USTA Camp Chapter 2

Today was the 2nd day of camp and I must say it was wicked tiring, but it wasn't so bad. All of the players were split up on a number of courts each with a coach working on 2 on 1s most of the time. My court however was a little different. It was myself, a player from georgia tech, and southern cal with a coach who has trained many top tennis players in the world. Literally 2 minutes into the start of practice we were drilling, we didn't even get a chance to really warm-up before getting run around the court. But the first drill was 2 on 1, and the one person had to work on depth, hitting past targets set up deep in the court. Well he wanted us to hit 30 balls past those targets and for every miss you would lose one in the count. It took me 10 minutes to get to 4. The most I got was I think 14. But in the time allowed none of us got to 30. Then the second drill was probably one of the hardest drills I've ever done. Here is the set up: the coach was on one side of the court up at net and there was one of us up at a time. We would hit everything back to him for only 1 minute but that 1 minute was hell. He would drop shot you, then lob you, then run you to one alley and then to the other. So you literally were running your ass around the court as hard and fast as you could for 1 minute while trying to get the ball back to him. After your 1 minute you had 2 minutes rest as the others girls took their turns. We did this for 30 minutes straight. My legs were like jello after the first minute. But I have to say once it was done you really felt like you got something out of it and that's a good feeling. The best part of the drill though was watching the other courts around us get like 7 water breaks, sitting down laughing and having a good time, as we were getting our asses kicked, unable to breathe or stand without the fence for support. I must say that was the best part. Then we switched courts, finally and we did volleys. I don't think any of us could keep our racquet's up we were so tired. But it was only for about 15 minutes so we pushed through it and completed the drill. And after all the drilling we had fitness, and to our surprise it wasn't running or lifting, just some abs, back, and hurdles. If it were anything else people would have dropped like flies, me especially. So that was our morning session. The afternoon was a simple practice match with a 10 point tiebreaker played if you split sets. So overall not such a bad day. But as I'm writing this I can feel the soreness beginning. I hope I'm able to walk in the morning, but we'll just have to wait and see.

USTA Camp - Chapter 1

Last night I flew into Ft. Lauderdale from Cleveland and to my surprise nothing was delayed too bad and the flight wasn't so bad either. In Cleveland I got onto the plane and sat in seat 1a then 5 minutes later a monstrous thunderstorm came rolling in. It looked like a monsoon outside and the lightning was like paparazzi. It was crazy. But the storm past quickly, thank goodness, I did not want to fly in that. But took off and headed for Detroit which was about a 25 minute flight. I got to listen to my Ipod for a total of 8 minutes. Really enjoyable. Half of the time I was looking for something good to listen to. But whatever we landed safely then went straight to my gate for my 2nd flight. On the plane they said it had free wifi but it isn't free, which sucks. To get it you have to sign up for all this crap that you are never going to use, ever. So that was kinda disappointing so I watched Fever Pitch instead. Then about 30 minutes left to the flight there were thunderstorms out the window. Then the pilot comes on and says its going to be turbulant so buckle up in a deep meaningful voice. A little scary to hear but it wasn't bad. It actually was wicked cool to see. And that was that. I got in at about 10:45, then got to the hotel around 11:30 and in bed by midnight.

I woke up at 7 wondering 'where am I' and 'why am I getting up so early'. Well turns out I needed to get up to participate in the USTA Summer Camp held for a few top college players. For those who don't know about it well here is how the 12 players are picked:
a) Top 6 American players in the final rankings are automatically selected
b) Two spots for the highest American doubles team
c) One spot for the highest finishing American in the NCAAs
d) The other 6 spots are decided by a committee of USTA Player Development Staff, USTA National Coaches, ITA Staff, and current college coaches.

So for this week the best American collegiate tennis players are practicing together. It's pretty cool actually. You get the chance to know them for who they really are and not just a tennis player you are supposed to hate because they are the enemy. So it's a awesome experience. And you have some of the best coaches in the country there with you helping you out and giving you advice.

Well today it started and I actually got to take the day off, well sort of. I warm-up with everyone then did some knee re-hab and shoulder exercises all while the others were outside running around in the heat wanting to probably die. I did feel bad for them because I ended up going outside and watching as they were running around. Then in the afternoon it was the same. We did a short 'educational session' which was on nutrition for tennis which served its point. You did learn something. After that I ended up biking for 30 minutes because I felt like I should be doing something even though my idea of a day off is doing nothing besides watching tv or a movie. But I felt good that I did something productive. Then I waited around for about an hour as the others finished up their afternoon practice. It was a pretty boring day but oh well days off for me are.

So tomorrow I'll officially start the USTA Camp. I hope it won't be as bad as 3 weeks ago...Check back tomorrow.

We are the champions

Hello again. Well its deja vu all over again. I ended up losing in the quarterfinals in singles and then won the doubles with Sanaz Marand. So not too shabby. Well here is a little re-cap of the week.

My first round match in singles was against a girl from Colombia. She couldn't make more than 3 balls in the court. However, she did have some occasional rockets that made their way to the corners of the court. But other than that it was just an ordinary day at the office. I won easily 6-1 6-1. Then second round I ended up having to play my doubles partner Sanaz. And it is tough playing a friend of yours. You start to feel bad at the beginning and then you kind of just say 'screw it. I want to win.' You're 'come ons' get a little louder as the match continues. But it was a battle I ended up getting blanked in the 1st set then came back and won the next 2. So it was 0-6 6-4 6-3. Then in the quarters I played a girl from Finland who looked like she wasn't going to get to a lot of balls but she did and made a good defensive play. So I ended up losing 3-6 6-7(5). I played better towards the end of the match but I lost focus and made a few too many mistakes. But you live and learn I guess.

In doubles we had a close match first round against two players who just had the belief that they would win, but not the ability. So we ended up winning I think 6-1 6-4. But who cares about the score. All that matters is we won. Then the next round I had to play against my doubles partner from last week Kaitlyn and her new partner. We struggled a little bit but ended up winning in straight sets 4 and 3. Then in the 3rd round we played two girls who liked to hit the crap out of the ball. Well too bad for them because we were on fire that day. We ended up killing them 6-0 6-1. They were lucky to get that one game thanks to the no-ad rule and a fluke return winner from one of the girls. Then in the finals we again played two girls who liked to really hit the ball hard. We started the match and they were just smacking return winners and hitting aces. We couldn't do much but wait for them to cool off and that is just what happened. They were up in the 1st set 4-1 and that was the last games they won. We won the next 11 games in a row to win the tournament. They even tried to change the momentum of the match by taking a 'bathroom break'. Well it did them some real good because the next game the girl who was serving double faulted twice, whiffed a forehand and then a well placed volley by Sanaz gave us the game. So nice try ladies! But we just played really well the 2nd set I don't think we would have lost anyways.

Oh forgot to say, the club that we played at was awesome. They had a man-made lake that had a small beach so you could relax on the lounge chairs and listen to the fountains. They also had this huge blow up thing called the 'Blob'. Where a person (a) would be on one end of it as another person (b) standing 10 feet above jumps on the other end and skyrockets the other person (a) into the air and into the lake. It was soooo much fun. A little scary standing at the top and if you didn't land on it perfectly you slid into the water. If you have ever seen heavy weights it is the same thing that Ben Stiller pops with a spear. But it is so fun. I wish I had one.

So that was that for Cleveland, Ohio. Now it is off to Boca Raton, Fl for a USTA camp were they have you play tennis for 5 hours a day plus fitness and an educational session. I hope I make it through the week. Wish me luck! I keep everyone informed.

Winner winner chicken dinner

Yay!! We won doubles!!! So excited. Kaitlyn and I won 6-4 6-2 against the hometown girl and her partner who ended up winning the singles. So this is my 1st professional tournament and ended up winning the doubles. Not a bad start to a career. In the match we got down 0-2 in the first set but ended up coming back and stealing a few games from them with the no-ad rule and then we served it out easily to take the 1st set. Then in the 2nd set our opponents were upset with one another missing easy shots and the hometown favorite just started to hit the crap out of the ball, but doing that is all well and good you just have to hit the ball in the court. She just swung and a few hit the back fence like it was baseball. But oh well good for us. We did end up getting a wicked heavy piece of hardware. The thing has to way at least 10 pounds. So good thing we are driving places this summer or else I would definitely be over the weight limit.

Now its off to Cleveland, Ohio for my 2nd tournament of the summer. Hope it goes just as well as my first. You stay classy planet earth.

Off with her head

It has been close to a week since my last post. So I'll try and get you on board as to whats been happening at the tournament in Mt. Pleasant. Well for starters I lost in the quarters of singles and is currently in the finals of doubles, which will be played tomorrow morning. But it's wicked hot here. I know one day was said to be 115 degrees with the heat index and the next day was up to 111 degrees. So I can tell you all I've really been doing is sweating as much as a 500 pound man on the Biggest Loser and that's just sitting. In my matches after about 2 games my shirt is already feeling like I just got out of a pool. So it's just a great feeling...

Anyway my first round match was against a feisty opponent who just drilled balls with her two hands on both sides swings. I played pretty good for being a bit nervous in my 1st round. Served well and hit my shots cleanly. So it was a good match. Then 2nd round I played an opponent who didn't look like she was going to get my shots but did and made me play a lot of extra shots. She also made me go insane with her questioning every freakin shot that hit a line. Literally, not joking about 20 times she would stop play have the umpire coming down and check a mark. IT'S CLAY!!! So there would have to be a mark but no she always pointed to a different mark and the umpire would a agree with her and I would lose the point or have to hit a 2nd serve when I clearly aced her. I was like are you f'ing kidding me. I felt like Federer playing against Nadal when Nadal used the shotspot and all Federer's shot were out by millimeters. You think you hit a winner, get your hopes up only to have them be dashed in the blink of an eye. And all you want them to do is stop questioning everything. But anyway I was close to making it go three sets but pulled it out in two. So a win is a win. And today I lost to a top junior who ran down everything and didn't miss. I played like crap, couldn't get a ball in the court so I deserved to lose.

But on a good note I made it into the finals of doubles. We've played some good teams and the no ad scoring is tough but we've done pretty good for never playing together before. Our first match was won in a match tiebreaker to decide the third set after splitting. Then our next two matches we seemed to play much better together. So I'm excited for the finals, hopefully we'll end up on the winning side but if not it's been a good tournament. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Until then...

Mt. Pleasant, SC

Currently sitting in the hotel room in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Not much else to do seeing it is wicked hot here. You walk outside and feel your skin melting. I thought Florida was bad. This is about the same. Today the temperature got up to about 96 and the heat index was up to 106. Thank god we are playing on clay this week that's all I can say.

Yesterday we drove up here from Boca. It took about 8 hours which isn't bad. My road rage didn't flare up too bad. But I just have to say how I love the people who ride your ass to make you move over but then it takes them for what seems like forever to pass you. Like pass me already! Geez. Or the people who NEVER look in the rear view mirror and go 50 in the fast lane. Ahh my blood pressure just rose.

Anyway...The ride was uneventful besides the lake forming in the back seat of the car (not kidding). Like my mom says, ducks could swim back there. We have no idea what it is from or why it is happening. All we could do to get rid of the pool was to buy a shamwow and soak it up. And yes the shamwow does wow you with how much water it soaks up. I suggest buying one.

On a completely different note I signed in today as a professional!! Crazy! This is my first tournament as a pro. I was second on the qualifiers list which would have meant I would be seeded 2 in the qualifying draw. But after signing in (as a pro) I looked online to see the time I played. I looked once, twice, three times (a lady - ha sorry made me think of that song) up and down the rows of names and times but couldn't find my name. After several minutes of staring at the screen I realized I'm in the main draw. Yippy! I don't have to play 4 matches just for the heck of it. Sucks that I am here 3 days early but that got me out of Florida and the endless pointless conversations that went on at the dinner table. So not complaining. But just going to practice for the next 2 days. The main draw starts Tuesday so I'll let you know how it goes. (I hope well or else get ready for a very explicit blog)

Damn it now I have that stupid song stuck in my head. Thanks Lionel.

Congratulations

Just wanted to say congratulations to my friend Katie Lee (AKA Ninja) for becoming a Cougar (no not that kind of cougar) but a student athlete for the College of Charleston. Yay!!

Weekly wrap-up

Sorry for the delay. I've just been wicked tired from practice and haven't had the strength to move my fingers to type. ha. That's a lame excuse. The real reason is because life hasn't been as exciting as the first few days in South Florida. Anyway I'll try and inform you as to what has been happening.

Practice on Tuesday was much better than Monday. I lasted more than 30 minutes. So that's a plus. I didn't have the urge to run to the side of the court and enjoy my breakfast twice. Another plus. And I didn't lose to another kid the size of the net strap. Triple plus. So overall a great day by my standards as far as practice goes. Then later in the day at dinner I got to enjoy a great conversation that consisted of question after question after question after question which all asked the same thing and the answer was simply 'I don't know'. Like asking the same question phrased differently is going to get a different answer. No I don't think that is how it works. It was like Chinese water torture where the drips fall onto your forehead and you can't do anything about it, it just makes you go insane. Yeah, that's what it was like. Then after dinner we wanted to get out of the house but in a retirement community there isn't much of a nightlife besides the 'arcade'. Well this was not the type of arcade I had in my mind. You walk into this place, the lights dim, the air smells of oldness, and all you hear are buttons being pressed as the slots are rolling. You turn the corner and all you see are walkers spewed along the walls and an oxygen tank or two. Then you see them. Senior citizens with their eyes glued on the screen anticipating their next big win (which only is only about 5 bucks). Yeah this was my kind of place...not really. It was weird being in a place where I was the youngest by about 50 years. But besides all that is was kinda fun. It wasted time, we got out of the house, and lost only a dollar. So overall it wasn't such a bad day.

On Wednesday I practiced for the entire two hours! Yeah you read it right. Bring out the confetti as I take a bow. Thank you very much. I think it was because I was ecstatic about what I was going to have for dinner later in the day. The whole day I had the Pointer Sisters song I'm So Excited in my head so how can you not have energy. Dinner was planned for a Cuban restaurant that my family loves. They have the BEST plantain chips served with garlic sauce. It might sound gross but don't knock it till you try it. mmmm delicious. So while practicing that's all I could think of. Lose a point here, shank a ball there I could care less because I knew what was coming. I actually played pretty good not caring too much. Maybe I should try that during my matches.

And today nothing but the same. Practice went well. I stayed vertical. I guess it takes someone like myself three days to get acclimated to the heat and humidity here. So not such a bad week of practice after a few days off. Had good company here but don't want to overstay my welcome. So tomorrow we ride off to Mt. Pleasant, SC for my first tournament as a professional tennis player. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hell - day 1

So I woke up this morning actually feeling like practice was going to be okay..boy was I wrong! After taking 6 complete days off I ended up almost puking numerous times, passing out, even had the color wash out of my sight so I could only see gray, getting a bloody nose, and above all losing to a boy who hasn't hit puberty yet. So overall it was a fantastic day. One I'll be sure to remember for a long time. But I guess that's what I get for taking time off and returning in the hottest and most humid state in the country.

So practice this morning was mostly spend crouched down, breathing hard with my racket holding me up. 2 hours was scheduled for practice but I stopped at a hour and a half and of that hour and a half about 30 minutes was probably spent actually hitting and the rest I was wanting to just curl up and die. I haven't felt that bad since freshmen year at school when we ran hills after a 2 hour practice and sprints. The worst thing was I had to call it quits when everything went gray while I was serving. Talk about embarrassing. Serving is so freaking easy, all you do is just stand there, throw the ball up and hit it. Not too strenuous. But I was literally about to pass out and choke on my vomit. Then in the afternoon I was selected to play a kid who was probably 13 and didn't even come up to my boobs. And about halfway through the first set I ended up with a bloody nose. I thought "yes! could my day get any better. I already made a fool of myself this morning. Why now?" But after taking a few minutes to stop the bleeding I went right back into the match. I wish I didn't. I lost. That's all I'll say about it. I'm sure the coaches are like 'why the hell is she here?' Oh well I guess. It's only day 1. There is a positive to take from this day and that is my stamina actually improved in 4 hours from morning practice to the afternoon.

Oh I forgot to say after the afternoon hit the coach was like 'so you wanna do some fitness?' Like are you kidding me! I'm dying over here. But I was a trooper and said sure I'll do fitness (I was actually planning on it just not with the head strength and conditioning coach for the USTA). It wasn't too bad, he knew how my day went by asking 'how are you still standing?' He didn't kill me just 10 minute bike, hurdles, squats, abs, shoulder rehab, and stretching. So overall the day was ok but not like what I predicted waking up this morning. I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and feel how sore I'm going to be.

Bravo is the best

On my last day of vacation I decided to stay in my pjs, plop my fat ass on the couch and watch tv. What did I watch you might ask? Well I happened to watch just about the entire freakin' season of the Real Housewives of NYC!! No, not just a few episodes about 8 full hours worth. I only got off the couch for bathroom breaks, a lunch break, and dinner which was called at 5:45 and almost ruined my day because it interfered with the season finale which I had yet to see. But after scarfing down supper along with not paying any attention to the conversation around me I found that I only missed a few minutes of the finale. And thank god because it was a good one. But not as good as the bitchfest that went down in the virgin islands. Man that was entertaining. Kelly earned moron of the month from me yelling "ok Al Sharpton" when Bethenny clearly was quoting Jack Nicholson from 'A Few Good Men - you can't handle the truth'. Moron!! Anyway after I wiped away my tears from laughing so hard from that comment I imagined what life would be like to just leave town and head to the Caribbean for a weekend. I wish. But until that day arrives I'll be busting my ass playing tennis, travelling from place to place to earn pennies so I can travel to the next place. But oh well. For now I'm just going to enjoy my last day off and when I wake up in the morning hell is going to start. I just hope I don't pass out from this heat. Until then...

The life of a retiree

So a week ago my college life was officially over. I finished my college tennis career losing in the finals of the NCAA doubles tournament and since then have been on vacation. I am here in hot and sunny florida doing absolutely nothing. I am living that of the life cameron diaz had in the movie "in her shoes''. Sleeping in the house with her grandmother, going to the pool during the day and eating dinner around 5:30. This is my current life, the life of a retiree and I am only 22 years old. All of this is going to change though, Monday morning when my new life's journey starts. I will be getting up early practicing doing fitness and preparing myself for a professional tennis career. Next week is my first week of practice before my first tournament as a pro. I can't wait to get started but let's see how I feel Monday evening...