last week. You’re coming from a great week, you played really good and are coming to the semis, but you have to really change straightaway and put in your head that it’s a different situation, a different tournament, everything is new and you have to start all from the beginning. This is a team competition, and it’s nice if you can give back a chance to play the deciding doubles, but the focus you have is just this point, this game. You just have to be positive out there, think what you have to do, and it’s a great event, so I try to enjoy it out there.

Luckily today, I won 6-4 in the third. The conditions were a little bit different from last week – the court is a little bit faster, but the balls are a little bit slower – so I was having a little bit of tough time in the beginning, especially playing with Feliciano Lopez, who is a guy you would not like to play in the first match! He can serve big, he’s playing a lot of slice and going around and hitting big, so I find it very difficult to find my rhythm against him. You know if you play a couple bad games on your serve, basically you’re done because he really goes for his serve since it’s his main weapon.

Today, I really fought well. I was putting a lot of balls in and as the match was progressing, I was playing better and better and I gave the point to Croatia, so we were 1-all. In the beginning I was planning to play doubles, but it was really cold conditions today with a lot of wind. In the last couple games of the match and especially when I came to the locker room and cooled down, my back – what I had a problem with in the Davis Cup with the disc – was really starting to hurt. I spoke with the guys and it was better for me to rest, even though I was really looking forward to play.

Ivan and Karlovic, they came out again and really did an unbelievable job. They played some great doubles and we just won, so on Friday we have a chance to go to the final! Of course you’re looking that far ahead, but still you have to go through one more match and we're playing Chile. This is the tournament where they are winners and they always play good, play confident, but I really believe that we can go all the way. But, of course, we’re expecting a really, really tough game and hopefully the weather is going to be nice. The other thing on Friday is that we’re going to be up against big Chilean supporting team. They always have so many people coming and supporting them, but we know our strengths as well.

Since Goran Ivanisevic, Goran Prpic and that generation, we have continuously had people coming to support Croatia, and now we are playing good and winning Davis Cup and bronze medal, so a lot more people are coming to watch. Many people are following us abroad when we play, but I really hope it’s going to be even more! It’s really nice to keep in touch with others from your own country even when you live abroad, and also, there are so many Croatians who live outside the country so you have somebody you know always coming and supporting, which is really nice for us. Our General Consul just came over right now and said hi as I was doing this blog, and I think he wants to meet us and call us for dinner.

When we played the Davis Cup final, our Premier was there and after we won, we were invited to the Premier’s office along with the President. It was really big honor for all of us, and it was a very nice achievement. We still have a very young team with Ivan and Karlovic, at 27 the oldest guy. After that, I have hope in a couple juniors. There’s (Marin) Cilic, who is now playing French Open and won last year the junior Roland Garros, and we have two more guys in Top 200 – (Roko) Karanusic and (Sasa) Tuksar. Even though we’re a small nation, we have a good generation and I hope, and I really believe, we can repeat Davis Cup victory again.

After Ivan and Karlovic finish their press conference, we are going out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant with the Italian team so we can celebrate tonight and start focusing from tomorrow on Friday's important match. I live on the Croatian part next to the sea where the food is influenced by the fish as well as some Italian specialties, but it’s always nice to go out for something different. Even though in the beginning I wasn’t a big fan of the Japanese cuisine – not only Japanese but Asian cuisine – over the years with playing tournaments there, I really start loving this. It’s always nice to find out a little bit about each other country – the food they’re eating, their way of life, all these kinds of this important things. In my region of Croatia, we have a little of everything – lamb and meat, to fish and seaside specialties like mussels. Even if we’re really small, we have different environments with the seaside, the hills, and the country, so we really have a big variety and all these different ways of eating.

I was in contact with home, and it’s already 30 degrees there and people are swimming. I've seen a lot of the world, but just being as objective as I can be, it’s the nicest part I've been in. Whoever is reading this blog, I recommend you go and check the islands, the seaside, the country and I’m sure I will get good feedback because I always do.

Take care,
Mario


Thursday, May 25, 2006
The Japanese restaurant last night was very nice. For us big guys, sometimes the Japanese food is great, but you need to have a couple portions more. We had a big plate of sushi, big plate of tempura, then a lot of meat. Karlovic, Ivan and I had two portions because, even if the meal is nice, we need quantity as well!
We actually finished late because we met with the Italian team at 9 o’clock since matches were going for a long time. It was Fabio Fognini’s birthday yesterday so we made a toast to celebrate both our victory and his birthday.

All the teams get on pretty well here, especially with the relaxed atmosphere. My closest friends on the tour – Jarkko Nieminen and Thomas Johansson – aren't here, but I get along well with a lot of the guys, even if I’m just trying to really focus on my tennis. I’m not really the kind of person that would go and discuss about somebody else when he’s not around or try to put my nose in his business. I’m really an open guy, and whoever needs to speak or needs advice or needs help, of course I will help him, but otherwise I will not go and approach everybody myself.

Yesterday was a very long day, and after dinner, the bed was my best friend! I needed to recover because of my back and sleep a lot. Even though it may not be that long when you’re playing the match, you take everything into consideration – coming here, warming up, rain delays, everything. We came around 11:30am and we were here until 9pm, so it takes a lot of energy off you.

Today was just another day in the office: gym as usual before practice to keep my back strong. It’s now as important as my tennis, since I need to put some muscle on my back to prevent injury. I’m doing it a lot so hopefully it helps! It's been drizzling the whole day, so I’m really lucky that I got to hit with David Ferrer earlier. My back felt a little bit sore afterwards, but it's going to be fine for tomorrow.

It’s unbelievable that there are so many people at the club at the moment, even though it is drizzling. It shows that there is so much history at this tournament, a lot of tradition, and also that we’re putting a good show out there on the court. That’s the reason why you play. You love playing in front of the packed stadiums, being in these big situations. That’s something I think you cherish for all of your life. I still remember some points in final of Davis Cup when we won, the Olympic Games, and even at such a young age, I have great memories. Hopefully I can have many more!

Take care,
Mario



Friday, May 26, 2006
We’ve been a little bit unlucky with the weather here, and today it’s extremely hard because it’s been raining all day. This morning after breakfast, I went to the gym and did my normal stuff for my back, then waited around to see what would happen. We heard very early about the possible change, and as soon as we got the news that we would be playing indoors at the ice hockey stadium, we came here straightaway to warm up.

There was a lot of emotions and a great crowd here – it was packed! I love this atmosphere, this Davis Cup electricity in the stands and the players, where everybody is pumped, everybody wants to win. Ivan and Gonzalez played a tremendous match, and Ivan gave us the 1-0 lead against a Chilean team that is very strong on clay, and then I played great tennis when I came on court.

This is unbelievable for Croatian tennis. I think we play great on faster surfaces, but we showed this time that we are great team on all surfaces. We had a really tough group, and we came out as the winners. It would be an unbelievable achievement for the team, for our fans, if we can win the final. We lost this year in Davis Cup, and it would be great to replace it with the World Team Cup. This means a lot to the Croatian nation and I hope we can put a smile on everyone's face. But this is only today’s thinking. Tomorrow, when you go on the court, you have to be professional and think of only one thing, and that’s how do I play the next point. We are playing against tough opposition who won last year, and they want to repeat. They have a great team, and they have the home crowd.

I’m happy that I’m keeping this big tradition of Split tennis, going from Pilic, Franulovic – all of us who live on the same small street, ten meters from the club. Maybe different towns like Barcelona have given more players, but I don’t think any street in the world has given more good sports players!

Of course it helped that Goran Ivansevic was in the same town. My older brother, Ivica, was a top 10 junior, reached around 350 when he was 18, and played for the Davis Cup squad. Because he was such a promising junior, Goran practiced a lot with him when he came back home. I was already showing a lot of potential when I was 10 and there was this story that Ivica’s brother can be good, so he began hitting with me too and supporting me. Even when Goran was playing in the final at Wimbledon, he would still come and watch junior matches. Not just mine, but Ivan, my brother, Karlovic. When you’re a young player and he tells you that you can be good, it’s really something that can inspire you and, of course, he was much bigger than just tennis in Croatia – he was a big personality. Hopefully we continue playing well and, maybe at the end of my career, some other young kid will come along and continue this unbelievable tradition.

I feel really, really good in terms of my tennis, but physically there is a still a little bit of a problem with my back and the cold weather is not helping too much. I’m still doing therapy and then stretching and getting hot cream before the matches. I’m playing doubles with Karlovic today since we agreed as a team that is better for Ivan to rest today after his long match, and I will see after doubles how my back is for tomorrow. I need to prepare seriously for tonight because all the injuries come when there is not too much pressure, you've already won and have to go out on the court. I hope the crowd will enjoy the match even if the tie is already decided! Of course we will try to win, and try to put on a good show.

Take care,
Mario


Saturday, May 27, 2006
We are the champions! The Croatian flag will again be flying on top and our national anthem will be played. It's a great feeling to have won the two biggest team titles in tennis in the space of six months. Not too many countries can claim to have done that. And the blog continues to bring good luck!

We were in a tough group. We won the semifinals 2-0 and the final today 2-0. I am very proud of the team and believe that we can be at the top for many years. This is great for the country and all our supporters who were disappointed we lost in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup. I won all three matches that I played so I am glad to have been part of it.

Last night was a long match and I was having trouble with my back again so I decided to let Ivo play in the final today. He and Ivan both played very well to win in straight sets.

Now the big rush begins. It would be nice to stay here and celebrate but Roland Garros begins tomorrow. There is a flight to Paris tonight and I need to be on it. I play Monday so I'm keen to get there and get a feel for the courts. Ivo and Ivan probably play Tuesday. Some of the team may take the five-hour car trip to Paris but for me that's too long to be sitting for my back, so I will fly.

This is one of the busiest periods of the year. Right now I have to start from the beginning and forget the recent success. I play Nathan Healey in the first round of Roland Garros so that is now my focus.

Take care,
Mario

[davis]

PART 1

Player Name: Rafael Nadal
Blogging From: Roland Garros
Last entry: June 12, 2006




Monday, June 12, 2006
Practicing at Queen's with Francisco RoigSo hi everyone and also farewell. This is my last post and it comes one day later than expected, but as I said yesterday I just couldn't make it - you can imagine how crazy the day was and how happy I was. I couldn't believe it.

To tell you the truth I will talk about the match a little bit although I think everything has been said through the media. I was very nervous at the beginning and Roger played unbelievably well in the first set. The combination of those two factors made the first set go very fast.

Anyway, I will start with the day of the final and then talk about how it was today. A lot of things have happened! I don't think I can tell everything... we would need 12 posts to tell the last two days but I will try to give you some information about the interesting things that happened to me.

First of all I am sending a picture of me in the locker room one hour before the match starts – the picture was taken at 2pm. (Editor's note: photo is currently unavailable. Check back later.) You can see I was watching TV and getting my racquets ready as usual. You all saw the match so I won't analyze that.

Hugging my fatherWhen the match was over I needed to get into the stands as quickly as I could to hug my family. To me the family is everything and I wanted to hug my uncles, my mother and especially my father. And I will tell you what I told him. I said to my father, “Daddy, thanks for everything,” and we just cried. I guess that's why he didn't want to release me – because he didn’t want people to see that he was crying. It was a special moment.

I got my trophy and when I was having my briefing before getting the trophy I had mentioned to Benito of the ATP that I would talk a lot about Roger, so I did. I gave my speech in Spanish. When in the second sentence I said how great Roger is people were booing. I didn't know what it was. I thought maybe something had happened or maybe they misunderstood the translation. Afterwards we all realized the translator did not say what I said. The crowd thought I was talking about myself. It was just a misunderstanding. I was praising Roger, not myself, and I will always praise Roger because he is a great guy and a great champion.

Signing an autograph for Ilie Nastase in the locker roomBefore we talk about going into locker room, let me say getting the trophy was very emotional for me. To pick up the trophy, especially to see the Spanish flag going up while the national anthem was being played for me, was a special moment.

We went back to the locker room after we did all the TV interviews and there the Princess of Spain with her husband waiting at the entrance of the locker room. We just talked and took some pictures. So thank you again to them for coming.

Not too many people are allowed in the locker room but the few who are allowed, they are not just anybody. I took a picture with Guillermo Vilas, with all my team and also I had the surprise with Pau Gasol, the NBA star player, who came to the locker room to congratulate me. So that was great.

Me with Pau GasolBack to the media… it was a long press conference then live Spanish TV and then back down to do radios and then back up for more TV and then another part of the site for more TV. Anyway, I forgot I had to do the anti-doping test. It was around 10pm that I went into the room to do the test.

Anyway, to tell the story short, we left the site around 10.45 with all my family waiting in the hotel. We had scheduled to go to the Spanish embassy... that is a tradition to say hi to the ambassador. We got there very late at 11.20, so I have to apologize, as that's not the right time to go into anyone's house. To go to the embassy, that is exciting as people are waiting for you, you have the flags and everything. I got there and we left at midnight and Carlos Costa, my manager, had booked a nice restaurant, Trocadero, with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower.

At the Spanish Embassy in Paris the night of my winThere we had all my family, all my friends who came, all my sponsors we had invited to be there with us. It was great. What did I eat? I had a carpccio salmon and chicken with curry and rice. I was so hungry, you cannot believe it. Really hungry. So I had a lot to eat.

Then after dinner we went to a place to have a couple of drinks and move a little bit the body. But not much as you know I am already in London writing this blog. This last blog.

I got up very, very early because I had a TV interview scheduled, then a photo shoot with the trophy in the middle of Paris… I think there were more photographers this year than last year. I am also sending a picture of that.

But we had to do a picture pretty quickly and then rushed back to hotel, got our luggage and then went to the train station. It was scheduled at 1.04pm, we got to the station at 12.55 pm. The bookings were done but they were too slow giving us the tickets, so we missed the train and believe me guys, this is no good. We were there for two hours waiting, but what can you do? You just wait. We caught the train and then had the chance to sleep a little bit. We were just in normal seats, not a sleeper cabin, as it was only a three hour trip

Early morning photos on Monday in ParisOn the train I had the great surprise of the Prince of Spain calling me. He said he was amazed by the performance and that was really nice. I really appreciated it.

We got to London and my first thoughts were, What do I do now? Well, I'm going to practice. I got to the hotel, quickly got changed, went to practice and here I am writing the blog which I have to finish quickly to rush to a restaurant as we go live on TV with a Spanish TV show, doing a satellite link, I think that’s what it’s called, with Spain's national goalkeeper Casillas.

I am not coming to London with my uncle Toni, he is taking a little break. Francisco Roig, one of Feliciano Lopez’s coaches, will give me a hand this week.

Anyway, I just wanted to say before finishing the post thank you all for reading it, for being there and supporting me. I haven't had time to read all the comments you have been posting but I promise I will read them all... I just don't know how long it will take me!

Thanks again for all your support. Please keep logging onto my web page www.rafaelnadal.com because I will be interacting with you through the page and also keep reading ATPtennis.com if you want to follow what happens on the circuit.

Rafa


Sunday, June 11, 2006
Sorry guys, but I have had no time to write the blog tonight. I hope you understand. But I promise I will write a blog tomorrow while I am traveling by train to London and you can see how much stuff I have to give you. I am going to London to play singles and doubles at Queen's.



Saturday, June 10, 2006
Hi everyone.
Well, what can I say? Tonight is the night before the big day. Tomorrow I am playing my second final at Roland Garros and I guess we all agree it is some kind of a special final with Roger. Here I am dictating my blog, which as you know gets written in English and then gets translated back into Spanish. Don't ask me why we do it like this!

You might ask, how did I take this day... is it a different day because it is between a semifinal and final of a Grand Slam? Do I do something special or different or feel nervous? To tell you the truth what I tried to do all day is take it as another normal day. That helps me more and maybe it's a way to forget what is going to happen tomorrow. Or maybe it is a way to have a normal day. I don't know. Here is a photo of me at breakfast, having bread with chocolate cream.

The fact is the ATP had arranged for me to do a photo shoot and video filming at a bridge near my hotel and so I went there, half an hour later than expected, so I have to apologize to the photographers and TV crews. I did my work, answered many questions to the many TVs and then went to do another photograph and then after that I went to the site where I was scheduled to practice with a Japanese junior who had just played the final of the junior doubles tournament, so I got my hit with him.

I did see Roger today. He practiced after me. When he was going on court I was signing autographs so all we did was exchange looks and say 'hello.' I can also say that I was forwarded a message by Ljubicic. It was nice to receive it. The message said something like 'Don't get me wrong. I would like Federer to win because I have a closer friendship with him, but that's it.'

It was really hot out there today. You could really feel the sun and a little wind. There were a lot of people at the practice court, so maybe next year they should schedule us to practice on a bigger court But jokes aside I got my hit and again I had some media scheduled. I had to do a press conference with the international media, although not too many showed up. Then I rushed to do another live interview with Spanish TV as I said yesterday in my blog.

Since we were running an hour or hour and a half late, I was scheduled to do a round table with the Spanish written media, so I did it while I was eating. Here I am grabbing a dish of pasta today with curry sauce from the restuarant and an entrecote with fench fries and going upstairs to the player lounge to sit down with the Spanish fellows. By that time it was already 5.15 and as I wrote in my post yesterday I wanted to be back at the hotel by 4.30.

Just one more thing to do. I remember I was given a watch in Shanghai last year and it broke down so I asked my friend from the ATP to walk with me from the player lounge to the VIP village to pick up another watch. But as we went out the women's singles final had just finished and there we were trying to walk through the crowd.

Some of you may ask how we move inside the tournament. To tell you the truth normally they would have prepared a lot of security but we thought it better just to go there by ourselves. It is funny, not too many people know that it is me walking through. You draw more attention to yourself if you are surrounded by huge security guys pushing people, which I don't like to see, but I understand that sometimes it is necessary to keep everyone moving. I'm not afraid to go alone with the guy from the ATP. We try not to push anybody and just get to the place faster. I picked up the watch and went back to the hotel.

I got back to the hotel and you can imagine now that it's not just my family here to support me but a lot of people from Mallorca, including the president of the Island and a whole bunch of people. The president had prepared dinner for a lot of people but I prefer to stay at the hotel. One, it would probably be a mess to go out to dinner with over 30 people and also I wanted to watch the World Cup match with Argentina. We just called the place that we have been going for dinner all these days and asked if they could bring stuff to the hotel. It was me, uncle Toni, uncle Miguel Angel and Tuts from Nike. I had fried gambas and fried calamari and also a pizza.

So I know some of you ask that if I don't like tomato and I don't like cheese, what is in the pizza I eat? I don't like sliced tomato but of course I have tomato sauce on the pizza base. I had a napolitana pizza which had anchovies and tomato sauce, but I took off the green capers (alcaparras). We had a laugh after watching the match. My uncle Miguel Angel was telling stories about famous footballers and coaches and it was really funny. I had a great time.

As you can see it was a normal day, although probably busier than normal, but this is the way I like to spend the day - it goes quicker. I can't deny that I did spend some time today thinking about the final and tomorrow I probably will be a little nervous. If I win, great, if I don't then there will probably be another chance. It definitely won't be a tragedy.

On thing I forgot to say in yesterday's post is that I spoke to Raul, the captain of the Spanish national team. He wished me luck from him and from the whole team. That was very nice and it was great to talk to him.

Let me tell you that Carlos Moya called me and we spent some time on the phone and he gave me a lot of supprot for tomorrow. He's a great guy.

Rafa


Friday, June 9, 2006
The mayor of Mancaor visited me in the locker roomHi everyone.
Let me tell you first I am very excited and very happy I am back in the finals of Roland Garros and to tell you the truth I wasn't sure I would make it, so I am very happy.

How can I start today's post? Should I start with the match or the aftermatch... I don't know where to start. The first thing is the happiness of being back in the Roland Garros finals and now being sure of finishing the year at least in the Top 5 and also increasing the possibility that I can fight for No. 2 at the end of the year.

Another reason for being happy is most of my family arrived today to see the semifinal match. And as you all know I am a big family boy, so I like that.

Dinner with my familyMy father, mother, sister, my uncle Rafa and his wife, my uncle Miguel Angel, all of them arrived today and that makes me very happy. Here is a picture with me and all my family at dinner. We went for dinner together and then for an ice cream. We went together to a restaurant in the Champs Elysees and then to another place in Champs Elysees for an ice cream (you can guess both names). Also with us were Tuts, a guy who works for Nike who I like very much and a couple of guys from the ATP.

Again, I won't talk about the match, but the more interesting stuff. You can see me above with a picture of the mayor of Manacor, my home town. The mayor arrived last night and came today to the match and I am happy for that because he is the number one citizen of the city. After the match he came into the locker room, to tell you the truth I don't know how he managed to get in as security is very tight at Roland Garros and it is very difficult to get into the locker room. But we took a picture and I thanked him for coming.

Bud Collins interviews me for NBCThe other picture you can see here is with Bud Collins. For those of you in the U.S. you definitely know who Bud Collins is. He works for NBC, which is an American TV network. After my press conference I did an interview with Bud, which I think will be shown tomorrow, so if you are in the U.S. I hope you get to see it. He mentioned to me the possibility of winning 60 consecutive matches on clay but as you can imagine the most important thing to me is to win the title.

On my way back from the locker room from doing the interview with NBC I saw the open door to center court, which looked a completely different, empty center court. I thought it was just beautiful. So I asked to go there to see it and it's just amazing to see that court empty. So here is the picture and I hope when it's full next time we meet with Roger it will be a great atmosphere.

Alone of center courtRoger said today in his press conference that we are the number 1 and 2 players on clay and that is right. That proves what I have been saying for few weeks. He is an excellent player on clay, he is number 1 and he is the best. Those who say he cannot play on clay, he has proven that is not right.

At the same time I think of myself as someone who prefers to play on clay but who is also competitive on other surfaces. I definitely need to learn more how to play on grass and I definitely want to do that, but before that we have this final on Sunday, which I am sure is going to be great.

In this picture below you can see me here with a ATP staffer who I have been told is someone who knows a lot of about tennis and is a genius of stats and his name is Greg. I have also been told by other people at the ATP that work with me that he is a great guy. This picture of Greg is also a tribute to the other staff who we don't see.

To tell you the truth I have not been reading much of the comments about my blog lately, I have been having quite busy days so I am sorry I cannot comment on them. I have been told that this blog has been a success in numbers, so I want to thank you for this and for all the support.

ATP stats man Greg SharkoTomorrow I will be having a day with some media work they have prepared for me. I don't know if this is normal or not but I want to take the days as I normally would take them. It doesn't matter if it is the day before a final, I want the routine I usually have.

I plan to be back at the hotel at 4.30 to rest. At the site I will be working and training and practicing.

Rafa

[davis]

PART 2





Thursday, June 8, 2006
Hi everyone again.
Getting close to another big day... semifinals are always a big day and in a big tournament like Roland Garros as you can imagine it's even bigger. Let me start by saying as usual what I did today.

I got to the site around 1.15 and I practiced after Federer on the same court, court number 4. Before I go into details about what I did today I want to say I was impressed by all the people at the practice court, not for me but all the other players practicing. It's great that tennis has so many people following.

I went to practice and scheduled some media related activities as you get to see in the pictures. Before practice I did an interview with Spanish television on a set at the TV compound with Alex Corretja and his colleague interviewing me for Spain's main TV. The interview was good as Alex knows very well tennis and for me I am very comfortable to talk to him. Court 4 is right next to the TV compound so I could go straight from the interview to practice.

Some of you might ask how I go from the player lounge on one side of the site to the TV compound on the other side. You know what, I ran over there. I don't like being surrounded by security. Sometimes it is necessary but sometimes I feel it's better to go on your own and make a little run.

After that the ATP scheduled me to do a picture with the media and television. As you guys know the FIFA World Cup starts Friday and I did a photo with some footballs and my national flag and I was happy to do that. Oh, I forgot that I also took a photo for L'Equipe inside the locker room, so if someone buys the French newspaper tomorrow they will see that picture.

So it was a pretty easy day. You might think that this guy only talks about things I've done and not what goes through my mind or any bad things that happen during the day. But that's just me, that's my style. I prefer to keep some of those moments to myself.

I had a very late lunch on site. I had a big, big dish of pasta with salmon. When I say 'big' I mean really, really big. At lunch I also had a chance to see on the computer the feature ESPN did for Roland Garros. I have to say they did a good job, so congrats guys.

Anyway I went back to the hotel, had my massage and my recuperation there. I hope I can remember to take a picture of my room tomorrow or the day after if I am lucky enough to win to show you guys.

I know tomorrow will be a very difficult match against Ljubicic. I won't talk about Ivan, you guys know him. Let's see how it goes. As you can imagine I am very excited about the match and it would be great to win it, so let's see what happens.

Thanks everyone for supporting me. I've heard the blog has been well received, so I am happy to have the chance to share it with you.

Thanks very much and thanks for all my fans.


Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Hi everyone again,
It's good to be back. Today will be a different post. I have been pretty busy all day, although the match has been the shortest one. I decided to take things very easy.

I went back to the hotel after I had my press conference , TV interviews and radio, which was pretty long today but if I am lucky and keep winning I will be doing more and more media, that's okay with me.

I went back quickly to the hotel and to tell you the truth I had a little walk by the Champs Elysees with my manager Carlos. You all know I like to walk in this city even though a lot of people stop me in the street, which I enjoy. While I was walking I saw another player, Nicolas Lapentti, he had just finished a Challenger and had come back to Paris.

Tonight I went to dinner with my team. It was probably the first time that I had my full team with me: uncle Toni, Juanan, Carlos, a guy from Nike called Tuts and the doctor of the Spanish Federation, Cotrro, but we call him 'Mamelo' because he calls all the players on the team 'Mamelo.'

I know that some of you are interested in what I eat, so I will tell you. Tonight I had a huge entrecout with a lot of french fries and to drink I had cola. That was it. We went to a place where all they served was meat and french fries.

We were talking about lots of things that a guy of my age would talk about, especially football. As you know the World Cup is starting Friday and you all know I love football. We talked about which were the teams that could win, what could Spain do. I won't give away my secrets as I will be writing a column on the World Cup soon. We talked also about the matches we have been seeing and also about women's tennis. I heard Toni and Carlos talking about the semifinals, who will come from my people. I won't get into the tickets, they are handling that, but I know we will need more tickets than normal.

Oops, I forgot to say that I had a massage before dinner, but you know that is normal.

Next to us there was a table full of a big family from Argentina, maybe 2 or 3 families. The little boy with them had a t-shirt of FC Barcelona. They came to our table and we took pictures and autographs. One funny thing happened today. One guy came to the table to take a picture and I asked him if I took a picture with him yesterday. He said, "Yes, but I want a second picture."

We stepped out of the restaurant and there were some people outside so we took pictures and signed autographs. Then everyone started following us as we started walking back to the hotel. I guess they know me here.

We will see what happens tomorrow. The four semifinalists are doing a picture at 2.15 with national flags to promote the World Cup. I will practice at 2.15 and as you can imagine, I will take things very easy and get ready for the next day.

Oops, I also will do a TV interview with Alex Corretja at 1.15 pm for TVE. So for those of you who read the blog you may also get to see my interview with Alex on TVE.

PS: Thanks to all my fans that have been giving me presents during these past days. It is very nice of you. Today I got my last one but I also heard that my team got insulted without a reason. If you really respect and support me I would like you to understand and respect my team, since they do the best of the jobs. Thanks again.

Rafa


Tuesday, June 6, 2006
It's now a lot of days that I've been writing, no?
Well, let me start by saying that yesterday I fell asleep pretty late. I was very tired and I could not sleep. I don't know why, maybe because of the match with Hewitt but it is true that when I am very tired I have trouble falling asleep. I don't remember what time it was, but I was pretty tired. That means I woke up pretty late. I hope I'm not offending anyone by saying that I woke up at 12.45. I hope people understand that's its tough when you run so much and you need to get your rest.

But before going into today let me tell you about last night. I had dinner with my team and Emilio Sanchez. Why am I talking about Emilio? Because it was at dinner than I arranged, I should say we arranged, to practice together today. I don't remember seeing much of Emilio on TV when he was playing because as some of you know I didn't watch a lot of tennis on TV when I was a little kid. I remember seeing Emilio from time to time, but not much.

Emilio is here at Roland Garros playing the seniors event and he is the Spanish Davis Cup captain. I enjoyed the practice because I was able to practice a lot of shots, particularly my offensive game rather than my defensive game.

Off the court I was taken to do a live interview for French television with another former player, Cedric Pioline. I remember seeing Cedric play a little more than Emilio because he has only recently retired.

That has been about it today. I am feeling a little tired, but that is normal. I've played a lot of matches and it's been a week and a half in Paris as I arrived here the Thursday before the tournament. But I will be ready to play tomorrow and I know it will be a difficult match against Djokovic. Unless you follow tennis you may not have heard a lot about him but he is a very dangerous player with a big game and he will have nothing to lose. He's only 19, so it's a rare time that I will be playing someone younger than me.

My first meeting with Bjorn Borg at the Bastad tournament last yearI had a very early dinner tonight and now I'm ready to go to bed. I hope I can fall asleep quickly as I have an early wake-up call. I am playing at noon.

I also want to take the opportunity to say happy birthday to Bjorn Borg, who turned 50 today. I met him for the first time last year in Sweden (see photo) during the Bastad tournament and we had a little chat. And he sent me a message when I equaled his number of clay court matches won in a row in Barcelona. So happy birthday, Bjorn!

Rafa


Monday, June 5, 2006
Hi everyone,
Well, I start each post telling you what time I get picked up to go to the site and the same old thing... Well... why should I change today? I went to the site at 10 today. Let me explain to you guys a few things. Why do we get picked up at 10 when I am scheduled second match in the afternoon? The answer is that if you are playing second you need to be on site when the first match starts because in the Order of Play it says that your match 'follows' the first match. That means if something unexpected happens you have to be ready to go and play and if you're not there they can disqualify you. That's important to know, as you will see later.

So, today I had my normal warm-up hit. Here comes another question. With less players still at the tournament in the second week, who do you hit with? Right now there are way less players, but there are still a lot of juniors here, so today I hit with a Spanish junior. I was a junior not long ago...

After my warm-up hit I went upstairs for a light lunch of pasta and salad and to my surprise the first match between Beto Martin and Benneteau ended in the first set when Beto Martin had to retire, as you know. There I am panicking again, rushing to the locker room as we only have 30 minutes to get ready and go on court, and I was still having lunch! I should have been in the locker room waiting but I thought, everyone thought, the match would be longer.

Before I go on I want to say that I was sad to see what happened to Beto because he is one of the nicest guys on the tour and I like him a lot. I think it was his first time in the second week of a Grand Slam so it was a good opportunity for him to reach the quarterfinals which I am sure it was very important for him. I hope he is okay and that he recovers soon. I know he is going to get some medical exams done so I hope he is well soon.

Interview with Alex CorretjaI won't go into my match because you can read about that in the paper or the internet. But there was an unusual incident with a ballboy during the match. The poor boy got hit by the ball and I can tell you those balls can hurt. We were playing and I could see him bleeding so I had to stop the match, I talked to the umpire and suggested they get him out of the court. I hope he is doing okay. Most of the players have probably all been ballboys at one point, so we feel for them.

I'm attaching a picture of myself at the end of the match talking to Alex Corretja, who is always there after my matches. And right after walking off the court there is a wall running along the stairs were all the players who played on center court sign. I signed it two days ago and again today. I don't know why I signed it twice, but anyway... Here is the picture above.

Saying hi to the ITF teamI went to the locker room. I was tired and it was a good match. The first set was the best set I played in the tournament so far. . I was hitting the ball clean and I was with a lot of confidence. I was happy with that. Then I went to the press conference but I won't bore you with that. After the press conference I took the chance to say hi to the ITF communications people. You can see a picture of that. There are a lot of people working for the tournament and tennis that make the tennis world move. I want to thank all of them. Posting pictures is a way to recognize their work.

I am doing the blog now that I am back from the site. I got back early which is good since at this stage of the tournament it's good to get more rest than normal and to get ready for my next match in two days.

Tomorrow will be a very light schedule so I will let you know about other things. Will let you know more.
Rafa

[davis]

Player Name: Fernando Gonzalez
Blogging From: Stella Artois Championships
Last entry: Friday, June 16, 2006



Friday, June 16, 2006
Ramon Delgado and I after eatingToday was obviously not a very good day for me. As you might know I lost my quarterfinal match against Andy Roddick. I dropped serve once in each set to lose 4-6, 3-6. Since I played the last match on center court I could wake up late, around 10am. At 11:30am I was at the club to warm up and do my usual routine before my matches. Unfortunately I didn’t play my best but now I turn my attention to Wimbledon, a tournament which I enjoy playing.

Now that I’m out of the tournament I will take a few days off to rest and walk around London. There are lots of nice places to go around here so I think that I’ll have plenty of attractions to visit during my two days off. Also, there are many South Americans in the tournament. We like to hang out together. In the picture you can see Ramon Delgado and I after having a good meal at the Queen’s Club.

As a true Chilean I’m also following the World Cup. Of course, I would be more interested in this year’s World Cup if Chile was playing, but sadly we did not qualify this time. I watched Argentina play today and was impressed how well they did. I could also watch some of the match between the Netherlands and Ivory Coast. I want a South American team to win the World Cup title. However, I have to say that I am pulling for Brasil because I love the way they play. It’s going to be hard for them to win because they are under a lot of pressure, but I truly hope that they can play better than they did against Croatia.

Thomas Johansson and I in the change overI forgot to mention that I played doubles with Thomas Johansson this week. Even though we lost in the first round, it was good to play one more match on grass.

Believe it or not, I have a ticket to watch the final of the World Cup! The bad thing is that the World Cup final is in the same day as the Wimbledon final. Thus I am not quite sure if I want to be able to go the World Cup final! I would prefer still be playing at Wimbledon…

Next week I have an exhibition match to play. My new coach (Larry Stefanki) and physio arrive in London on Monday so I believe that next week will be good to prepare well for Wimbledon.

Oh, for those who want to know, my dog’s name is Rocky. As I said before, he is only two months old and is being taken care of by my sister who is a veterinarian.

I hope you guys are enjoying reading my blog. I see you tomorrow!

Tchau!
Gonzo


Wednesday, June 14, 2006
My day started at 9am when I woke up to the alarm on my cell phone. I bring my cell phone everywhere with me and I can't be away from it for more than five minutes. The phone is more than just something to talk on. I'll use it to play games and also I send a receive a lot of text messages.

Today I sent a text message to my little sister to see how my two-month old Boxer is doing. My parents' dogs recently had puppies and I took one. The puppy has just had some injections, so I wanted to check that he was doing okay.

Anyway, the first thing I did when I woke up was to call for breakfast in the room. I just had some orange juice and toast with jam. (Later, after practice I had something more to eat - a sandwich and a few strawberries. You saw me getting some strawberries in yesterday's photos. I'm eating a lot of strawberries over here!)

The second thing I did was get online to read my favorite newspaper in Chile, La Tercera. I try to read a little bit of everything, not just the sports pages. One story I was reading was about a big problem with university students and the government. The students are trying to reduce the cost of going to university.

I practiced from 10.30-11 with Falla, a left-handed Colombian. Playing Philippoussis, I tried to find a big-server to practice against but it's not easy to find practice partners who serve as big as Philippoussis. He still has one of the best serves in the world, especially on grass. He forces you to make good returns. Today he missed some first serves and I won many of the points on his second serve.

This week I do not have my new coach Larry Stefanki working with me. We arranged for him to be with me 20 weeks a year because I don't feel I need someone to travel with me full time. Some of you may be interested to know how a player goes about hiring a new coach. In the past I can't remember speaking much with Larry on tour but we obviously knew of each other. He had many years on the tour with good players like Rios, McEnroe, Kafelnikov and Henman and most important was that he got good results with them.

I was in Chile and I called Larry at his home in San Diego. I called to ask if he would be interested in working with me and we had a good conversation right from the beginning. We probably spoke for 20 or 30 minutes and he said that he hadn't traveled on the tour for a while but that he'd take a couple of days to think about my offer and then get back to me. So he rang back in two or three days and said he would take the job.

We practiced together for the first time at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf and he worked with me there and at the French Open. He'll joining me next week and staying through Wimbledon and then we'll also have the US hard court swing together during the summer. The arrangement suits me better than having a full time coach. Larry will help me improve some things, especially my net game... I need to go forward.

Que estén bien!


Tuesday, June 13, 2006
I love the wireless internet in the locker roomWe’re lucky to have wireless internet in the locker room at Queen’s so while I was waiting for my match today I did a little web surfing. I’m setting a personal record this week. Yesterday I spent four hours online and the day before it was six. It’s a really good week for me with the internet!

I use Messenger a lot. I talk to my friends and write on my web site. Not every day, but a lot. I love the Messenger, I love it. I’m online all the time. I don’t use Skype. I have Telefonica as a sponsor!

As you can imagine a lot of my friends are talking about the World Cup. This year unfortunately I don’t have my country competing. But I remember when Chile was in the World Cup all the country was waiting for the match, making barbecues with friends and then watching the game.

I really like the atmosphere here in England at the moment. I have a lot of pride in my country and here you see a lot of flags on the houses. It’s great to see the people’s passion for their country.

Lunch in the players restaurantBefore today’s match I strung four racquets but I only used one even though we played 26 games. (I defeated Antony Dupuis 7-6, 7-6.) Normally I will change racquets after each set but today I just liked how it was feeling so I didn’t change.

One change I make for grass is that I use half gut in my strings because it gives you a little more power and I can go up in tension. Normally I play with synthetic strings.

I haven’t been reading any of the famous British tabloid newspapers since I have been here. I normally will read the Chilean newspapers online.

I also haven’t yet been for a ride on the London tube this year, but I have used the Metro in the past. It’s unbelievable. You have 10 or 12 lines to go anywhere you want. It’s the fastest way because the traffic is terrible here. I’m sure I’ll use the Metro again at some point during my time in London.

Que estén bien!


Monday, June 12, 2006
I arrived in London on Thursday after taking the train from Paris. On Friday, my first full day here, I tried to practice for many hours on the grass because it's very tough to adapt from clay. I picked up my grass court shoes while I was in Paris so I was ready to start when I got here.

My coach and physical trainer will arrive next week, the week before Wimbledon, so this week I am here with my friend William Capdeville, who is the brother of my Davis Cup teammate Paul Capdeville. We have tried to go out and see a few of the sights. The other day we went to Trafalgar Square. I always try to go out and do something different.

I am staying at Chelsea Village all the way through Wimbledon, and I like the area because you have everything around. I also think London is a very interesting city, a very cosmopolitan city with people from everywhere in the world. I know a few restaurants near the hotel from being here in past years but I try to go to different places to eat.

My friend William CapdevilleI played here last year. I had a bye in the first round and then lost to Karlovic in my first match. This year I played Davis Cup on grass after Miami, so I have 10 days of grass already this year, which is good. But the first days on grass are very tough because it is a tough surface for us. You have to play as much as you can and you only have two weeks before Wimbledon starts. So I've been trying to practice a lot and I've hit with guys including Ramon Delgado, Agassi the other day and Falla.

I didn't do anything today, just got a little treatment on my leg. It's a little tight, but it's okay. I had breakfast in my room, spent a little time on the internet and then came on site. We couldn't practice so I went back to the hotel and slept a little bit and then a little bit more internet.

Talk to you tomorrow.
Fernando

[davis]

Player Name: Max Mirnyi
Blogging From: Nottingham
Last entry: Sunday, June 25, 2006





Sunday, June 25, 2006
Hello again,
To be honest, I would gladly agree to participate in a blog opportunity anytime once again. I really enjoyed going over my days and sharing it all with you. Over the course of the week I had some positive feedback and it gave me more confidence to speak out. Thanks for that.

Today I have met up with my father; he has just flown in form Minsk and is going to be supporting me as always. As I get older I treasure his presence and time that we spend together more and more. My Dad has been a great role model and a strong shoulder of support for me ever since my early childhood.

This afternoon I had a mild practice with Nicolas Massu, who has a look-a-like game of my first round opponent, Ramirez-Hidalgo. Knowing that, I worked on a few things that I want to do in my match tomorrow. Right after I had one of Wimbledon’s courtesy cars take me to houses of my sponsors Nike and Wilson, where these two sporting icons during all the grand slams set up near the site of the tournament to provide different needs to their players. There I've picked up the latest line of Nike clothes that I will be wearing during this Championship and some grips and strings from the Wilson house.

Also I would like to take this opportunity to say how proud and thankful I am to have been a part of these two major brands during my whole professional tennis career. Wonderful team of staff that I've become so friendly with over the years. Thank you very much Nike, thank you very much Wilson to have faith in me and to always be there when I need you.

Staying in at the flat tonight for dinner and watch highlights of today's football matches. Basically taking it easy. My beautiful wife and daughterDeep inside already getting some butterflies in the stomach, feeling the arrival of the most historic tennis tournament in world. It's amazing what these green grounds do to you!!!

Might need to have a few cups of camomile tea with honey before I go to bed to calm myself down, to make sure I have a good night’s sleep before my start tomorrow.

To conclude I'd like to say that I hope my week-long blog helped you learn more of Max Mirnyi, the Beast as some say. For those that would like to keep up with my life please check my web site WWW.MAXMIRNYI.COM Lovely girl in Minsk, Tatiana is my web administrator and regularly updates it. Send your questions and comments to her and I'll do my best to reply to all of you.

Before I go one more thing, in regard to the nickname, the Beast, as I get a lot of questions whether I like it or not. It stuck to me very successfully over time and some think that it could be offensive to me in the way but that's not how I perceive this at all.

I was first called the Beast in the very beginning of my professional career by a good friend of mine, former player, Alex Reichel, when we'd travel together on a Challenger tour. And the only time he would call me that is when he'd be proud of my performance on court regardless of the outcome of the match. As back then I always fought hard when I was losing and I never stopped trying to find ways of winning any match I play.

Also, I stand tall by the nature of my height, 6'5", and I don't really cause too much trouble with my on- or off-court behavior. So, I just see in me this powerful, fearless yet gentle and kind cartoon character that we all call the Beast.

Thank you all for being with me,

Success to all, Max Mirnyi


Saturday, June 24, 2006
I practiced with Andre Agassi today before he announced his pending retirement.
Great Saturday here in London, bright and warm. People are out and about; the town of Wimbledon is gearing up for a busy couple of weeks.

Even though the World Cup is still being played and the Londoners are very much up to date with the schedule of England's game and whatever goes on inside the team, I get the feeling that Wimbledon and its headlines are already catching some people's attention.

As I was getting my hair cut near the Wimbledon tube station one hairdresser, with a strong Irish accent, was discussing with her client the Wimbledon's committee decision of not seeding Tim Henman and how he is going to prove his brilliance, as she said, by beating in the second round Roger Federer and then capturing the coveted trophy. Of course I remain under cover and didn't drop a word in fear of disturbing their highly professional point of view ...and just enjoyed my girl's hand running through my hair time after time again. But apart from a few errands that I did in town it's just been a normal Saturday evening.

On court today might have been a historical day for me. Shortly after my late morning practice with Andre Agassi on court 15 at the Wimbledon grounds he went off to a press conference where he announced a plan for his retirement. Last couple tournaments and Andre names US Open to be his last one. That means that this could have been my last practice with our true Champion.

Anytime I played against Andre on tour (0-3 head to head) or just practiced with Andre during my career he made me realize and helped me understand on what to work on within my game. On several occasions Andre offered words of advice. The one that stands out is a few years ago on the flight from Frankfurt to St. Petersburg: Andre brought up my serve and we discussed about how I should be wiser about using my power and placement. He, I also remember, shared a few playing patterns that he loved to use.

And today it was not different. The intensity and passion that he brings on to the court is one and only, there is no second one like it! At some point during our set play today, he brought me to the net with one of his accurate drop shots and then hit a chip lob over my head, ended up winning the point and who would have thought? That was enough of a reason for him to be joyful at the end of our workout and go back to that point and smile away on how he lobed a 6'5" giant.

So great to see him still give back to the sport that has given him so much over the years. Fantastic effort Andre, congratulations on your outstanding career and enjoy your last run!!!

In the meantime the score line at Nottingham shows that my doubles partner Jonas could not stop Richard Gasquet from defending his title, however, still a good week for my Swedish brother. Good to see him in good form once again.

Maybe it’s just not a fortunate day for the Swedes in general. Their football team getting crushed by the Germans in the World Cup as well for the place in the quarters and I am sure that will disappoint Jonas even more.

Now I'll stop for today and over a nice dinner gather my thoughts for a conclusion of my blog tomorrow.

Take care all,
Max


Friday, June 23, 2006
Hello friends,
A little bit of a sad day for me here today.
As planed before, Ksusha and Melanie are on the plane back home to Minsk as we speak. What a great time spent together with my dear girls! But a few things for them to do next week at home and they'll support me from a distance.
To replace them, my other little group came from Minsk this evening. My long time friend Dmitryi Tatur, who will help me train, and my physio- Paul. Still on schedule to arrive on Sunday my father Nikolai.

Now the days become much more business oriented with them present. Of course the ultimate goal is to do best I can at Wimbledon and all of them will do their different part to give myself the best chance to play my best tennis.

I've just came back from a supermarket where I've loaded up on some food for the next couple days. And I know that both Paul and Nikolai will take turns showing their cooking skills. Lucky me, ha?

Any chance I get will stay at my flat and dine here, as plenty of energy needs to be preserved for the upcoming event.

Really looking forward to tonight's feature football game between France and Togo where France need to win by two goals in order to go through to the next stage of the tournament. Wish to see the brilliance of Zidane once again before he retires.

Ok, bye-bye for today,
Max


Thursday, June 22, 2006
Good day everyone,
If I could relate my day to a meal today then it would be a big sweet dessert, to a place in the world- South Beach Miami, an animal - lion king!!! So, get the feeling yet?

It’s truly amazing to wake in the place you know you are going to be staying at least for a week. We did get into the flat last night and the owner was very nice and patient with all of our questions that varied from where is the toilet paper to the directions of operating the washer and dryer and so on. Anyway, I don't want to fade away from my "lovely dessert."

Our breakfast was also provided by our friendly flat owner who was so thoughtful and stored some basic breakfast needs in the fridge last night before we arrived. So little yet so much could be done when the heart is open...Thanks so much for your warm hospitality, Anna.

At 11:45 our nice morning transformed into the best car ride I had in a while to the Stoke Park (1 hour from Wimbledon) where I did take part in one exhibition match that Todd Woodbridge set me up for yesterday. But that's a little later...

By getting to the club in advance gave us a good hour of walking around and site seeing the beautiful grounds, statues, gardens, exotic bushes and flowers, powerful fountains, massive ball rooms of this historical, really upscale club.

A player lounge with its very attentive staff comforted us to a light Italian lunch during which we were sitting and trying to identify different species of fish that were in the aquarium wall that divided the player lounge with the club's swimming pool. When I lost count of different fish I thought for a moment that these fish are in heaven and this aquarium wall is bigger then my bedroom that I grew up in when I was a kid. Soon after lunch, the club offered Ksusha a facial massage while babysitting with Melanie. At that same time David Nalbandian came by and offered a little hit around as he just decided to visit the club for a nice afternoon and some photo shoot with his sponsors, and of course that became a very useful thing for me to do since I needed a little warm up before my match against Tommy Haas.

At the end of a hit with David he looked very much like my coach. When I asked him to serve some balls to me he reminded me of his French Open injury (pulled abdominal muscle) and offered to serve from half court. This looked very strange to have him do that to me for about 5-6 minutes. So, it's all your fault, coach David N, that in over two hours I still didn't make enough returns to break Tommy's serve.

We had a good, friendly match, though, where I can assure you that neither one of us was too friendly and was whiling to just be there and give it away. I guess it goes back to the good old days at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy where to win meant everything. Tommy saved a match point which he later admitted was lucky and finally won 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

Melashka slept through the whole match but was wide awake to escort me to the men’s locker room and followed me right to the shower room. She was just being my"towel boy" at that time and of course her really short hair didn't give her away because she got to see more than just daddy's "piliya," as she says...

At that point it was around 6:30 PM and I knew that I had to speed up my tempo if I was to make a 7:30 pm dinner date with our long time family friend from India (thanks to a two year partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi) Arjun and his wife Hamma. And that was the topping on the cake!

I called Arjun to tell him that because of the long match we were out of time to get back to Wimbledon and get back in time to make it to dinner and ask for his okay to come in my track suit straight away. Of course that was not an issue as the place where we met was an Indian restaurant where Arjun and his brother Andy are the owners.

I can guarantee you that the Indian food that you'll have there you are not going to find any where else in the world. Make it on your "must do things in London" to come there at least once, you wouldn't regret it. Vama, Kings Rd 438. At least walk by it, the smell of food will drag you in!

A nice ride to Wimbledon took just about 10 minutes at this time of day. We are in bed as I am finishing these last few words, close to midnight.

The day like that stands out for a long, long time. Thanks to all those people that made it so, so colorful and enjoyable today.

Be good everyone,
See you soon again, Max


Wednesday, June 21 2006
A rather tough day here for me today where everything seemed to go wrong… starting with the elevator that I waited – without exaggeration – for 10 minutes to go down for breakfast. My rackets were strung up with a few strings skipped when they go up and under. I couldn’t find any powder in the club to take away the stickiness after a tape job by our trainer Billy Norris and I lost my match to Andy Murray. But apart from that everything else is just fine...

I’ll probably be hitting the road this evening to go back to London. Hopefully the flat that we've booked for our stay during Wimbledon will be ready when we get there. But with today's luck it may not be as I’ve already left a message for the owner and I haven’t had a reply.

Melanie waits to proof read my post!One piece of exiting news for me is that Todd Woodbridge, who is currently coaching Thomas Johansson, has offered me a spot tomorrow in an exhibition somewhere in London as Thomas was mistakenly booked in two different ones at the same time. Wow! Could be another great practice match for me on the grass before the Big W. But keep it quiet for now as its still not confirmed!

As for our whole stay in London I just hope that the English team wins the World Cup. You should have seen, or I should say ‘felt,’ last night when the Swedes were scoring goals against the English. The little town of Nottingham was having a minor earthquake every time. The noise and vibration that was in the air is indescribable. Luckily the game ended 2-2 and no major destruction was done.

So, go England, go!!! (Mind you Belarus did not qualify otherwise I would be one big volcano when they play.)

Okay, take care all. Look for another post tomorrow as I’ll keep blogging through Sunday.
Max


Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Hello.
Wow, a wonderful life... To wake up and see your loved ones near you and to go to the best job in the world is a real treat. Plus, after you finish you have world-class physio and massage therapists work on you as if you are a king of Africa.
Even though the night was not the smoothest one, it's all fine. Melanie decides to have a sip of milk around 4.30 am and loudly lets us both know what she is after. Luckily my wife is still breast feeding our little angel and for that reason without any commotion the high pitch noise that Melasha was producing was quickly extinguished.

If fact it's been relatively easy to travel and be on the road with the baby. Before we had her we were a bit worried of how we'll manage everything on the road with the little one, but so far it’s been nothing but a true pleasure and joy to deal with all the little problems that come along. Some fellow players who have a couple kids, though, say, ‘Wait till you get the second, then the road experience becomes a different one.’ I guess in that case we'll just wait and see.

Post-match media todayMaybe it’s just that Melanie is so confident in my ability, but she very rarely stays awake during my matches. Ksusha most of the time is by my court with Melanie during my matches, rocking her to sleep. And I tell you, to see that during the heat of a battle like it was today - I won 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 against Alex Bogdanovic - is something really incredible. Makes me appreciate the moment I am in so much. Well, it seems like Melanie is getting all the coverage today, but how couldn't she???

One really funny thing had been happening several times over the last couple of days with her learning to speak and today was a "classic" one: With the support of the national football team in the World Cup so many cars in England ride with their flags attached. So, to get Melanie's attention from time to time we point our finger and say FLAG, FLAG, FLAG, so she looks and she quickly forgets whatever the problem was. Today at some point of the match when I lost a quick exchange at the net naturally the crowd started applauding my opponent (keep in mind that he is a Brit) and right after everyone stopped, and we were setting up for the next point I hear Melanie say F..K, F..K, F..K. Can you imagine?!!!!

I of course kept my composure and stayed focused but I could just feel my wife turn red and get so embarrassed... Of course very few realized that our dear Melanie was pointing the finger across the court where some kids had little English flags in their hands in support of Alex. Well, I give that story as a highlight of my day.

I hope that you tune in tomorrow and share my day with me again.
Thank you, Max

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Player Name: Bob and Mike Bryan
Blogging From: Wimbledon




Sunday July 9, 2006



Hey everyone, Bob here. Well, this is it, the last of our blogs. Mike and I just have had an amazing 24 hours. After the match, Mike and I did drug testing and press obligations. At 10 p.m., before leaving the club, we were given our trophies. They had just been freshly engraved with our names and seeing those shiny silver bowls helped confirm that we were actually the Wimbledon Doubles Champions.

Our Agent and great friend, John Tobias, made reservations at a restaurant in Wimbledon Village to have a celebration dinner. There were 12 of us and we all reminisced about the fortnight, made toasts, and scarfed down huge bacon burgers. It felt so good to get food in our systems. We were drained from the match and with all the post match activities, it had been 10 hours since we had eaten.

At midnight we finished up dinner and walked down the street to see if we could sneak into one of the busy bar/nightclubs in the Village. There was a line outside of Finch's that went halfway down the street. It was the last night this place was in business, so a ton of locals showed up to give the place a farewell. We would have waited in that line forever but John found the owner who was a tennis fan, watched the finals, and was happy to take us through the kitchen and in through the back door.

He looked after us all night and made sure we had the royal treatment. The music was great and we all sang and danced until we were drenched in sweat and the lights came on at 3 am. When I got home, I showered up and tried to get to sleep. It was a tough task though...my adrenaline was still pumping from the match, the music was still beating in my ears, and I didn't want the night to end.

I woke up early this morning and starting returning the 150 new emails that were in my AOL account. I'm so impressed by Andy, James, and Mardy who were some of the first to congratulate us. Andy called my phone 5 minutes after we had walked off the court and he and Mike had a great chat. He seems eager as ever to get back on the court and start tearing it up again.

This morning, we brought our match outfits and trophies over to the site to do studio interviews, photoshoots, and to sign items for the Newport Hall of Fame Museum. Also, we went to the tailor and were fitted for our tuxedos that we'll wear to the Wimbledon Ball tonight. We made it back to the house around 2:30 pm, just in time to watch the men's final. It was a great match but I won't lie, I fell asleep 2 or 3 times. The late night last night has been getting the best of me.

Mike and Jenn have been spending the last couple hours packing up the bags for our Monday morning flight. They're trying to condense the 12 bags into 6. It could be impossible and we'll probably end up paying an arm and a leg in overweight baggage. We're not going to complain though. The prize money office at Wimbledon just cut us the biggest check of our careers. The money at these events is always great, but the feelings of victory and these memories will be with Mike and I long after the money is gone.

Well, I can't wait to get home to California tomorrow. I haven't been in my own bed since February and am looking forward to seeing my mom. The ATP wants us to fly straight from London to New York to do a press tour. Unfortunately, Mike and I had to decline. Letterman and Regis were possibly in the works but we are mentally and physically spent. Getting home for a couple days before our World Team Tennis matches in Kansas City on Friday will hopefully pay dividends when we're playing at the US Open later this summer.

It's been an absolute pleasure to blog for you...and a lot of fun. London was a hell of trip!

Bob







Saturday July 8, 2006




Hey everyone, Mike here again.

I hope you understand if we postpone writing our blog until tomorrow. As you can imagine it's been very hectic since winning the doubles title today. I have 20 missed calls and 150 emails and it's 11pm and we still haven't had anything to eat. We're just about to head out to dinner now.

The only downside today was that Bob and Venus missed out in the mixed doubles final. But check out the photo (above) of Bob giving Venus a chest bump... I'm sure he can give you more details on that tomorrow.

So stay tuned tomorrow for our victory celebration blog. But right now it's time to party!!







Friday July 7, 2006

Hi everyone, Mike here.

Let's start today with a little Roger story. An inside scoop on that jacket of his. Now, not too many players would be given a free pass by the guys in the locker room to wear a sports coat out to play a match. But when it comes to Roger he can pretty much do what he wants because 1) he's Roger and 2) he is such a humble champion and friendly guy nobody thinks he has a big head just because he's wearing a jacket.

With Roger and Jonas starting at 1pm and Bob and I playing Knowles & Nestor at the same time, I got to see Roger for a while today before we went out. My girlfriend Jenn asks me what he's like. He always looks very relaxed in the locker room and you wouldn't know it but he's quite the prankster. He's always laughing and there's no hint of an ego. He was talking to Jonas before they went out.


Now, to the jacket. First, he never takes it out of his locker except for when he's about to go out to play and he doesn't even put it on in the locker room. I suspect someone has it dry cleaned for him after each match because it's always hanging in a type of brown suit cover. Players may have a little joke with him about it but no-one gives him any crap. He owns Wimbledon so he can do what he wants.

Today we sensed rain was in the air so we had a quick hit indoors on a fast supreme court at a three-court facility across the street from Wimbledon. Normally it's four to a court when it's raining but we got there early enough. There was no sign of Roger or Rafa - they must have warmed up outside earlier before it rained.


Hanging around in the locker room we exchanged a little banter with our opponents. We've become pretty good friends with Knowles and Nestor in recent years, but when we were fresh out of college and pulling moves like the chest bump they didn't like that too much. I remember one tough match in Indy when we were rookies and they thought we were too energized. But we've played so many times now and they are probably two of our closest friends so we feel comfortable to joke around even before a match.


The ref kept coming in and telling us that we had half an hour before the courts would be ready for play. But Knowles would come up soon after and say that 'Our match just got canceled, you can go home now.' After their 23-21 quarterfinal win they did a chest bump on match point. When Knowles came back to the locker room he knew we had been watching the match and apologized to Bob for taking our move.

Our massage therapist finally figured out how to work the interactive TV, so right now I'm able to watch Bob and Venus play their mixed doubles semifinal. In fact, they've just won and are through to the final. The interactive element only seems to work 50 percent of the time. Sometimes you have to turn the thing on and off.

It's nice to see that the doubles final (against Santoro/Zimonjic) is scheduled for Centre Court tomorrow, following the ladies' singles. The past three years the doubles final has been played on Court 1. We get 18 tickets between us and I'm letting Jenn and coach Dave handle the assignments. There are nine people in the main box, which is right next to the royal box. We're pretty superstitious so we'll try to have the same people sitting in the same spots as they did when we won our earlier match on Centre Court against Dlouhy/Vizner. So that means Dave, the girls, our agent, the head guy from Adidas (our boss!), and our friends from Chelsea whom we stayed with during Queen's. Another nice thing about making the Wimbledon final is that it means you'll get invited back for the champions' events after you turn 35.


Tonight I took the press duties as Bob was playing mixed. That included Wimbledon radio, Sirius satellite radio and an interview with the local Camarillo paper.

So tomorrow is the big day. The Wimbledon title is the one Grand Slam trophy we haven't won, so you can't put that totally out of your mind. Only a few teams ever achieve that so if we can do it we will have our piece of history and then can play the rest of our careers perhaps with a little less pressure. It's also great to have reached a seventh consecutive Grand Slam final. We're very proud of that.

Anyway, thanks for reading all my posts during the past two weeks. I hope you've had fun with the blog like I have. Wish us luck tomorrow.

Mike.





Thursday July 6, 2006

This is Bob. It's 8 o'clock here in London and I just rolled in the door. My tennis bag is stuffed. I brought home 5 big bottles of water and 4 official Wimbledon towels. These towels (see photo of me and coach Dave) have been a long tradition at Wimbledon and players make a habit of stealing as many as they can get their hands on. They make great gifts.

For every match there are two new towels on your chair. When the match finishes, the ball boys try to snatch them from you, but if you shove them deep in your bag and run, they're yours. I played two mixed doubles matches today... I was two for two with the matches, but more importantly, I was 4 for 4 with the towels.

Venus and I had some good wins today against some tough teams. We were down a break in both matches but were able to battle back and win in straight sets. In our second match against Leander Paes and Samantha Stosur, we were scheduled to play at 5:15 pm on court 2. At 5:15, three of us were suited up and ready to go but Stosur was nowhere to be found. She was back at her house relaxing. I guess she thought she was finished for the day. At 6 o'clock, Venus and I were wondering why we didn't get a default. The WTA tour claimed responsibility for not informing Stosur and said she wasn't to blame. The situation was a little frustrating but it felt good to earn the victory the old fashioned way.

While I was at the courts grinding it out, Mike was enjoying his day off in the city. He and Jenn shopped around a little, saw Pirates of the Caribbean, and then watched the end of my match on the BBC. Mike and I always root for each other to win mixed matches. We made a pact long ago that every dime we make on or off the court, we would share. So basically, this week, I'm working overtime for Mike's lazy ass.

Mike and I don't only share money. We also share our houses, cars, clothes, and Sports Illustrated once wrote that we even share the same toothbrush. Untrue... that's a nasty rumor. Thanks Dad! Speaking of my Dad, he's back home in Camarillo, CA with my mom, watching our matches on the internet. My parents always wake up at the crack of dawn and follow the live scoring from their computer. I can't wait for them pick us up at the airport in L.A. and take us to get some good Mexican food. England is definitely not known for it's cuisine and I'm starting to crave a chile verde burrito from our local spot, Somis Market.

It's the semis of Wimbledon tomorrow. I think I can hold off on that burrito for a couple more days. This is what we play for.




Wednesday July 5, 2006

Hi everyone, Mike here.

It's been a long and frustrating day, so just a quick one tonight. With all the rain today I had to hang around all day before we got on the court around 6.15 and unfortunately we took our first casualty. Corina and I got spanked 6-2, 6-4 by Wayne and Cara Black. Wayne has stepped out of retirement to play. I was trying to conserve a little energy and I guess I needed to go 100 percent to get it done. But the little mosquitoes were too good for us; they played well.

Earlier in the day Bob and I did a live ESPN interview. With no Americans left in the singles draws I guess ESPN are looking for any American angle they can find. The blog got a quick plug, so that was good.

Waiting around for the mixed I watched a bit of the epic Knowles-Nestor 23-21 win over Aspelin-Perry. Both teams had multiple match points and it was compelling viewing. But at 19-all we had to go out for the mixed. I got broken in the first game - I think my mind was still on that men's doubles match, as Bob and I play the winners.

The doubles schedule changes a bit now thanks to the amazing efforts of Jonas Bjorkman, who won a five-setter today to advance to the singles semifinals. He's also still in the doubles and the mixed. Because he won't play his doubles quarterfinal till Thursday, it will now be Friday that both doubles semifinals are played, with the final still likely to be played on Saturday as scheduled.

As Bob mentioned the maid came in and cleaned up beautifully. Worth every penny we paid her. But we still have a little curtain problem. One of Montse's friends pulled a curtain rod off the wall, so we're going to lose a little of the security deposit there. So it's up to Bob now to win another round or two in the mixed to cover expenses.

I watched a little of the World Cup soccer again today and the more I watch the more I don't see what all the fuss is about. Sure, the concept of the World Cup is exciting, bringing together the best teams once every four years with soccer-made fans so invested in the outcome. But the game itself doesn't do much for me. It's been pretty boring, to be honest. Very few goals have been scored and inevitably I'm in the bathroom when someone does finally get a goal. We need more action, fellas.

Hang on a minute... Just fighting with Bob again about who gets the master bedroom tonight. This one is an ongoing battle.

Well, that's it for today. Not my best stuff. Probably just a 6 out of 10. These two-week blogs are tough! Thanks for hanging in there with us.

Mike



Tuesday July 4, 2006

Hey Guys, Bob here. Happy 4th of July! It's 7:30 pm and we all just arrived back to our house. We are relieved to see that the maid we hired has this place squeaky clean. She even did the heaps of laundry that had been piling up in our garage.

I think we might have made history today at Wimbledon. We could have been the only players to ever practice on the main courts wearing colored clothes. I don't know how the spies didn't see us earlier. Eventually, 30 minutes into our practice, a woman ran out and put a stop to the "madness." We have been so used to practicing at Aorangi Park where there aren't as many rules. Wimbledon has strict regulations and I've heard that they'll only warn you once. Next time, it won't be a scolding, they'll just have a sniper take us out.

Well, It was a good day for us at the courts. Mike and I won our quarterfinal match out on Center Court. I was getting goose bumps when we started the long walk through the clubhouse out to the court. Players walk through a maze of hallways lined with pics of tennis legends. You can almost hear the voices of former champions whispering, "Here you go...are you ready?" After passing a beautiful glass case of Wimbledon trophies, you get to a set of purple double doors that lead onto the court. Strangely, our record was 0 and 2 out on that court, but today felt different.

We weren't happy to be there nor distracted by the surroundings. We were on a mission to advance and it didn't matter if that match was being played at a public park, we were hungry to get the win. But with all that said, it was definitely good to get rid of any jinx that might play with our minds later in the tourney.

Tennis players are extremely superstitious. From using the same shower stall to the way the racquets are turned in our bags, we're all pretty much nut jobs. If you watch Nadal on the change over, he'll spend 90% of the time, not drinking water, but aligning his water bottles just perfectly. Mike and I once ate at the same terrible Chinese restaurant for 20 straight nights in Paris. By the end of the tournament we were gagging on the food and had both shed 10 pounds.

After the match today, we did 40 minutes of press requirements. It seems that most of the questions that we get from journalists these days are about Andy and the state of USA tennis. The boys haven't had the best results at the slams this year but I think Andy, James, Mardy, and Robbie are due for great hard court seasons.

All right, I'm going to grab a bite and watch the end of the Italy-Germany World Cup game. We both have a light day tomorrow...one mixed doubles match each. Supposedly, some storms are coming our way. We've been lucky with the weather so far. Along with the strawberries and cream, Wimbledon just isn't Wimbledon without the rain.



Monday July 3, 2006

Hey, it's Mike back at it again. Last night I slept a hell of a lot better because Bob finally gave up the master bedroom. After he saw the bags under my eyes I think he felt sorry for me & decided to be a good twin brother. Actually, I held one of the fans for ransom & he had the choice of either giving up the master bedroom and gaining a fan or sleeping in the inferno again - I think he made the smart choice. Plus, I returned a lot better today, so I think the move is looking permanent.

We played first on this morning at noon, so we had to wake up fairly early. We had Jen's famous pancakes for breakfast. Does anyone else out there slather their pancakes with peanut butter and syrup? That's the only way to do it in the Bryan household. It turns them into little belly bombs, so we stay full for much longer. All the stores were closed yesterday, so we had to borrow syrup from my mixed doubles partner Corina Morariu. I'm really happy that she's recovered from the broken foot she suffered in a car accident a few months ago. She and Justine Henin-Hardenne have two of the sweetest one-handed backhands in the game. Corina's had a really tough first week at Wimbledon - she's made it all the way to the second week without playing a match yet. Ha ha. But you gotta give it to her - She made it through watching several of her boyfriend Justin Gimelstob's matches and sometimes watching can be tougher than playing. Just ask my parents - they're back home in California watching the scores tick by on the internet.

It's been another really hot day here at Wimbledon. The thunderstorms are supposed to roll in later in the week, but for now the temperature is almost 90 degrees. It's so hot that the grass is starting to dry out. I took several dives in the match today & it felt like I was diving on concrete. But it's worth it in the end, the heat seems to make the ball fly faster through the air - which is always a nice help for our serves. Our stringer Greg Dixon always strings our rackets a few pounds tighter in the heat to make sure we have plenty of control. He always strings our rackets perfectly, which is important because it can make the difference between an inch or an inch out on break point. Greg is a machine - he must string over 50 racquets a day. He strings for Sharapova, Roddick, Ljubicic, Knowles & Nestor, and lots of other players too.

On a side note... Congrats to Jonas Bjorkman for making the quarterfinals of the singles - he beat his doubles partner Max Mirnyi in a close five-setter. Hopefully they got into it out there and aren't on speaking terms anymore. Nah, just kidding.. but not totally. Ha ha.

So onto the big news, today is our coach Dave Macpherson's 39th birthday (see picture above). We were happy to get him a win out there today - he said to my girlfriend during the match that it was his only birthday wish. Although I think he would have been happier if we surprised him with a visit from his wife Char. He's been on the road with us for a straight nine weeks now in Europe, so he's itching to see Char and his daughters Allie and Isabella. But we've still got some work to do over here, so hopefully he'll be able to make it through a few more lonely nights.

Right now, I'm back at the house kicking my feet up while Bob is still at the courts slaving away in mixed. I think he & Venus have a great shot at winning the title this year. That would put him one mixed doubles title ahead of me though, so I'm hoping Corina & I will make it tough on him.

We've been getting some good rehearsal time in this week for our new original song. The ATP asked us to put a song together for the Doubles Revolution commercial. It's going to air all summer on ESPN, so we're putting the finishing touches on it. The ATP has been doing a great job promoting doubles this year - we can tell that it's really starting to make a difference. If you haven't already, you should check out the new Doubles Revolution web site.

Sorry folks, that's all I've got for today. I'm spent. I've gotta save my wrists from carpal tunnel. Dan Brown will be guest-authoring my blog on Wednesday, so be sure to come back and check it out.

[davis]

Kinda had to post this one since I'm in it ;D

PART 1

Player Name: Marat Safin
Blogging From: ATP Kremlin Cup



Sunday, October 15, 2006
It's my last day here and now I have to look forward to the last three weeks of the season, beginning next week in Madrid. Tomorrow I have a very early start because I will have to wake up around 4 o'clock for a plane at seven. It will be a difficult day - particularly after I celebrate a little bit tonight with my friends - but that is the life of a tennis player.

Right now I am sitting in the lockerroom after a long final that I lost against Davydenko. I am pretty disappointed about a few things in my head. The most disappointing thing is I had a chance to win, but today Nikolay was much better. It was a great success for the tournament to have two Russians in the final and it was great to play in front of a full crowd.

I heard that some fans were interested in why I have the tattoos that they saw in some photos this week. It's like the songs. We remember songs because of memories and tattoos are sort of the same thing. Every tattoo has a meaning for me. It will stay with me. I have a lot of memories, good memories, bad memories. I am not disappointed I made them. Hopefully I won't do any more of them.

I was happy to be part of the blog this week. To be honest I had a really great week. I am happy to be home. I don't know who is writing the next blog. I hope it will be a good one. I was reading the blog of Tursunov and it was pretty funny. I hope someone can compete with him!

Thanks to all my fans and to everyone who was reading the blog. I was trying hard to make it funny at times. It was quite an interesting experience. All the best to everybody. I hope you will have a positive feeling about me. A lot of people didn't know much about me off the court, so hopefully you're not disappointed with me. Come and watch me play. I will try to stay around for a while.

Marat


Saturday, October 14, 2006
Hi to everybody, it’s my sixth day from heaven.
The tournament is coming to an end, tomorrow is the final and we have to leave to the beautiful country of Spain to play a tournament in Madrid, which is a tournament of my managers. They are really doing a good job, trying to make it as good as possible for the players.

They have even made a casting for the models, the ball kids. Instead of kids, they will have real models from all over the world. It actually takes them a little longer to learn how to throw the balls and bring water, towels, because as you know they are good-looking women and are not used to doing this kind of thing.

It is difficult to teach them and make them believe it is a good thing and get paid for it. It is quite impressive. By the end of the week they are smiling to us, which is also pretty impressive. By the end of the week, if you are doing well it also means you are good looking and it is coming naturally.

Some of the guys they even try to get their phone numbers even on court. That is why a lot of good guys are losing in the first round and some of the people don’t care, they just want to play on Center Court just to meet the girls and impress them with their beautiful shots.

That is next week, but this week is coming to an end. Yesterday, I left the courts around 12:30am and I had to find some food to eat and then to go to sleep. We went to an American and Greek bar and we had some Jalapenos, some shrimp, and a couple portions of chicken wings.

The place was full. I was pretty hungry so I bite my tongue badly and I was bleeding to death. But I was lucky that everybody took care of me and I didn’t need surgery. I survived and I managed to come on court today and played impressively. I won 6-4, 6-3 against my countryman and my neighbor from Moscow, Igor Kunitsyn.

The day started pretty well, with a little bit of sunshine but then of course it slowly started to rain. We are facing winter pretty soon and there is less daylight. For example a few weeks ago there was still sunshine around 7pm and I was getting back around 9-10 o’clock. But now at 7pm it is completely dark.

No matter for us, as we are playing indoors because I am basically spending all of the day under lights at the Olympic Stadium built for the Olympic Games of 1980 in case nobody knows.

Actually, I have to say I was impressed in Washington that I found a guy, as I was walking out of a restaurant, who shouted at me in a Russian accent “Marat”. I turned around and could not see a Russian face, I only saw a black guy. I was sure it was not him who shouted at me. Then he said: “Hey, what’s up” in Russian. He said it with such a Russian accent that I was shocked. Maybe I was hallucinating, as it was pretty hot. Then I asked him “how come that you, a guy from Washington, with dark skin, speaks such good Russian?” He said: “No, I’m from Russia.” Of course I was shocked even more. We call these people ‘kids of the Olympic Games’. I asked him about his age, and of course I already knew the answer. He was born in 1981. So I hope when he reads the blog he doesn’t get really upset and finds it pretty funny story. I think it is pretty amazing that the world is so small, in every corner you can find someone close to you and you don’t even know it. Maybe we know some penguins in the South Pole.

Enough of the bull----. The day was long, the ladies took over on court and they took forever to decide who wanted to win and lose. Apparently, nobody wanted to lose. So I was waiting, eating and drinking coffee. I went to sleep and almost fell from the massage table a couple of times because when you sleep your body sometimes shakes – so I almost fell down. I slept and then drank another couple of coffees. I ate again and drank again. Basically, my stomach was like an aquarium. A mixture of pasta, soup, Russian blinis, jam, coffee, tea, peach juice so you can imagine how I was going to look after a few hours.

They then called us. Everyone is happy two Russian girls and two guys are in the final. It was a full stadium today, pretty amazing as the stadium is pretty big. We are only using one quarter of it for the Center Court. More or less, today was around 10,000 people. It was not 100% full. A lot of my friends came and it was funny as half were supporting Igor and the others were supporting me. It was funny to hear what people were shouting as they think they understand tennis. Pretty good advisors I heard. I’m really thankful to all my fans, they have been great to me.

It is my first final in Moscow, so I am happy. A final nobody can complain about. No one will make me feel guilty of going away to sleep and not doing my job properly. I face Nikolay Davydenko tomorrow, a pretty interesting match, a local derby. I guess he doesn’t want to lose to me. I don’t want to lose to him. He is actually Ukrainian, originally from Ukraine, so it will be interesting match.

After today’s match, I did press and signed around 5,000 million autographs so I could perfect my signature. A lot of kids coming, running up with balls. At least kids here they know who I am. For example at some of the tournaments like in Cincinnati or Montreal, they come up and don’t even know who you are. They then ask, “Excuse me. Who are you?” I always use the name Roger Federer. For sure they know Roger. Then they ask, “Yeah, sure, who are you?” So I am still using his name.

I did my press and massage, then I will go to have a quick dinner and head home. Because tomorrow is my first final for 10 years and hopefully it will be positive even though I am pretty happy in losing or winning. Of course winning will be much better, I will try to kick his ass in a good way. Nothing personal. I don’t want to lose it and lose the opportunity to win the title in my hometown at least once; as I do not know when it will happen again.

That’s pretty much it today. It is difficult to collect all the information and explain it all to you. Nicola will be tired of typing it up for the Internet. I will leave you wondering what I will be doing tonight. Like you care? I hope you don’t.

I will talk to you tomorrow. Have a good night. Enjoy the Saturday night. I am jealous of all of you. Not of course the people in Australia as they will have a hangover already from the night before. People from Moscow, Paris, London. Then I will be jealous of people in New York and then of people in Miami. To all the party animals, all my best wishes. Take your drinks in proportion. Don’t lose your brain, which is stupid to wish this as I think people drink to lose their brains. Be careful of the drugs as they can be dangerous. Hopefully everyone will be with someone. Or if not, they will not feel lonely for one reason or other. For those with girlfriends and boyfriends have a simple evening, watching the television and arguments over who is going to wash the dishes. Enjoy it.

Thanks for reading my blogs throughout the week. Hopefully I did not hurt anybodies feelings. Take good care.

Marat


Friday, October 13, 2006

Signing auotgraphs after my match.
I’m dictating everything after my match, so it is a little bit difficult to put everything together. I will try to do my best.

I woke up this morning and my toilet broke! So I had to ask my father to come and help me out with that. Like I said yesterday, I had to pay some money to my girlfriend. My father did it.

I had breakfast with my sister and my friend Allon. We went to the same place for the third day running, trying to be a little superstitious. Maybe it will work this time?

I forgot to tell you guys, my name is a curse. I got a warning for shouting my name in yesterday’s match.

I got to the courts and went to hit some balls. Had lunch with Sasha, his ex-wife and his child that I hadn’t seen for six years, plus some other friends of ours.

I was watching a match with Amelie Mauresmo, who led 6-1, 5-2 and lost against Nicole Vaidisova. I must say congratulations to Elena Dementieva, who won a difficult match to earn her place in the masters. She was very happy after the match against Patty Schnyder.

Then, it was my turn. Everything was okay, no stress, no problems. I was a little bit concerned about my match against Janko Tipsarevic as he won last week in a very difficult challenger in Mons. He beat great players, Olivier Rochus and my countryman Evgeny Korolev. He then made some good results here to get to the quarterfinals this week.

Before our match I started to count my points, the number of points I have left to be in the Top 50. I think I made it.

Tomorrow I play against my countryman Igor Kunitsyn. I have known the guy for many years and he is my neighbor. It will be an interesting match and finally our tournament can be happy. For sure Nikolay Davydenko will get to the final. Sorry for Fabrice [Santoro], but I don’t think he has much of a chance because of the way Davydenko is playing right now – he is the favorite. So it will probably be an all-Russian final and the tournament directors will be happy about it. The tournament has been great this year.

I can’t tell you too much more, as I spent all day here in the locker room and restaurant. I was completely disconnected from the outside world. I tried to stay focused on my match.

I’m again recovering from my match. I don’t have many racquets left now – only four out of the eight that I started the tournament with. Two of them thanks to Davydenko, one against Daniele Bracciali yesterday and one against Tipsarevic because I was pretty upset about the surface and a lot of bad bounces. I had to complain and of course the victim was the racquet.

The chair umpire was great today. Italian. The last two weeks I have had something about Italians. I don’t know why, but maybe there is a meaning it. Maybe later I will find out about it.

That’s it guys, nothing interesting tonight, but I am sure I will do better tomorrow. Now it is 11:30pm and my brain does not work anymore. I was pretty nervous today and stressed all during the match, that is why I have kept it short.

Tomorrow I will be back. Hopefully it will be a positive day for me. I wish you all the best, be good. Don’t do anything stupid no matter where you are.

All the best, to all of you.
Marat


Thursday, October 12, 2006



Thursday, 12.30 in the morning. He was in bed getting ready to go to sleep. But stupid thoughts started to go into the brain of a tennis player. After 1 hour and 30 minutes he was so exhausted of the mess in his head that finally he fell asleep.

11.20 in the morning - the alarm went off. It was the sign of a new day in my life. One more day in my life and one more day closer to my death, thought the tennis player. Everything was great until he found out that his toilet was broken. If you guys remember what I said a couple of days before about the parents - that they are willing to help you with anything... I decided to use this opportunity and called my rescue team, my father.

So he has a pretty busy day because he has to do some other stuff for me, which was carrying the money from one bank to another bank. I hope he didn't spend any of it at the casino or on some other beauties of our life.

I had breakfast with my friend Allon and my architect/designer girl. She arrived, like every woman, 20 minutes late. So we started to discuss some parts of my future grandkids' home. From our previous discussions and fights we have started to feel like a couple. For you guys it's pretty familiar. You know what I mean.

At the end of the meeting between the customer and the client, she asked for the money. Like every woman, the more beautiful she is the more money she needs. This is just a thought... don't take it too seriously. Anyway, Nicola is writing, so you know who to blame. He's taking all the responsibility for all these thoughts. In a couple of days I will give you his address in case you have some problems. After I gave the money I was released and I was able to leave to go to my job to make more money.

Traffic was pretty heavy. It took us around an hour to get to the club. If you have a comfortable car it's a good time to rest from problems and just be by yourself and have a rest. Now I understand why the husbands and wives have to leave the house, using any excuse.

So we got to the club. I drink three coffees because I couldn't open my eyes. I warmed up with Alex. After 10 minutes I started to feel bad because I drank espresso on an empty stomach and I felt pretty electric. It is a very unusual feeling for me, so I decided to slow down.

After practice I had lunch with my old friends. Then of course the two matches before me went three sets. Dementieva saved two match points. Vesnina lost to Mauresmo, so now I'm pretty updated with women's tennis.

So now, finally it is my turn. I never played against Daniele and like I said I have a lot of respect for Italians because they are the most talented people on the planet. You know the reasons. Probably the Vatican has a direct line with God. That's why they are the chosen ones and the country is running with no work, good for them.

I lost the first set. He hit some incredible shots. He made some good return winners and the set was gone. In my head I felt 'not another time.' I said I'm not going to lose in the second round and leave the crowd disappointed. I made a break, won the second set and started to feel much better. Then I was lucky in the third set. I made a break and won the match. It was a pretty big relief for me to make it to the quarterfinals. I am playing against Tipsarevic. He is identical to the AC Milan player Gattuso.

After the match I did my press. Another bunch of questions and the job is done. By the way, I have to admit I am very pleased with the crowd today because it was a full house on a late Wednesday night. Of course Nicola needed a special picture from me, so I decided to trust my good-looking boys downstairs to make a pose for me.

Right now I'm laying down on a masseuse table getting ready for tomorrow's match. Nicola is bored and ready to go home to the Swedish Embassy. I go to my lonely apartment and try to fall asleep a bit earlier.

I wish everybody goodnight, some places a good morning and some places, a good day.

One more day above the ground is a good day. So please all of you do me a favor and enjoy it as much as you can and be good to the people around you, no matter who they are because love and beauty will save the world.

Always yours, Marat


Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Second day of autumn in paradise. No thoughts, no stress, no problem, all good signs for a happy day at the office.

Last night my father called me at around 1am and asked me to use one of my cars to take my grandfather to a medical check this morning. Since I am a good son, I told him to come to the apartment in the morning and pick up the keys. When he arrived, I gave him some laundry as a present for my mum…

For some reason, after a certain age our lovable parents enjoy doing things for their kids, like laundry, looking after your flat when you are not around. They are just happy to do anything, anytime for their kids. But when you are young, you have to do all these things, laundry, doing the dishes, cleaning the apartment and all the c—p you hate doing, when the only thing you want to do is go out, hang out with your friends and do whatever is on your mind. Every age has its good parts and bad parts, it is important that you enjoy both of them.

This morning my father came to my flat; we went to the garage so that he could pick up the car and we wished each other a good day. I had lunch with my manager Allon. Next to us there was a table with three guys. One of them was talking on the phone trying to make his point. He wanted money from the other guy on the phone but the other guy did not want to pay him for his services. He kept saying he had done everything for the service he was asked to do and needed to be paid. He thought they were going to have a meeting, that’s why he probably brought the other two guys, but the other person did not show up…

After lunch I came to the courts, nothing special, same routine for a day off, no stress, no match, so short day at the office. I hit a few balls, went to the gym and pretended to do something there, took a shower, had lunch and now Nicola is writing. I have the rest of the day free. My plan after giving the story to him is going home, have a couple of meetings, go for dinner and then to finish the day on a good note, have tea with my friends. After that I will slowly start thinking about the next match and another day to enjoy.

Good night everybody, I wish you all sweet dreams and no nightmares. If you’re not alone I wish that the person next to you loves you very much and hopefully for you, you feel the same for the other person, otherwise you will have a tough time falling asleep.

Talk to you tomorrow my friends.
Marat

[davis]

PART 2


Tuesday, October 10, 2006


Hello everyone
Somewhere in the Caribbean Islands, it is 30 degrees, sunny, people are lying in the sun maybe drinking a caipirinha…this was my first thought of the day when I woke up. Autumn has finally arrived in paradise (Moscow) and it was grey and rainy this morning.

I woke up at 11:30, which is a pretty good hour. I think I have a nice job because I can wake up when I want.
One of my managers arrived in town last night and we were supposed to have dinner together with a friend of mine who is a soccer player. He actually doesn’t play much but I still like him. Allon, my manager, could not come in the end because he was tired and probably went to the Swedish Embassy. We had a good dinner last night at a place called Galleria.

This morning I picked up Allon and we had brunch together next to my place. We had some good food and coffee and talked the same b------t as always. It was a warm feeling inside the nice cafeteria even if it was wet outside.

There was so much traffic as always today in Moscow. I think that 90% of the people do not know where they are driving or the reason. How can this country function like that? There is always traffic. Who is working? It is just like in Italy, the most amazing country apart from Russia. People never work there, they are always eating or fixing their hair. But I guess the most talented people do not need to work and I think that the Italians are the most talented people in the world apart from the Russians.

After brunch I showed Allon my apartment in Moscow, which will probably never be ready. Maybe my grandchildren will be the ones who will see it ready. Then we drove to the courts where we arrived two hours before practice. I had a couple of coffees with my parents and my sister and my mum told me all the inside family information. I felt very much like Tony Soprano and I liked it pretty much.

I practiced looking at the scoreboard and saw my sister losing her match. Then I had some pasta and talked more with my parents and friends and gave a lecture on life to Pepo Clavet, who is from a village called Madrid and has arrived to the big city life of Moscow. He seems a little bit lost so I gave him some tips on how to enjoy life at 60 (his current age) in Moscow. I had a laugh with Verdasco who travels with all his family gang to support him because he does not have enough attention with all the women…Pepo, who is Verdasco’s coach, is a nice guy and if he reads this blog, I really like him. He promised to show me around Madrid so I have to be nice to him from now on.

After that I went into the locker room to get ready for my opening match at the Kremlin Cup. The match before me was Kirilenko-Schiavone and after the first set I taped my feet, warmed up, Sasha Volkov started to put some paranoia in my head (now play, behave, all this b------t) so I made him feel useful and I listened to all that.

Maria lost serve at 5-4 in the second set and I ended up staying in the locker room for two more hours. I started to hate it, I knew it would end 7-6 in the third and of course I was right. Some junior players were in the locker room and we talked non-sense and I really felt my age, which is 14 years old.

The match finally ended and I went on court with my legs shaking, my hands shaking and my body not listening to me. I guess it is just like all players before a match so that we feel we are ready for the match.

The match went pretty well, in the first set Mahut broke himself and I won 6-3. In the second set I saw three girls holding up a sign “Marat Blog Us” so I put them in the blog! Thanks for reading me and I hope you are not the only ones. In the middle of the second set I prayed “Mahut please break yourself again” and he must have listened to me. He did it again. Everyone was happy, Safin through to the second round. I feel very relieved.

After the match Nicola Arzani came to the court (he makes me write this blog so he will have to suffer with me mentioning his name) and told me to do the press. It went smoothly, I said a couple of stupid jokes and felt like a clown. Everybody wished me luck for the next round.

We had a pretty good crowd for a first round. After the match I took a shower and went on the massage table from where I am dictating this blog.

I hope it will not be too boring.
Good night and talk to you tomorrow.
Thanks for reading me
Marat


Monday, October 9, 2006


Hello everyone,
It is my duty this week to write the blog from the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and I will try to do my best to make it work and be published on ATPtennis.com. Since I am not an internet type of guy and if I wrote it myself it would take me a few days to finish one page, the person who will write it for me is Nicola Arzani of the ATP. In case you don’t like it you can blame him.

I now live in Monte Carlo but Moscow is my hometown and in my opinion it is the most incredible and most improved city in the entire world. I have not been to every city in the world, but from what I have seen, Moscow is the best. Of course I have a lot of friends here, I grew up here, so every time I come back here I try to enjoy as much as I can. It is sometimes difficult for me to combine work and pleasure but this is a week of work only for me…I am happy to be in Moscow and play the Kremlin Cup but I need to make a lot of sacrifices because I want to do well this week. So I will not be going out, no late dinners, everything will be around work this week. But I will make up for it once the season is finished after the Davis Cup final again here in Moscow in December…

I got to Moscow after a long and difficult trip. I was here for the Davis Cup semifinals against the United States in September, then I left to play ATP events in Bangkok and Metz. After losing in Metz, I flew back to Moscow but I missed the connection in Frankfurt and I arrived late. Nobody enjoyed that trip. When I got into town, I met with friends for dinner so that they could update me on life in Moscow without me. We went to a Japanese restaurant. I went back to my apartment pretty exhausted and slept for 12 hours.

When I got up I had corn flakes and coffee, I had no energy to cook anything. That’s the sad part of being single; nobody cooks for you, washes the dishes or does the laundry. So I never eat at home. My parents live not too far from me so they kindly do my laundry.

On Saturday I hit with (Nikolay) Davydenko, but after 45 minutes I had broken two racquets so I left the court as I had none left. It was a short day at the office…

I met again with friends for dinner and we went to a different Japanese restaurant and then we had coffee in the centre near Hermitage Park, where they have a club, a couple of restaurants and an old wooden house where they have a nice place where you can drink tea or coffee (but my friends preferred to smoke the water pipe…) I was pretty tempted to go to the nightclub for a drink but I stayed strong and went back home like a good boy. I was very proud of myself.

Sunday I had the same breakfast by myself and then had one more coffee at the Olympic Stadium and some blinis (Russian pancakes) with sour cream and jam. I ate about 10, as I was afraid that there would be none after my practice!

I hit for one hour with (Teimuraz) Gabashvili who is a very nice guy, pretty crazy and funny. He’s just great; you just don’t meet many people like him. I did not break any racquet this time

On my way back I wanted to stop at the Bania (Russian bath house) with Alexander Volkov who is helping me but then Gabashvili called because he was supposed to hit with (Dmitry) Tursunov but he had to cancel so he wanted Volkov to take his place. So I had to be the driver and drop Alexander back at the Olympic Stadium. Thanks to Gabashvili I did not get to go to the Bania, he took away Volkov and I was depressed until after the doubles today. I am actually more depressed now because we lost the doubles! All this because of Gabashvili.

Last night I still had to face the situation that I was left without Volkov so I went out to dinner. That was also to cheer up my friend (Yuri) Schukin who had lost in the qualifying. I have known Yuri since we were kids. We went with (former ATP player Denis) Golovanov and his wife, who is pregnant, and also another former player (Emin) Agaev who has moved to Moscow and another friend, Oleg. We went to an Uzbek restaurant. We sat next to two groups who were very loud. One was Dutch and Portuguese people. They were so loud! And they drank so much, I was not there when they got the bill and I am sure they had a bad surprise. Probably they did not know the conversion from the roubles to dollars. I had never seen so many corks and so many trays on a restaurant table. The more wine they drank the louder they became.

Then some Uzbek dancers came along and it just got even louder. Those guys were enjoying themselves so much, especially because their wives were not around. When the dancers finished and left, the Dutch-Portuguese group wanted to have them back and of course the restaurant in order to please the clients, brought the dancers back. I must say they were pretty hot (the dancers, not the clients!) They were happy and discussed more business after their 20th bottle of wine. Then they discussed which country was better, Portugal or Holland and one Dutch guy came to our table to offer us a Dutch cigar. I had never heard of a Dutch cigar before and I decided not to try it as I do not want to fail the doping test!

We left the happy group at the Uzbek restaurant. Their company must have a big budget, they were still drinking and eating when we left. I am pretty sure I know where they finished their evening but I will keep that secret and take it with me to the grave.

That’s it from me today. If you are bored and read this blog and you have more time to spare, you can visit my web site MaratSafin.com

Speak to you tomorrow,
Marat

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Player Name: Paradorn Srichaphan
Blogging From: RCA Championships



Saturday, July 22 2006



© ATP
Check out this shirt! It was in my player gift bag when I arrived in Los Angeles. It's a tank top for women - 'Perky in Pink' - so I'll hang onto it and give it to a friend, I guess. But rumor has it that Dmitry Tursunov tried it on. I have to say I can believe that. Along with being one of the nicest guys on the tour he's also one of the funniest, so he'd be just the one to make a joke with the shirt.

Danai and I both woke at 5 this morning in Indianapolis and everything went to plan. The taxi was there at 6 and we had a quick trip to the airport for our 8 o'clock flight. It's around 6.30 in the morning and there are thousands of people at the airport. It's amazing.

Like normal I carry my racquets on the plane with me - I want to make sure they don't break those. Nothing really special happened on the plane and I slept for most of the four-hour flight to Los Angeles. I wanted to sleep so I had energy to practice in the afternoon. There was no-one beside me in the next seat so that helped me sleep even better.

About 15 minutes before we were due to land I woke up and looked out the window. I don't know why, but whenever I fly I look out the window looking for tennis courts. I always seem to see them when we come in to land, especially in the US. Today I saw courts as soon as I looked out the window.

We got to LA and everything was perfect. All the bags showed up and the tournament transportation was there waiting for me and Danai - we phoned ahead so they knew what time we were coming in. We got to the hotel around 10 but were told that we couldn't check in until 12. We asked if they could make it quicker but they said the rooms weren't ready. So we killed time in the hotel lobby by hooking into the wireless internet. We chatted to friends and surfed the internet.

We left the hotel around 1.30 and before our 3 o'clock practice we planned to use the washing machines on site to do a lot of our dirty laundry from Indianapolis that had been piling up. By the time Saturday comes around things are pretty sweaty and dirty! The machines were free. Just one problem: no washing powder. So I took the shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom and poured them into the washing machine and crossed my fingers. The result? Everything came out clean... and my clothes have never smelled better!

Tonight I spent some time on Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, just walking around. It's been a great first day and I've been trying to refresh myself before the tournament starts on Monday. We'll definitely get some Thai food tonight.

Because this is my last blog I wanted to say thank you again to my good friend Eric Taino for taking good care of me in New York when I first arrived in the US. He picked me up from my hotel each day and took me to practice at Flushing Meadows and he took me a lot to get Thai food. And also I want to thank Dante, my Filipino friend. He's another guy who would pick me up for dinner and he kept me company when I was in New York. I am traveling alone on this trip so it's important to have some friends around.

So that's all for now. This has been Paradorn on tour in the US. I would love to talk to you again soon!



Friday, July 21 2006


Hi everyone,

Well, unfortunately I'm out of the tournament today and have my cell phone alarm set for 5am to catch and early flight to Los Angeles in the morning. The US Open Series keeps moving on! Danai and I will be leaving the hotel around 6 to catch an 8am flight, so unfortunately that means a taxi because it's too early for the tournament's transportation, which we understand.

Today Robby Ginepri was too good for me - he didn't give me a chance to get back into the match. All credit to him for the win. But I went one round further this year and had two good wins so that gives me some confidence for the rest of the US Open Series.

After the match I got some precautionary treatment on my shoulder and wrist, but that didn't affect my game today. I came back to the hotel and watched a little MTV - it's more entertaining than the news. I heard Tiger Woods was leading the British Open. I'm not following it closely but I'm interested in how Tiger goes. Unfortunately I have never met him.

I also got on the internet in my room to check the news in the Thai newspapers and to speak with some friends back home. I use Skype and Messenger. I'd like to tell you we were discussing something really interesting but the conversation went something like this: "Is it hot there in Indy?" "Wow, it's really hot. Just like home. I can't believe it!" Then they say "I can't wait to see you back home. We're missing you here." "I've got another seven weeks here. After that we can hang out."

I also went swimming in the hotel pool and relaxed in the hot tub. Tonight Danai and I had dinner at the Japanese restaurant Mikado. It was my second time there this week. When I'm on the road I always go to Asian restaurants: Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Then we had a nice walk around the city and the mall. It was the first time this week I've really had a chance to take a relaxing walk. We stopped at a coffee shop and I had a latte.

When I left the site earlier in the day I said goodbye to the tournament staff, including Steve. We will stay in touch via email and who knows, I may even invite him to Thailand.

Check back tomorrow as I'll be making one more post. I'll let you know how my travel day to Los Angeles goes.


See you very soon,

Paradorn




Thursday, July 20 2006


It's good to make friends with the local people! I hadn't been able to find a Thai restaurant since I arrived here in Indianapolis but Steve, one of the tournament's security guards who works in the player lounge, came to my rescue tonight. I've met Steve all four times I have been to Indianapolis and he also met my dad two years ago. He's a teacher but does the tournament security part time. I guess he would be over 40 but younger than 55; It's hard to be sure of his age.

I've been talking to Steve every day and had lunch with him twice. I think he knew I was looking for some Thai food for dinner and he said he would take me to a Thai restaurant. So tonight Steve, I, Danai and his coach Jan went to to a Thai restaurant that I guess was 20-25 minutes out of town.

At dinner Steve asked me about my dad. "I came alone this year," I told him. We also talked about the food and he wanted to know if the food was like home cooking. "It's really close," I said. It was a very good restaurant. But every restaurant cooks its food a little differently, even if they have the same menu.

I ordered everything medium spicy and one spicy dish that I kept away from Steve until the end of the meal. I waited till he was almost full and then I let him try it. "Water, I need some water," he cried out after taking a bite. "That's why I kept it away from you till the end of the meal. I didn't want to mess up your whole dinner." The spicy dish was Thai chicken salad, which back home is called Labb Gai.

I asked Steve if he had a chance to watch any of my matches, but he has to stay in the player lounge and says that he only gets to see the matches on TV. Anyway, thanks for a good night, Steve. It was a nice way to celebrate my win against Paul Goldstein after saving three match points late in the third set. I also saved three match points when I last played Paul in Washington last year. But my mind didn't flash back to Washington when I was down match point today. I didn't expect to get out of this one.

It was a tough day as I got out of bed at 7.30 and headed straight for the gym. I was going to hit at 10 with Danai but it rained. We got on the court for a 15-minute warm-up around 11 but it was around 3 before the match finally started. We had been scheduled first on at 12.30. The match went for almost 2 1/2 hours so it was around 5.30 or 6 when I was finally done for the day.

I must say sorry to any of my friends who may have tried to leave a message on my American cell phone. My voice mail is always full. When I go back home to Thailand I just leave my American cell phone on the top of my desk and when I come back to the States the voice message is always full and I never delete it. So you have to keep calling back or send me a text message!

Tomorrow I play second on against Robby Ginepri, who beat me here last year in the third round on his way to the title. Hopefully I can stop him this time.

See you very soon,

Paradorn




Wednesday, July 19 2006


For many years one of the nice perks about playing the RCA Championships has been the great gift bags we are given when we arrive. Indianapolis has had a reputation for many years among the players of having one of the best 'goodie bags' on tour. It obviously helps when RCA, one of the biggest electronic brands, is the sponsor of the tournament! This year was no exception, with an MP3 player being the highlight. I also particularly liked one of the two shirts in the bag that had the words 'I am Indy' on it. The first thing I thought of was the big car race that is here. I'd love to go and see that one day.

Tonight I watched my Davis Cup team mate Danai Udomchoke play James Blake in the night match. Danai gave James a good fight but James is a very tough player. I'm first match on tomorrow but I didn't mind being out and I know Danai likes to know that I'm in the stands watching. It didn't turn out to be too late a night. I went into the locker room after the match to talk with Danai and then waited for 10 or 15 minutes and we caught a car back to the hotel.

Right now I have my cell phone set for 8am so I can be ready in time for a 10am warm-up with Danai in the morning. I don't use wake-up calls in the hotel - can't run the risk of getting the times mixed up with the front desk! - and trying to figure out how 30 different alarm clocks work in any given year is taking a risk too. So I rely on my cell phone and if it doesn't wake me up then I've only got myself to blame. The only time it didn't work for me was when I forgot that I had put the phone on silent. It rang, but of course I didn't hear it. But fortunately all I missed was practice, not a match. I travel with two cell phones: I have a Thai number and I also have a US number, which is more convenient for my friends in the States to call me on.

Waking up at 8 for a warm-up at 10 and a match at 12.30 seems early but I always like to exercise for about 25 minutes as soon as I wake up.

As you may have seen in the results I had a good win today against Wayne Arthurs, who served 27 aces. I played for two hours and 15 minutes in the heat but it didn't really bother me. But it was important to get hydrated... I didn't drink anything extra last night but today I had quite a bit of water to drink before the match and Gatorade, provided by the tournament.

Although I didn't do it today, I often do quick meditation on changeovers during matches. The aim is to clear the mind and think about nothing. It may sound funny but thinking about nothing is really difficult and something that takes training. I've been doing it a while and it's still not easy. The changeover gives you 90 seconds or two minutes to try to clear the mind. So when I do meditate I concentrate on some very basic tasks that I'm doing, such as drinking water, toweling the sweat off my arms, that sort of stuff.

Anyway, it's time to switch my mind off for much longer now. I'm going to bed.

Thanks for reading today's post.


See you very soon,

Paradorn




Tuesday, July 18 2006


Hi again,

Last night I did make it to the movies with Danai Udomchoke, another Thai player who had a great win on Monday. I was looking for a comedy but had to settle for Superman, which was something to do. It was quite a long movie, but it was fine. It just meant that dinner was pretty late, around 11. We didn't find a Thai restaurant but I'm sure I'll make it to one before the tournament finishes. It was probably around 12 when I made it into bed.

First thing in the morning I called my parents back in Thailand. It's part of my routine to call them twice a day. With a 12 hour time difference it works best to call them first thing in the morning and just before I go to bed. You may think that I run out of things to say calling them so often but the calls are always really short, just one or two minutes. It's really just to hear their voices. I'll just say something like 'Hey dad, I am doing okay, I'm practicing twice today and it's a little hot here again.'

With my friends I communicate mainly through text messaging. Sometimes I wonder if they have too much time on their hands. One friend, who is a car lover, sent me a message saying that he was taking his car to get washed. Make sure you get it clean I wrote back. We were just making fun of each other. My friends will tell me what they did today and tell me what the weather us like, so I know everything that is going on through texting.



© Susan Lang
I had my first practice this morning with Gilles Muller at 10, which is a little early for me but I had a STARS activity at 11.45 downtown so I wanted to fit it in before that. Then I hit again at 3 with Danai. At the STARS activity I played some tennis with kids, signed some autographs and the tournament gave away some tickets. You know you're reaching out to new fans when people come up for an autograph and say, 'What is your name, where do you come from and when do you play?'

Tomorrow I play my first match against Wayne Arthurs. I've only ever played him once, and that was five or six years ago at a Challenger. Then there are other guys I seem to play a lot - like James Blake.

Today was another good day for me - I can't complain. The most important thing is that I enjoyed that day and didn't have to be too serious because I didn't have a match. But my mind is now ready for my first match tomorrow.

See you very soon,

Paradorn





Monday, July 17 2006

Hi everyone,

I arrived into Indianapolis Saturday and it's hot and humid. I feel at home because conditions are very similar to Bangkok at the moment, so I can't complain.

Before arriving here I spent three or four days in New York practicing with Eric Taino at Flushing Meadows. He's one of my best friends and he lives in New Jersey. I stayed at a hotel close to the Tennis Center so he'd pick me up on the way to the courts. But I tried not to focus too much on tennis. With the long US Open Series leading up to the US Open I didn't want to be too focused on tennis during those days - I wanted to keep my mind fresh.

So on the Friday and Saturday I headed into Manhattan to enjoy the city. I went to the meat packers district, where there are a lot of restaurants. My Filipino friends took me to one of the Thai restaurants and it's always nice to eat Thai food when I am on the road. Another evening I also went up to Times Square and I finally figured it out - it's always busy there! In the past I've been to Times Square during the US Open and I thought it must be a busy time of the year. But we were there at 9 or 10 at night and it was still packed with people.

Before coming to the States I had two weeks at home in Thailand after Wimbledon. Before that I had been in Europe for more than three months so I really enjoyed my break. I spent most of the time seeing family and friends and trying to enjoy a 'normal' life like going to the beach, which is a two-hour drive from Bangkok. I especially loved being back around all the Thai food. I went out to dinner with friends a lot. But of course I had to keep practicing, too.

Today was a game day. Unfortunately Gilles Muller and I lost our doubles to Huss and Phillips. I finished early and was back in my room by around 4.30 and with no match tomorrow I'll probably go out for dinner and see a movie - during tournaments I enjoy to watch comedies, something not too serious. Last night I went to a Japanese restaurant; I always prefer to go Asian as I prefer rice to spaghetti, but I'll eat spaghetti if that's what's on offer.

This is my fourth year here so I know my way around the city pretty well. The hotel is downtown and you can walk everywhere. For the first time this year I'm traveling alone this week. My brother Thanakorn will join me later in the swing at New Haven.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Paradorn

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Player Name: Sebastien Grosjean
Blogging From: Washington D.C.
Last Entry: Thursday, August 3, 2006





Thursday, August 3, 2006



Ça va?

I’m sad to tell everyone that this is my last blog post.

Today was an easy day for me. Since I didn’t play any matches I just had to get some practice done to be ready for Toronto.

Last night something funny happened while we (Arnaud, Bruno and I) were eating dinner. As true Frenchmen, at a French restaurant, we ordered a bottle of wine. We asked for a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 1998. After the waiter served us we realized he had brought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 2003. We were shocked by the fact that the waiter didn’t even bother to let us know that they were out of Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 and gave us something else… very strange.

This morning I did some conditioning. When I am on the road, my fitness coach sends me a program that I have to follow. Today I had to do an interval running training. I basically had to run fast for a certain period of time and then slow down for 30 seconds (sometimes more). Then quick again and then slow… many times. It’s a good cardio work out. After that I also did some abs.




In the afternoon, I warmed up Arnaud, and also practiced with Paradorn Srichaphan for one hour and a half. We hit for 30 minutes from the baseline and then played a set, which I won 6-3! Allez!

After practice, a quick shower and a good massage! Arnaud played his third round match today against Hrbaty and I was there to support him as you can see in the picture (I’m the guy in an orange shirt).


After Arnaud’s match we played scribble at the player’s lounge. It was very tough because it was in English. It would be much easier if it were in French…

Now I need to go back to the hotel and pack my bags to be set for my trip tomorrow morning.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my wife loved the flowers I sent to her yesterday. Now I feel much more relaxed….

It was fun to blog on Atptennis.com this week.

Wish me luck in Toronto.

A tout,

Sebastien






Wednesday, August 2, 2006





Hello from very hot and humid Washington D.C.!

I have to confess that I’m a little upset at the moment… I just lost US$4 to Bruno (Arnaud’s brother) in backgammon. I like to play backgammon… but I enjoy much more when I win.

Last night, after doing one more blog post I watched the end of Arnaud’s match. Then Bruno, Arnaud and I went back to the hotel to have dinner. We had something to eat at the bar and after that played a small poker tournament with Julien Benneteau. Poker is fun… but the best part of yesterday’s game was that I won US$30!!!

This morning I woke up around 10:00am and had my usual breakfast. Then I went to the mall with Arnaud and Bruno. We were looking for some watches but I couldn’t find the one I wanted, so I ended up not buying anything.





After having lunch at the mall we went back to the hotel and then to the site to get some practice done before our doubles match. Yes, yes, yes we lost! What a great week for me!!! Went 0-2. I’m just kidding. We played really well but they played even better so congratulations for them.

Tonight we are going to have dinner at a French restaurant.

Last but not least (actually this is the most important thing about today's blog) is that I today is my wife’s birthday. Joyeux Anniversaire Marie-Pierre!!!

I did sent some flowers to her… let’s just hope that she liked it!

Tomorrow I will do my last blog post as I will be leaving to Toronto Friday morning.

A bientot

Sebastien






Tuesday, August 1, 2006



Hello everybody,

Yesterday afternoon, after leaving the site where I did my first post of this blog, I went back to the hotel and then headed to the mall to do some shopping and also watch a movie.

Initially I wanted to watch ‘Miami Vice’, however when I got there it was too late so I ended up watching ‘Superman’ which turned to be a pretty good movie.

The cab driver that drove me back to the hotel was from Lebanon. I started talking with him and found out that he had just been released from jail after spending ‘behind the bars’. To be honest, I didn’t want to know many details why did he end up in jail. I’m pretty sure he must have done something pretty bad to end up arrested. Back in the hotel I had dinner with Arnaud’s brother Brunno.

This morning, after having a good breakfast at the hotel, I went to the site to warm up with Arnaud (Clement). We hit for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the hotel to rest a little bit.

In my free time I enjoy watching movies and listening to music. In the afternoon I watched a clinic with Tiger Woods at the Golf Channel. I’m not a very good golfer myself, but I do enjoy watching the majors on television.

I also started watching “Meet Joe Black” but couldn’t see it until the end because I needed to get back to the club.

I don’t have any rituals before my matches. I like to go to the training room and get a good warm up before jumping on the court. As you can see in the picture, Marat Safin was at the training room with me getting ready for his match. Marat just loves to talk about cars! He must have some pretty cool cars himself!

Today I lost my first round match against Wesley Moodie. I think it was a tough match for me because this is my first tournament since Wimbledon. I didn’t play bad but I do need to play some matches before I can be at my best. Wesley is a tough guy to play against, especially in a first round, because he doesn’t give you much pace. But of course I give lots of credit to him who did play well today to beat me.

Tomorrow I play doubles with Arnaud. I will also be practicing sometime during the day to get ready for next week. I’m planning on visiting a museum as well, but I will decide which one tomorrow morning.

Thanks for reading my blog and log on again tomorrow for some more.

Sebastien






Monday, July 31, 2006



Ça va everyone,

I will be writing this week’s ATPtennis.com Blog. I’m looking forward to telling you guys everything about my week... hope you can enjoy reading it!

I arrived in Washington D.C. on Saturday afternoon. As some of you might know I live in Boca Raton, Florida (USA), so it was a short trip.

I chose Boca Raton because as my new hometown for a few reasons. First, when I was a kid I used to travel to the United States to play junior tournaments and ended up really enjoying Florida. Second, I had and still have many friends here. Third, the weather is good thorough the year. Fourth, there are always some good players to practice with.

I currently practice at the Chris Evert Tennis Academy which soon will turn into the USTA Tennis Competition Training Center.

During the last couple days in Washington I practiced with Wesley Moodie and Arnaud Clement. This afternoon I was scheduled to practice with Andre Agassi but we had to cancel it because we both of us play first round matches tomorrow and we had already practiced once today.

Yesterday I played a Pro-Am for the Washington Tennis Education Foundation. Paradorn Srichaphan, Jean Rene Lisnard and a few other players were also there. It took us one hour and a half to get to the club because the driver couldn’t find the site.

This year I didn’t bring anyone from my family with me. My wife, two daughters and my son stayed in Boca Raton because soon classes start. They just came back from Marseille, France, where they spent the last one-month and a half. Last year I brought one of my daughters to DC. We really had a good time visiting the White House and many other attractions in this beautiful town.

Arnaud Clement, my best friend in the circuit and also my son’s godfather, will play doubles with me this week. We played doubles together a lot a couple years back and decided to play this event and the European indoor season, which starts after the US Open.

The weather is very hot and humid in D.C., which helps me to prepare for the upcoming tournaments, as both Cincinnati and New York (US Open) are very hot and humid cities.

Please log on again tomorrow afternoon, as I will do a post after my first round match.

A bientôt,

Sebastien

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Player Name: Dominik Hrbaty
Blogging From: Rogers Masters, Toronto


Friday, August 11, 2006



Greetings everyone from Cincinnati, the U.S.’ Queen City.

It hasn’t been too exciting since Wayne Arthurs and I lost in the doubles quarterfinals last night in Toronto. I got back to the hotel at midnight and then had a 1:45 p.m. flight to Cincinnati today.

We went to the airport three hours early, thinking security would be real tight. But we were able to go through with no problem. I was expecting chaos, but it went well. It was a small plane, so they just took our racquets when we got on, stored them in the back and gave them back afterward.

Once we landed, I checked in at the hotel and then practiced for an hour with my coach. I spent half an hour taking serves – probably about 100 – because I wasn’t serving so well in the singles at Toronto and wanted to find a rhythm. I already started serving better in the doubles last night, and I’ll hit more serves tomorrow so I don’t lose the feeling.

Tonight I’ll go for dinner and have baby back ribs. They have good ribs everywhere in Cincinnati. I first learned about them from some cousins who used to live in Cincinnati. I’ve never had better ribs than here in Cincy and will enjoy some good ones tonight.

It’s relaxing being at a tournament before the matches have started. When I came on the practice court, there was no one here in the evening. The weather is beautiful. Players have more fun before the event starts and are able to have a nice dinner.

It’s really a nice time before the tournament starts. You have a feeling like it’s just another day and can enjoy yourself. Once the tournament starts, you feel more tension. It’s not that the players are any less friendly, but they’re focusing on their matches. Some guys like to talk before their matches. Others get introspective and like to do their own thing, maybe going through tactics in their mind before their match starts. Then there’s a relaxation after the match. But now you just don’t feel the same stress.

I looked at the draw. I play Paul Goldstein in the first round. You don’t get any easy opponents in these Masters Series events. It’s the first time I’ve played against Paul in singles, though we’ve faced each other in doubles. It should be a nice match. We both play an all-court game from the baseline. So any of you in the Cincinnati area might enjoy coming to have a look!

Wayne and I hope to play in the doubles again this week. We were the last ones to make it in the draw at Toronto based on rankings. But I hear this week the draw may be a little weaker, because some guys, especially the top singles guys, aren’t playing doubles to save energy. So hopefully it’ll be easier for us to get in. It’s always stressful when you’re near the bottom, because you can get kicked out at the last minute.

There won’t be too much time for fun before the tournament starts. Usually you want to save all your energy for the matches. You want to concentrate on practice: it’s important not to lose your rhythm on the ball. So players don’t like to do too much before the tournament.

That being said, I still might have time to see a movie tonight or tomorrow afternoon. I don’t know what’s playing. But I like all different kinds of movies – sometimes for the special effects, sometimes for the actors etc. I even like children’s stories and animation.

The only thing I don’t like is horror movies. A lot of them are just stupid. There are some like Sleepy Hollow that have a story, and that’s nice. But other ones like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Freddy on Elm Street or Friday the 13 th Part 100 just seem pointless.

I told you earlier the week that I read War and Peace. You might be interested to know that I read it in Slovak. And I liked it so much, I might read another Tolstoy novel: Anna Karenina.

It would be hard for me to read a book like that in English. The only books I have read in English are Harry Potter. There are always a few words I don’t understand, but I’m usually able to pick it up from the context. The last Harry Potter book I finished in 10 days.

If you’re curious about my language skills, beside for Slovak and English, I understand German pretty well, but I speak it badly – I learned it in school and from watching German TV in Slovakia. I speak a little bit of Russian – the basics. Because it’s a Slavic language, it’s similar to Slovak.

It’s been a fun week on the blog – thanks for reading!

Dominik




Thursday, August 10, 2006



Good evening everybody,

Last night we went to the CN Tower for dinner. There’s a 360-degree rotating restaurant on the top. We got there late at 9:15, because that was the earliest we could get a reservation.

Before dinner, we looked down from the all-glass floor. It’s amazing how high up you are, and there’s nothing underneath you. I don’t have a problem with heights, so I wasn’t scared. It was the second time there for me and my coach, and the first time for my buddy Jan Hernych. We enjoyed it and took pictures.

Dinner turned out to be long. I don’t know if they forgot about us, but we waited one hour and 20 minutes for our main course. As the restaurant is turning, you can see the whole city. We got to know it pretty well, as we made more than one turn until we got the food.

The manager was very nice about it. She said they were sorry, and in the end, we didn’t have to pay for dinner. So for us it was good. They knew we were tennis players and had a game the next day.

I enjoyed it up there. It was only my second dinner out in the city this week, because I was always playing. I didn’t have a main course. I was so hungry before we went that I ate dinner at the tennis center. I did have a nice chocolate mousse and fruit for desert. The other guys had a main course. They waited so long for their lamb that we joked that they might have gone outside Toronto to hunt it down.

I practiced twice today -- once with my coach at noon, and again at 2 with Wayne. I went through my shots. With Wayne I hit more volleys to practice for doubles. I’m staying here at the tennis center until my match tonight because the hotel is 45 minutes away. I’ll eat dinner and maybe watch a little of Roger before our match.

I generally prefer to play during the day, because at some tournaments the lights aren’t so good. But here they are, so I don’t mind an evening match. It’s good that we’ll be playing on the Stadium Court. I like the big courts, and I’ve had a good experience with Hawk-eye. I enjoy it and so do the fans.

I went on the Internet today. I like to talk with my parents over Skype, to talk with my girlfriend, my physical coach and some other friends. I also like to read the newspaper online and look for good information. You can find such amazing stuff on the Web!

It’s a way to kill a few hours. Sometimes, I’ll play ping-pong or cards or read a book. I brought two books with me to North America and already finished them. My girlfriend will have to bring me a couple more when she comes to New York for the US Open.

I read one book with a story similar to Lord of The Rings – science fiction – and the other was Tolstoy’s War and Peace. That’s a very nice book. It’s quite heavy, but I like all kinds of different books. Sometimes I even read children’s books like Harry Potter. I’m always reading different stuff.



Talk to you tomorrow,

Dominik




Wednesday, August 9, 2006



I had some quick pasta and a good rest between my singles and doubles matches today. It was only 1 ½ hours between matches, so there wasn’t time to do too much. I talked with Wayne about tactics. The time flew by fast.

During the match we try to concentrate on our opponents. But one time today Wayne was saying he should have a two-handed backhand. And I asked him: “Wasn’t anybody playing with a two-handed backhand in Australia when you started playing?” And he said, “No.” Usually we talk about how we should play the next games, what we should do on the return of serve.

Today we played a good match – our second match decided by a Match Tie-break. With the way we play, it’s nice in the tie-break, because with his serve, he can hold so easily. That gives us a mental advantage over the other guys, because they know it’s not easy to get a point on his serve.

I served well too today and yesterday in the Match tie-break. Then we concentrated on the return – to steal one or two points from the opponents’ serve. The tie-break goes fast, so you have to concentrate on every point, especially at the beginning, to get an advantage.

I’m not a very big fan of the Match Tie-breaks, because a lot depends on luck. With one or two good shots, it can all turn around. With a full set, if you play better, you win. In the tie-break, even the guys not playing well can win by hitting one or two lucky shots.

After the doubles win, I went for a massage. I still have to practice for tomorrow evening. We play on the Stadium Court, so we get to use Hawk-eye. I like it. Tonight I’ll go out to dinner. It’s probably the only thing off the court I can do this week because I’m playing singles and doubles. So we’ll go for a nice dinner with my coach and Jan Hernych.

The hotel is very nice. Tennis players usually get a good hotel. So they all seem the same. But at this one, the breakfast is good – very European, good bread. It’s much different from breakfast in U.S. hotels – scrambled eggs or pancakes. I’m not a fan of those breakfasts. I like European bread with ham and cheese, maybe tuna. To start with, I’ll have some cornflakes, good fruit, a little bit of vegetables like tomatoes.

Coming to Canada from the first couple summer tournaments in the U.S. always gives me a boost from the food – that it’s more French and European. That makes it very nice to come here.

I don’t have a favorite hotel on the tour, but my favorite place to go is Melbourne. That’s because I’ve stayed with a Slovak family for many years. They cook for us and come support me. We are great friends. They call me “son,” and I call them “father and mother.” They are beautiful people. These are the two weeks on the tour I enjoy the most.

I always take presents, and we have a very good time. That’s maybe why I always play well in Australia – it feels like home. They had a relationship with Miloslav Mecir in the 1980s. So for about a quarter century, they have been hosting tennis players. Every generation there comes a new player. Maybe after me there will be some other young player who will go there, and this tradition will continue.



Talk to you tomorrow,

Dominik




Tuesday, August 8, 2006



After I made my post yesterday I had a great conversation with Ivan Lendl and Roger Federer in the player lounge. Lendl has always been a big hero of mine.

I had just finished dinner and was walking back to the player lounge with two chocolate cookies. I'd eaten one and was holding the other one when I saw Ivan and Roger. I didn't want to eat the other cookie in front of two guys who own 16 Grand Slam titles between them, so for the 45 minutes we were talking I held it in my left hand. By the end there was chocolate all over my hand, but fortunately I could still shake hands with a clean right hand.

It was funny for me to see Lendl's youngest daughter ask Roger for an autograph. I guess Lendl's kids just think of him as dad rather than as one of the game's great players. In my country Ivan is considered the greatest tennis player ever. When I was growing up he was No. 1. And for me there is an extra connection because our games are similar with a high toss on the serve, we play from the baseline, try to have fast rallies and we rely a lot on fitness.

I'd say for 90 per cent of the time Ivan was doing all the talking, but that was fine with Roger and me. He had so many funny stories to tell. He also was teasing Roger a little about the fact that I have a 2-0 record against him and giving him tips on how to beat me. Roger was like 'Tell me what I need to do' and I was saying 'Don't tell him anything!' As if Roger needs help, anyway!

Ivan also told us about his oldest daughter who is now about 16 and she's just won a golf tournament. You can tell he loves his kids very much and that he's very proud of them. I'm also sure he makes them train very hard!

I made a picture with Ivan today and I will put that in a special place. I also asked him if we could play together one time for 30 minutes. He promised he'd hit with me, maybe at the US Open

It was great to hear from a legend and when you talk to a former great you probably pay attention twice as much.

Today I played (and won) a doubles match with Wayne Arthurs. We practiced together in LA and he knew I was looking for a partner in Cincy and Toronto and he asked me if I wanted to play here. He's about 35 in doubles so I knew it would be close and we were the last team in here. Next week it may even be tougher to get in in Cincy.

I played with him once before when we reached the Tokyo semifinals. He's a great doubles player and he has one of the best serves of any singles or doubles player in the world. Today against Acasuso and Nalbandian they were just laughing at times about how good Wayne's serve is. It's just amazing how he spins the ball both sides with slice and spin. You never know what you're going to get.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Dominik







Monday, August 7, 2006



Hi everyone,

I arrived into Toronto Friday evening from Washington and basically it was my day off. In Slovakia we have a celebration on the Catholic Calendar - it was my name day, so I celebrated over a sushi dinner with my coach Tibor Torth.

Having battled the heat and humidity in Washington it's like a holiday to come here. When I walked onto the court for my first practice Saturday I sat down and thought to myself that I could just sit here, drink a coke and do nothing other than enjoy the sun. It was around 29 Celsius and dry. Just perfect. In Washington the humidity was so bad that I needed to change my shirt after the warm-up!

I knew that I was playing a qualifier most likely Monday, so on Saturday I had a couple of easy practices for an hour - with Bjorkman in the morning and later with Grosjean.

In the evening we went to a restaurant in Masaryk Town where they have really good Czech food. I love it and there are very few times in the year when I can find a Czech restaurant. I went for the roasted duck with a big dumpling cut into pieces and some sweet cabbage. I ate like half the duck so my coach had to roll me back to the hotel.

They are closed on Monday and Tuesday so we'll have to find somewhere else to eat the next couple of nights. Unfortunately I'm not a big enough star for them to open the restaurant up for me especially. Maybe if I win the tournament they'll open it up next Monday night for a celebration!

The restaurant is owned by a Slovak person but he has Austrians, Slovaks and Czechs working for him. One of the guys in the restaurant said he saw our Davis Cup semifinals and final - I'm not sure if he was on site or if he saw it on TV. But I got him a ticket to the Rogers Masters and he came out to support me today. There were quite a lot of Czech people in the crowd today. Where ever you are in the world you'll find Czech people supporting Slovak people and Slovak people supporting Czech people.

On Sunday night we went to a modern Italian restaurant where they gave you giant plates with tiny meals in the middle. I'd need to eat five main courses just to get a decent feed at this place! I felt like I needed to call into McDonald's on the way back to fill my stomach. We won't be going back there - that's not enough food for a sportsman.

Today after my win I received text messages from my family and girlfriend. I switch my phone on straight after I finish a match and either start reading or sending a message on the way back to the locker room. Ninety-nine per cent of the time I normally send a message to my parents and girlfriend first and, depending on how long the walk is, I may have sent a message before I even arrive at the locker room. I just say basically the result and what I felt I did well in the match. I also usually talk to my father.

I play doubles tomorrow, third from 11, so I'll make my next post after that.

Thanks for reading.

Dominik

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Player Name: Robby Ginepri
Blogging From: Cincinnati



Friday, August 18, 2006



Hey guys,

One last blog for ya before I hand it off to somebody else in New Haven.

I know you're dying to know, but I'm sorry to report that we didn't make it back to Waffle House to see Holly, Miss Waffle House USA. Holly, if you read this, sorry the four stooges never came back.

So the bad thing about the Holly incident is that I got home to Atlanta and got an earful from my girlfriend Josephine. She was a little jealous of all the attention I was giving to Miss Waffle House USA while she was back home in Atlanta.

It's good to be back home. We slept in this morning, a little too long, so we had to throw everything in the bag and hustle to the airport. Easy flight back to Atlanta -- I slept through most of it. Diego, Pops and I all were headed to Atlanta, and my sister picked us up. Jamie went up to New York, where he lives out on Long Island.

As soon as I got home, my roommate Bobby Reynolds was there, which is unusual. I see him more on the road than I do at home. He's leaving tomorrow for the US Open qualies. My other roomie was there before he was going to work. It was good to see them.

Jo and four of my other friends came up and we rolled out to my favorite sushi joint in Kennesaw. We wound up talking a lot of tennis because not everybody saw me or talked to me after the match.

I'm having everybody back to my place tonight. Looking forward to unwinding and relaxing a bit before heading to New York for the Open.

Thanks for reading this week. I hope to see you in Queens!

Robby







Thursday, August 17, 2006



Hey everyone,

I guess the best way to start today is at the beginning, and today was no different than the others. My room connects with Jamie's and Diego's, so we all met up somewhere in that doorway between the rooms and headed down to breakfast. As usual, Pops joined us toward the end of breakfast.

With an afternoon match, a good breakfast is key. I put down three egg whites scrambled over some wheat toast with strawberry jam. On the side I had some oatmeal with fruit and OJ.

We got to the courts, and I warmed up with Diego. I'm taking him to the ATL with me next week to get him into some kind of shape. We're gonna run up Kennesaw Mountain together. It's a great workout. And there's a reward in the end, because when you get to the top, there's a great view of downtown Atlanta and also Stone Mountain.

Before the matches, I usually like to chill out and listen to some music, but lately I've been doing a little boxing to get fired up. I also have some light pasta to get some carbs into me.

I felt pretty good out there all day today during my match against Andy Murray. It's pretty frustrating to have a match like that in palm of your hand and then to lose out. The way this year's been going, it would've been something to turn things around.

I had to do press, which isn't too fun after a match like that, but you have to do it for the fans. After that we scurried out and headed back to the room for some food.

While we ate, everyone gave their two cents worth on the match, but it's done now. We're all moving on.

Jamie and I had to run out for an errand after we ate. We saw the King's Island Amusement Park while we were out, and decided to head over to pop in on a roller coaster, but it had just closed when we got there. Typical for the day, get right there but not able to get through.

I know a lot of you are waiting to hear more about Holly -- Miss Waffle House USA. She's only seen one day of us, but we might have to stop into the Waffle House before our flight to Atlanta in the morning. Stay tuned...

Til tomorrow,

RG








Wednesday, August 16, 2006



Hello again from Cincinnati, where I won my second-round match today.

This morning I kept my eyes shut for a while -- rolled out of bed about 11:15. I wanted a good night’s rest, because I knew I was playing tonight. I hit at about 1 p.m. with Diego Ayala. It’s good to get some blood flowing and a sweat going before a night match. I don’t like to sit around and get cold.

We went back and stopped at Chipotle restaurant on the way. The boys got a big burrito, but I didn’t think that would be the best for me.

I watched some of Federer’s match against Andy Murray this afternoon. I wasn’t really scouting them, because I never look at the draw. So I didn’t know I’d be playing the winner. Of course, I’ve seen Federer play many times before, and I’ve played against Andy. So it’s no secret how to play him, though he’s playing a little different now that he has Brad Gilbert in his corner.

Also this afternoon, I played a little paradise poker. It took a little longer than I expected. So I had to bag it, even though I was the chip leader, because I had to come here for my match. That was a little disappointing, but you have to have your priorities, which is obviously tennis for me.

After beating Dmitry Tursunov tonight, I think it’s on for me again. I felt good tonight and am pretty fired up to go tomorrow against Andy. It feels like last summer, when I was winning so much. If I can put another match like this in the books, it’ll be only straight up from here.

I’m antsy to get out there and get that winning feeling back. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. That’s why I do this. The anticipation before the match is always fun. And once you get a “W,” it’s like a drug. You want more and more and more. It’s a great release in the brain. It’s good to be this hungry again, and I’m looking forward to playing match after match.

In case you’re wondering, I did not go to see Holly, Miss Waffle House USA, today. She was probably working but did not receive a visit from the four stooges. The Waffle House isn’t on the agenda for game day. The grease wouldn’t exactly let me fly around the court.

I was flipping through the latest Men’s Vogue, and who did I see but my buddy James Blake. He’s not as preppy as they made him look, even if he did go to Harvard. I was featured in Atlanta Peach Magazine myself, but this is a little bigger.

It’s cool seeing the boys when I look through a magazine. I saw James once on Celebrity Poker, and that was cool. In case, you’re wondering, I’m still waiting for my first TV show appearance!

See ya tomorrow, Robby









Tuesday, August 15, 2006



Hello folks from Cincinnati Day 2.

You may be wondering about the picture in this blog. I always love checking out the gift bags at tournaments. This one's pretty solid. By far the best thing is the flip flops. I've been sporting those since I got here.

I left you hanging last night about my post-match dinner plans Monday. We dined at the Montgomery Inn. It's the most famous place in town. The last couple years we've heard about it, so four of us had to go. I put down a full slab of ribs. It was very filling.

With the rain, it was pretty late when we got back. I got a little bit of treatment from Jamie and then played some poker on-line. I won one game but lost the other.

I talked to my Mom, my sister and my girlfriend when I got back as well. My Mom is usually watching on-line, but she couldn't because of the rain delay. She's a second grade teacher, so she sweats a lot of little things. When I dropped the first set 6-1, she would been really nervous watching it.

The highlight was breakfast this morning. With an off day, it was back to Waffle House, and who was there working, but Holly, Miss Waffle House USA. My Dad, Jamie, Diego and I all called her that because she's got to be the best looking girl to ever wait tables at a Waffle House. I've been to plenty of Waffle Houses in my day, and I've never seen anyone look that good.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not that superficial. She was an excellent waitress as well. Every order came out right, and quickly. It's not all about the looks, ok?!

I had to call one of my boys who is a frequent Waffle House eater in Atlanta to tell him about Holly. He didn't believe it. The whole drive to the courts, we were a little struck by what just happened. You just never expect something like that.

The biggest blunder of the day is that none of us had a camera. We were going to come back to the hotel to get it, but we were running a little (but that wasn't Holly's fault!).

We rolled up to the courts and hit with Diego. We just worked on a few things. He's big time out of shape, so it was pretty easy for me. He's been off the tour for a couple years, so he's put on the pounds. He's not at his sparring weight.

With the afternoon off, we check out a putt-putt golf course about 15 minutes away. We had a foursome and hit the course. Diego and my Dad actually tied. I got a hole-in-one on the 18th and went in to get my free game, but they said they don't do that anymore. What's that about?! It was just a friendly game, I save my wagering for poker.

Alex Colbalt from Under Armour flew in today because he had some work to do with the Cincinnati Bengals. He invited me out to check out their practice, but I just wanted to chill out and relax.

Instead, I watched Andy's match on TV. I was a little shocked, but I was glad Andy could pull it out, especially after him being injured. After a quick stop in the gym with Jamie for some light cycling, I got a massage on the legs to get them ready to go for Wednesday.

It was off to Embers for dinner -- it's a steak, seafood and sushi place about 15 minutes away. I crushed a medium-rare, 22 oz bone-in ribeye. I like putting away a steak the night before a match because I like to get the protein in me.

Got a night match tomorrow, so I'm in no rush to go to sleep. I'll have plenty of time to check in with the lady back home.

Til tomorrow

RG






Monday, August 14, 2006



Hi everyone from Cincinnati, where the tournament started with a bang for me.

Last night I had a big dinner before my afternoon match. I went to my favorite restaurant, Benihana. It’s gotten me through some tough matches. I went there six out of seven nights one year in New York – when I lost to Andy Roddick in the final of the US Open juniors (2000).

I can trust that meal. It will withstand the beating on my body the next day. My dad came along, which was very nice.

The chefs often provide entertainment while they cook out in the open at Benihana. But the guy didn’t do too many tricks last night. It was a little disappointing. As someone who wants to be a cook one day, I watch what ingredients they use. I would have them cut down on the amount of butter, though that’s probably what makes it taste so good.

It’s cool when you walk in – you see the pictures of all the famous people that have been there: George Bush, Michael Jordan, even Pete Sampras.

I woke up at 10:30 this morning – I like to sleep. I ordered pancakes, egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast from room service.

I warmed up at about 12 with Paul Goldstein. He’s a bit similar to the guy I played today – Paul-Henri Mathieu. After that, I had a bite to eat, and then all of the sudden the clouds opened up, and the rain came. We left the site, which I almost never do. We went to the UPS store where my friend had to drop something off. And we listened to some tunes. That got my mind off the match a bit.

Then I came back and suited up for the match. It rained while we were playing, which is a royal pain. Tennis is so mental as it is, without rain. To have to go on court and off and then back on… I lost nine straight points when we came back. That shouldn’t happen to any professional tennis player. And I’ll try not to let it happen again.




After matches, I usually hop on the bike for a few minutes to cool down from the match. I talk to my coaches about the match. We went over a few things. Then I showered, cooled down and got a little massage. You gotta rub out that lactic acid in the legs. And you need to eat 30 minutes after the match or your body will break down. I had a banana and a shake.

I did my press conference. Dealing with the press comes with the territory. A lot of the questions are easy. You can avoid them by talking about whatever you feel like. It’s pretty easy. I like off-the-wall questions. That’s better for the fans. They know tennis and can see that you didn’t make enough first serves or made too many unforced errors. Questions about my cooking or my support of the Atlanta Falcons would probably be more interesting for them.

There will be no Benihana tonight, since I’m not playing tomorrow. I’m not sure where I’ll go. But I’m definitely leaving the tennis center. I’ve been here for about eight hours. That’s a long time to be at work for a tennis player.

I’ll tell you where I ate dinner tomorrow. After all, I have to give you a good reason to keep reading!

See you then.

Robby.





Sunday, August 13, 2006



If it’s Sunday, it must be Cincinnati. Hello to all you blog readers.

I got in Thursday from Toronto. At first I was thinking flying would be impossible with the enhanced security, so I was going to rent a car. But then Sebastien Grosjean told me flights were going fine, so I went ahead and flew.

We were expecting to wait a couple hours in line in Toronto. But we went right in. The only problem was I couldn’t take my Evian water past security, so I chugged it down there. We had to unpack our bags because you couldn’t carry on liquids, and my trainer had to take out a lot of creams and lotions.

Once we got to Cincinnati, I was working out in the gym, and who should walk by but a fellow American who you probably know of – James Blake. He asked me if I wanted to get some grub. So we went to Carrabba’s for a good little shmeal. I had veal piccata.

I want to be a cook in the future, so I often try to get some pointers and tips on how the food is prepared and served. It’s cool to see that around the world. There are completely different tastes and styles. I had to go for dessert because they had tiramisu, and I’m a sucker for it. Then I had a little café latte to clear the palette.

On Friday, the USTA had a court dedication in Cincinnati. I got to go back to my roots – high school arts classes, as I had to paint a little of the doubles sideline and sign my name to it. It’s cool that everyone playing on public courts will see that I was there. I talked with a local high school team and got to interact with the kids who play on public courts.

It reminded of my days growing up and how I would go to the public courts to hit against the backboard. And now people will be stepping on my name for years and years!

On Friday I hit with James Blake. It’s not too tough finding a hitting partner before the event starts. Sometimes you see guys at the airport and line something up for the next few days. If not, you can just sign up for a partner.

Friday night we went to a Mexican restaurant. It had unbelievable guacamole, though in all modesty, I must say that I make a better one. The Dos Equis beer was pretty good too!

Saturday night I hung out with the boys. We played poker. Mardy Fish, James Blake and Paul Goldstein were part of the game. I came in fourth. James won it. He was lucky as usual. He called Mardy in an all-in hand. Mardy had a better hand, but James popped a trump card at the end to win it. Mardy was furious and wouldn’t stop giving James a hard time.

Yesterday I played two hours with James. We played a few sets, and I lost. We do this thing we call hozelrocket. Whoever loses has to stand at the fence facing it. That was me. James stood at the other baseline and fired a ball as hard as he could at me. Fortunately, his aim’s not too good, so he missed. That game isn’t so much fun to play with Andy Roddick.

We involve the support crew, too. Diego Ayala – who I am working with through the US Open - wasn’t so lucky. He got hit in the back. He’s going to coach me at Cincinnati and the US Open. We go a long way back and played doubles together. It’s good to have someone here who’s a good friend and keeps it chilled and relaxed, the way I like it.

My dad is here. Pops has come every year I’ve played. His mom’s a little sick, so he needs a break. Last year he had an unbelievable time. Of course, that’s pretty easy when his son is winning – I made it to the semis.

Today I hit with Bjorn Phau. I asked him if he wanted to play hozelrocket. And he said “hozel what?”

I’m undefeated at the Golden Tee video game. I don’t play golf too well, so this works out a little better for me.

I’ve been going to the Waffle House every day, but tomorrow I won’t be able to, because it’s not so healthy before a match – I play Paul-Henri Mathieu in the first round. They have one about every mile in Atlanta (my home town), and I love it. I usually go late at night. It’s a good shmeal.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about my near car wreck. The tournament gave us a nice rig for the week: a Mercedes S550. There’s not a better car to drive. I was working out at Gold’s Gym with my trainer. I was driving and pulled out, and we gassed it a bit. Some guy swerved into our lane, and we had to pull off the road. It probably wouldn’t have been so good to destroy the tournament car.

Fortunately, we all made it out unscathed! So I’ll be back to blog to you tomorrow. Have a good night!