England Recap

Well my England trip is over. I had a blast. I successfully navigated my way from the London airport, to the train station, to the hotel, to the courts, back to the train station, to the hotel, to the courts, back to the train station, back to the London airport, and finally back home. I did all that without getting lost, or getting on a train heading in the opposite direction. I am so proud of myself. Tennis went well. I won doubles at one tournament and played well in singles. I met people from Australia, Great Britain, Czech Republic, France, and Switzerland. I was known only as USA or “the American” by some tournament officials. I learned that the English are crazy drivers along narrow roads in their thin mini cars. I tried new foods like pork belly and curry, but not fish and chips because I am not a seafood person. I’ve drank enough tea for years to come. I realized that X Factor USA is better than X Factor UK. I am also amazed at the lengths some of the English went to help me out when I was in need. Now I head back to the States just when I was getting over my jet lag, looking the other way when crossing the road, getting into the passenger seat on the left side of the car, and understanding the English accents. Now I have to get use to it all over again the US. But it was a great trip. I feel like I grew up by being on my own and making decisions on my own. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to do it again. 

Loughborough, GBR - Round 2

Today I played the 6^th seed. A girl from Ireland and my first thoughts when I saw her was “Geez, what are they putting in their potatoes?” haha. The girl was huge. The next thing I thought was, “Well if she is that tall then she won’t be able to move around the court that well.” I was wrong. The girl reminded me of a race horse. Big, tall, and strong. I felt like Rocky Balboa when he was fighting the Russian, only I was knocked out in the 5^th instead of going the full 12 rounds. 6-2 6-3 I lost. It was an okay match. I didn’t play bad nor did I play great. The girl played better and I couldn’t beat her with having just an okay day. 

The start of the match went something like this…She served first. The first point she hit a slice out wide ace. Next point I get the return back into the court she hits a forehand inside out winner. Third point she hits a bomb ace up the tee. 40-0 I miss the return. Good game! I figured it was going to be a long day trying to return her serve, but I was up for the challenge. Then next game I lost. I had a couple of game points but she hit an inside out forehand winner on one, and on the another game point I missed a backhand. Then my opponent had an easy hold, so I was down 3-0 quickly. During the changeover I was thinking about what was happening in the match, and either I was missing, or she was hitting winners. But more specifically on the longer points she was winning most of them with her forehand on the run. So I felt like I needed to pressure her earlier in the point. So let’s say, instead of hitting a cross court after the return or serve I would go down the line. This would get her moving and it would be unexpected because she would be looking for the cross court. So if I went down the line, I was in control of the point before she was, which worked to my advantage more (sometimes). However, with this strategy there will be more errors, and in my case for the match there were too many. So the next game I was serving and I was trying to attack off of her return and looking to get into the net, where I am more comfortable. I was getting my 1^st serves in but either I missed my ground strokes, or I set up the point and hit a good deep approach shot but she passed me. Now down 4-0 I’m thinking just keep playing aggressively, try to figure out of way to break her and if I lose the set 6-0 just figure something out right now that I can use in the 2^nd set to tie it up. So the 4-0 game she is serving and I decided to change up where I was standing to return her serve. I took a few steps backwards, to give myself time to react and get a good clean hit on the ball. I do that and was able to pressure her off the return. I even hit a couple backhand return winners down the line on the Ad (left) side. So I ended up breaking her serve and taking the game. Next game I’m feeling good after finally breaking her, so I serve volley a bunch of times and take the game easily. 4-2. The next two games where I different story ha. Lost the set 6-2.

Next set I continued to try a pressure her quick in the points. And it was working. We both were holding serve easily, but we each got a break of serve early in the set. And towards the end of the set, my a hit a few too many ground strokes that didn’t have much on them, and she attack them for winners. I was also rushing my shots, looking to get to net too quick and making mistakes by hitting shots that I should not have gone for. And my opponent when it came down to crunch time, she made me play and she came up with some good shots. So she played well when she needed to and I didn’t. So it was I think my 5^th singles match back. I don’t have anything to get mad about. I was proud of myself for competing and challenging myself to stay in the match and figuring out ways to break serve. When I was down quick I was still in the match saying come on and making a fist pump after winning a point. Before I would have easily just given up or gotten mad, but I stuck with it and made it a more competitive match. I was a point away from being up 3-0 and 4-3 in the second. And if I were then maybe the outcome of the match would have been different. But that’s tennis. It’s all about getting momentum and taking it away from your opponent.

We also played doubles later in the day and it wasn’t good. We played the same team that I played last week in the semifinals. This time around, playing with a  different partner and they playing the opposite sides they did last week we lost 6-1 7-5. The first set was just a LOT of mistakes on our end. But in all honesty I didn’t really get the ball much. The one game we won was when I was serving, and the other time I served we lost it on a deuce point. There were two other games that were decided by 1 point and the rest weren’t very pretty. Well I guess they were because the winners our opponents hit were pretty nice. Haha I just didn’t want to be on the receiving end. But in the 2^nd set I ended up playing ¾ of the court and my partner stuck to her ¼ . haha. She didn’t seem to understand how doubles worked. Like for example, you need to move around the court like you and your partner have a rope tied between the two of you. So if I take 5 steps right, she needs to take 5 steps right. That way the court is covered. Well in our case I moved 5 steps right, she moved 2 steps left, leaving a humongous hole in the middle of the court that our opponents played over and over again like the Boston Pops play God Bless America every 4^th of July. Hahaha. Some points I was a ball hog and moved around the court like she wasn’t playing and we did pretty good. In the 2^nd set our opponents must have just got bored, and lost concentration because it was a close set. We even had a set point at 5-4, deuce but we lost it (as you could tell). But the 2^nd set was much better than the 1^st (again…as you could tell). Oh well. It was fun to play. It’s always interesting playing with people you don’t know haha. Always a next time. So that was that tournament. Now I don’t have anything else planned really for the rest of the year except training and making sure I’m healthy because I definitely DO NOT want a repeat of this year. J

Loughborough, GBR - Round 1

So today was a good day at the office. I managed to win both singles and doubles. Both matches were 6-1, 6-2.

In my singles match I ended up having to play a qualifier. Sometimes this can be good and sometimes bad. The qualifiers might be tired after playing 3 matches or they can be match tough and just come out swinging. So when playing them you are not sure what you're going to get. But in my case I think the girl was a bit tired perhaps, or I would like to think I just played better. hah. But anyway, this match I came out there really nervous, more nervous then last weeks match. This could have been because last week I had no pressure on myself because I was playing a seeded player and I had nothing to lose. So maybe this week I was supposed to win and maybe that is why I was nervous. But during the match I thought I came out not really moving the best, or swinging freely. My opponent was about 5 feet tall and moved surprisingly well for her size. But she got to a lot of shots and made me play, and it was a good first round match up for me. I went out there and tried to play the way I wanted to, which was to look for short balls to get to the net on, hit a high percentage of first serves, and to just play aggressively. I think I did it pretty well. The first set my opponent just made a lot of mistakes and I was holding my serve well. The second set was a bit closer then what the score was but I ended up playing more aggressively towards the end of the set and she started to miss passing shots, and rushing. I was surprised though with her serve because it was difficult to return. With her height the trajectory of her serve was very low over the net, and I ended up hitting returns below my knees. So I was struggling a bit with the return games. However, I did get to break a number of times somehow and hold my serve to take the match. But tomorrow definitely needs to be better. I need to not worry so much of the winning and losing and just play and have fun. I think today I was too wound up in the win and lose that I didn't get to swing freely. For me when I think of that my game drops, I don't move as well, my decision making is bad, and I am just not relaxed. So tomorrow the goal is to just go out there and play my game, have fun, and play aggressively. If I can do that then it's a win no matter what the end result is. But I play the 6th seed and I think it is going to be a good match. I'm excited to finally play in the 2nd round Wahoo!!

In doubles we won pretty easily. Our opponents just made a lot of mistakes in the match and that was it. This week I am playing with Australian Chantelle Rigozzi and tomorrow we are scheduled to play the 4th seed or Moore and Stephenson both from Great Britain. This is the pairing that me and Eva Wacanno almost lost to in the semifinals (down 9-6 in the 3rd set tiebreaker). So it should be interesting. Again, I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'll let you all know what happens. Until then...

Sunderland, GBR - Day Six

We played the doubles final today and guess what? We won!!! Yippy. Not bad for my 3rd tournament back. But we ended up winning 6-2, 6-4, 10-8 against Borecka (who I lost to in singles, and yes, revenge is a dish best served cold haha) and her partner Krejsova from the Czech Republic. It was a great match. The first set was pretty straight forward. We broke them a couple of times to take the set. But in the set I felt as though we were playing a lot more aggressive then our opponents. They were making more of the mistakes and Eva seemed to hit a bunch winners because the girl kept trying to cross waaaaay to soon, so Eva just hit her forehand down the line for a winner. And I seemed to hit a lot of volley winners. They tried to pass me down the line but I was covering it, or they didn't quite hit their cross courts just right and I was able to cross. So that pretty much was the 1st set.

In the second set our opponents played better. They didn't hit as many mistakes as they did in the first set. They also didn't try to pass me down the line. I think in the 2nd set they tried twice compared to about 10 times in the first. They also hit their cross courts a lot better. Instead of hitting it near the middle it was much closer to the alley, away from me at the net. But in the second I did miss about 4 low volleys that I shouldn't of and maybe that cost us some momentum but who knows. We ended up getting broken off of a deuce point that was about a 20 ball rally (crazy) and that was the set. We had opportunities to get the break back but again the deuce point was a let down.

Then in the third set tiebreaker we got off to a good start. We got up 4-2 and things seemed to be rolling along smoothly. We got up 7-5 and then things started to get a bit closer. We got up 9-5 when I completely miss hit my return and the girl at the net flubbed the volley off the frame of her racket and it went well wide. Then here is where it started to get a bit rocky. Then next point I ended up serving and volleying but I missed my low forehand volley. And what did I say in the previous post...make your 1st volley? Yeah I apparently forgot the rules. So 9-6 now. The next point both Eva and I got to the net and had our opponents backing up. Eva got an easy overhead, but I think had too much time to think about it because it sailed well long, like to the curtain long. hahah. 9-7. Disappointing but it was fine, we were still one point away and they were 4 away. The next point was about a 15 ball rally. Eva and I got to the net and our opponents were both on the baseline. They started hitting lobs and neither of us wanted to make another overhead mistake, so we were just hitting it back and not really going for it. So they ended up getting a lob over our head and Eva runs back to get it and I'm  still up at net and our opponents are still on the baseline. They hit about 10 balls to Eva and I'm just kind of standing there looking to cross but they were hitting the ball in the alley, and eventually Eva hit it in the net. 9-8. At this point we were a bit frustrated because we knew the match should have been over by now, but we knew we had to win this next point because once at 9-9 anything could happen. So the last point I hit a backhand return cross court and come forward. One of the opponents hit a lob over Eva's head, but I run over and hit an over back deep down the line and the girl pulls the next shot wide cross court. It was close too, probably an inch and a half out. And that was the match. Not a bad showing for the first time Eva and I played together. So I'm really happy. It's always nice to win something, no matter if it's singles or doubles. A win builds your confidence up. Now I'm off to Loughborough tomorrow for the 2nd and last week here in England. Until then. Cheerio

Sunderland, GBR - Day Five

Today was a good day, a bit nerve racking at times but it was worth it. I'm mostly talking about our doubles match this afternoon. We ended up winning a nail biter 6-3 6-7(5) 12-10. It was a crazy match. The first set was played pretty clean by us. We didn't need to do anything special this set, we just played consistent, played aggressively when needed to and our opponents towards the end of the set just seemed to not care really. We all were holding serve up until 4-3 us, and when we broke our opponents to go up 5-3 they kind of tanked (gave up) the next game to give us the set. Then the next set was more competitive. We ended up getting broken  early in the set and found ourselves down 2-5. To get to that point we were the ones making more mistakes. Trying too hard and missing easy shots that we shouldn't have. But when we were down 5-2 we started to play like we did in the 1st, consistent, being patient, and putting volleys away when we could. I ended up serving the next game and I ended up having my best service game of the match. One ace and 3 missed returns. Then I got a break because our opponents hit a bunch of second serves and made an early mistake in the point. But the key to playing doubles is make your first serve, make your return, and make your first volley. If you can do those things doubles will get easier for you. If you do all of these you automatically put pressure on your opponent, giving you a better chance of winning the point. So we are now down 4-5 and we end up holding just barely. We had a deuce point and they play no ad scoring, so the team that wins the next point wins the game. (I think it is stupid but rules are rules) But our opponents ended up hitting their volley long so we are now tied at 5-5 and again one of the girls seemed to give away the game, with 3 well long forehands and a well played point by us. So now we are ahead 6-5 and I'm serving. I hoped to of had a service game like the last one but nope, didn't happen. I made about 1 first serve that game and a few errors at the net cost us the game. So we headed for a tiebreaker. The first couple points our opponents got lucky. We won the first point, then I served and the returner hit her backhand late for passing shot angle winner. The next point the other returner broke her strings on the return and the next ball hits a slice forehand angle dropshot that hits and skids on the line. But oh well. So we ended up being down 4-2 came back to 4-3 and the next point we found ourselves both at the net and our opponents on the run, but they throw up a short lob right down the middle and both my partner (Eva) and I thought we were going to hit it, but at the last second neither of us hit it. Great communication there, I'm just going to chalk that up to the language barrier. hahaha. Oh well. Then the next point we lost it because I missed a high forehand volley. I got too excited and took too big of a swing and it sailed long. So we ended up losing one of the next 2 points and lost the set. Now it came down to the deciding 10 point tiebreaker. (I really wish the rules were play Ad scoring and keep the tiebreaker for the 3rd set. I don't mind that, but having them both isn't really fair because not always does the better team win. And they don't play this way in the Slams so why should us bottom feeders have to? Anyway, whatever.) So the third set tiebreak we found ourselves down 4-2 again. We didn't start off bad, they just had some good shots, they were playing better than us at this point. Then it was 7-5 them and then down 9-6. Then next point my Eva was at the baseline on the forehand side, and I'm at the net on the backhand side. She was hitting a bunch of forehand cross courts and eventually our opponent hit one close to the middle and I move over and hit a low forehand drop volley winner. 9-7. Then 9-8. The next point Eva and I were both at the net and she gets a high forehand volley that she takes a whack but is late and it looks like it was sailing out but somehow lands on the outside of the line. Our opponents were pretty much celebrating as the ball was in the air, but they never got the call. And we did have 3 umpires on our court (1 chair, 2 long lines) so he saw it in and we took the point. 9-9. The next point I can't really remember specifically what happened but I know we lost the point because I remember thinking I just need to make them play on their match point. So it was 10-9 for them I get my return in and get to the net and Eva puts the next volley away. 10-10. The next point Eva gets into another cross court rally and our opponent misses her forehand deep. 11-10 us. Match point, I'm returning. Before the point Eva and I discussed me going down the line because the girl at the net was looking for the cross court, but I just said I need to get it in and I'm going cross court, need to keep it simple and hit a high percentage shot. So the girl serves a kick serve to my backhand, I slice it low cross court, knowing the girl was going to cross and put the volley up the middle (like she had done throughout the match) so after I hit it I moved over a step or two towards the middle and I was right. The girl sticks a volley right down the middle and I was waiting for it so I ended up hitting a slice forehand deep cross court where the girl had to hit it backing up and hits it up enough for me to move up and stick a volley winner to win the match. Talk about a nerve racking. Eva and I were both shaking after the match because of all the adrenaline pumping in the last few points. But it was a great match, we had some great points, and I'm so glad we came back to win that. The finals is tomorrow. And we get to play against the girl I lost to in singles and her partner. So I hope to beat her this time around! I'll let you know how it goes.

Sunderland, GBR - Day Four

So today got off to a rocky start. My plan was to check out of my hotel and move to another one around the corner. Sounds simple enough, but not here. After packing up my room I headed downstairs to the reception and while I was trying to pay for my stay my Visa card wouldn't work. The first time they swiped it, declined. The second time, declined. I even went to an ATM and again declined. Then I asked if I could write them a check but halfway through writing it the manager came out and said they didn't accept foreign checks. Great! At this point I was about to have a nervous breakdown because if it didn't work at the hotel it might not work anywhere and I needed to check out of that hotel and move into the other one. So after talking to the manager I was able to give her all of the cash I had on me just to start the payment and show that I was going to pay for my stay. So after giving her the money I then had to give them a copy of my passport, you know just in case I tried to flee the country without paying them. Yeah right, my luck I would get stopped by the Bobbies (police) at the airport and spend the rest of my life in prison. Anyway so I told her I would be back at the end of the day, I just needed to get to the bank to figure everything out. So first I had to get to the courts to warm up my doubles partner for her singles match. And luckily she was 2nd on after 10:30 and our doubles was 4th on. So after hitting I had to go to Sunderland City Centre and find a bank and thank goodness the girl (Vicky) that drives the shuttle bus was able to drop me off in between runs to the courts and the hotel. So she dropped me off at Barclays which she told me was a major bank in England and I believed it seeing as though I've heard of it before. So I go into the bank and there is people everywhere. I think it was the busiest bank I've seen for a Thursday morning. Anyway I walk in and the tellers are to my left and straight ahead a guy in his late 20s early 30s was standing, and I smile just to be polite as we made eye contact. So I'm looking around with a confused look on my face and walk over to him and ask if he could help. I told him I'm here for tennis, and my card wasn't working and I needed to get money out to pay for this. So he informs me that banks shut cards off in case they feel as though they've detected fraud, and that I should have told my bank before leaving the States that I was traveling abroad (Remember that if traveling outside of your country of origin). So he told me that I needed to call my bank and tell them where I was and to turn my card back on. So he looked for an open phone in the bank and they were all in use, so he takes out his own cell phone and calls an international number. You know that that is expensive and calling a bank is going to tack on minutes because you never get a live person on the phone, you get press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts, press 3 for lives sales rep and when you press 3 they can't understand what you pressed and you need to start over again. So after about 10 minutes finally some woman with a southern accent gets on the phone and asks a bunch of questions, and I couldn't even  understand what she was saying with her southern twang. I could understand the British guy better then her and that shouldn't be right. But finally after about a 20 minute phone call everything gets squared away, I just needed to wait about 20 minutes before taking money out or use the card. So I told the guy how much I appreciated his help, told him have fun in Florida in December visiting his parents (that's how long we were on hold). So then I had to hop back on the bus which was waiting outside with other players waiting to get to the courts. Dropped the players off went inside for about 10 minutes just to see that my doubles partner just got on the court and our scheduled court was still in the first match. The tournament director then finds me to ask if everything was ok because Vicky was looking for me to head back to the bank. And the tournament director was very helpful, said she could call the hotel to figure something out, or use my prize money to pay, she told me all the options. That was nice to hear. So a few minutes later Vicky and I head to the bank again, my card is working again. I get money out and on the receipt there is a lottery drawing to win Barclays Premier League soccer (football) tickets so I give it to Vicky. And I hope she wins because of all of the driving she did just for me. If she did she would send me a picture haha. So all of this took place in between warming my doubles partner up and our doubles match. It seemed like the longest day and I didn't really think about playing doubles until we got on the court. But doubles went a bit smoother then the morning that's for sure. We ended up winning 6-3 6-1. We played really well, didn't make too many mistakes, but we played smart. So we play the semifinals tomorrow against a team that took out the number 1 seeds in a 3rd set tie breaker. Should be a good match. Looking forward to it. Oh and after doubles I had to go back to the hotel, finish paying them, then head to my new hotel for the rest of the week. So now I can leave the country! yay! But it was a long and stressful day, I'm glad it's over. Now I get to sleep and be ready for doubles tomorrow.

Sunderland, GBR - Day Three

I finally got to play singles and doubles today and ended up 1 for 2 on the day. Won my doubles 6-4 7-5 and lost my singles 7-6(4) 6-3. In singles one break of serve cost me the match. I played well, I was going for my shots, but my opponent (the 6th seed Martina Borecka - CZE) won the key points in the match. Looking back on the match I don't feel I played bad but I think I was the decider of who was going to win or not. She didn't play me off the court. She had a great serve and steady ground strokes. It was a match were I blinked first.

The 1st game of the match I served and it went about 10 deuce points. I came out a bit anxious but calmed down and was able to pull out the game. My opponent's service game was another couple of deuce points but she hit some well placed 1st serves to hold. Then the next few games we each held easily. Both hitting big serves, deep in the box, and well placed to get a short return and the next shot was put away.  We both held up until 6-5 my opponent serving and I had played a good game, getting to the net often and finally I got a set point, but again my opponent hit a big out wide serve and I missed the return in the net. And that hurts because on those points you need to make your opponent play. The opponent might miss the next ball if you get it over. And in my case I didn't do that. So in those points you need to get it back and in the court. It doesn't matter how you do it, you just have to make them play. So I ended up losing the game and we were headed for a tie breaker. I start serving and hit a body serve right into her left hip but some how she hit it late for an angle winner. (Off to a good start.) Next point she wins. Down 2-0. Next point I hit a big forehand winner down the line after a cross court exchange. Down 2-1. The next few points I don't remember but it went like this, 2-2, 3-2 down, 4-2, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4. At this time she was serving and I know that I needed to win at least 1 point to try and stay in the set. But it's so much easier said than done. But at 5-4 down I ended up getting her on the run to her forehand side, I get into the net as she hits a floater to my forehand volley and what do I do? I botch the volley wide. Had the whole court and didn't hit the outside of the ball. Missed it by 2 inches. Her set point we had about a 10 ball rally. I got pulled out wide to my right, made a good running forehand cross court, she hits it down the line to my backhand and I slice it back deep up the middle, and she pulls me back to the forehand side and miss the next running forehand deep. Set done and over. Looking back on the set both of us saved about 15 break points and both of us had a set point. The only clear difference is my opponent won her set point. Plain and simple.

The next set my opponent starts serving 1st and holds easily. My next service game I get broken. I played a few bad points and rushed them. I didn't plan my points out. I tried to hit a big serve and follow it up with the winner, and that doesn't happen too often. I should have taken my time and really plan what I wanted to do in the point. But after that game, now down a break it is difficult to get it back indoors against an opponent who is serving well. It's like standing at the bottom of Mt. Everest looking up. The gray clouds halfway up with the hawks circling high above  and you're at the bottom need to get to 28 thousand feet (that's how I see it). It's not impossible it is just difficult. But the next game I had a chance to break back but missed my backhand slice approach deep. So now down 3-0. Then I held to 3-1. She holds to 4-1. Now I'm thinking I really need to make some thing happen to get a break back but I couldn't. The closest I got was a few deuce points at 4-2 and 5-3 but never a chance on my Ad.

So I'm happy with the way I played. I serve well, I hit big forehands and I got to the net plenty of times. She just protected her service games better than me. I wish I could have returned better but can't really do anything about it now. So there are things to work on (forehand volley and running forehands) but there should always be after matches. Now I have another chance next week to see if I can make those improvements.

In doubles it was a pretty good match. We got up in the first set quickly 4-1 then found ourselves tied at 4-4 until we held and broke to win the set. But our opponents were pretty good. One girl was a lefty so her slice serve out wide got me a bit, and the other opponent just hit the ball as hard and flat as she could. But the second set wasn't too exciting it was just holding serve until the end at 6-5 when we broke. But one thing that did happen was the lefty ended up hitting her partner who was standing at the net with her serve, and it sounded like it hurt. The girl pretty much crumpled to the ground almost in tears she got hit in the back so hard. I was in shock until I saw her partner laughing in back of her and saying "I'm not laughing at you! I'm so sorry" so I was giggling. I had to try and compose myself in the back of the court. After a couple of minutes we were about to continue the point with a 2nd serve but the one girl couldn't stop laughing. So the girl who got hit set up again at net and I guess saw smiles on our faces and put her racket down and said "Oh is it funny that I got hit? Go ahead and laugh. Get it out" I was shocked. I really wasn't laughing at her at all because I've gotten hit with plenty of overheads to the back and it hurts. I haven't fallen to the ground crying but it stings. I was really just laughing at her partner trying to say sorry with a straight face. But that was all the excitement for the day. We play doubles again tomorrow. Hopefully we'll do well.

Sunderland, GBR - Day Two

So I didn't get the chance to play doubles today like I said I would. We were scheduled to play this afternoon but one of the opponents we were supposed to play was still in her last round of qualifying at 5 this evening. So because they were playing so late and given that after the match she would get an hour and a half rest the tournament director decided to postpone it until tomorrow. I was excited to start playing but can't really do anything about it. Oh well I guess. But my doubles partner for this week is Eva Waccano from the Netherlands. We've never played before, we've never met before actually. We both have a pretty good doubles ranking so we decided to play together. And oddly enough we are seeded. But that's what happens when you go to tournaments when you don't know anyone. You just go around and start asking people. Then when you find someone willing to play you make sure both have a good enough ranking to get into the draw. If you don't, then you keep looking for a partner and get in, or you just don't play doubles. That's the way it works at this level. So tomorrow it's going to be both singles and doubles, probably going to be a long day. But I hope it goes well.