Travel Day From Hell

On my way back to Holland from Ratingen it had to be the worst travel day I have ever experienced. I leave for the train station at about 6 and when I go to purchase my ticket from the kiosk it says the first two connections I won’t make because of delays. I figured that is ok, because they were only 30 minute train rides anyway. So my first train was scheduled to arrive at 6:30 it doesn’t show up until 7. At 7:15 I arrive at Dusseldorf  HBF and I check the timetables to see if I can get onto another train because my previous timetable wouldn’t work anymore. So I see that there is a train leaving in 5 minutes so I run to the platform and the conductor person, or ticket man is standing outside the door facing the train talking to a man. So I stand behind him waiting for him to move so I can get onto the train. He finishes talking, walks up the steps onto the train, presses a button, turns around and looks down on me and I look up at him, like can I get on? Then all of a sudden the doors close and he is still looking down at me and I up at him as the door slams shut and off the train goes. I’m standing there like what the heck just happened and then become enraged because I wanted to get onto that train to get back to Apeldoorn. So as I’m mouthing obscenities I walk back downstairs to the kiosk to find yet another timetable. Find out there is another train leaving the same platform I was just on, so head back up the stairs with my luggage, tennis bag, backpack, and flowers I received from the tournament. So I’m waiting on the platform and the board changes and there is no train. I ask information what happened and he tells me the train was cancelled. Now I am fuming because all the trains are delayed and cancelled, and it’s wicked hot in the station. So I’m sweating lugging my things around. I end up squishing all my flowers so I throw them into the trash. I go back and check the timetable for a third time and find a train that is going to Munster which was delayed so I had time to get it. It arrives about an hour later at Dusseldorf. So at 8 I’m on it, but there is no AC on the train and the car I get into is closed. (It was the one with the small rooms and a long hallway down the side.) So I sit on the floor next to the bathroom sweating like a pig. About 30 minutes later the ticket lady comes and tells me there is AC in the next car. So she helps me with my bags and finds me a room with a husband and wife and their small boy who must be about 3 or 4 years old. The kid starts climbing all over me, trying to take my water, and wants my Kindle. His father slaps the kid on the head, yanks him off the chair by his ankle so he falls to the floor, he starts crying until his mom picks him up. Like I didn’t realize how harsh you can treat you kid in Germany, either that or Americans are just soft. Who knows, but it made me feel very awkward. So finally we get to Munster at 9:30 and the place is just overrun with people. There were people hanging out the windows and doors of a train across the track, on the other side there were about 300 people lined up waiting for a train to arrive, and a huge line at the information booth looking for answers about which train to get on. There was also construction going on, so there are barriers and yellow tape everywhere, the pavement was unfinished, and the escalators didn’t work. So I walked down the steps to read the big board of arrivals and departures and it says where I need to go. So head back up to the platform and there is a different train there. Not the one I need. The information says this train was leaving two minutes after the one I was supposed to be on. So just to double check I take me stuff, walk down to the big board again and it still says the same platform. So I head back up and wait. Apparently we need to wait until the first train left. So finally get onto the train, the ticket man comes around and says I need to get off the train at a certain stop and get to the front because half of the train is continuing on and the other is heading the opposite way. So at the stop I get my things and walk to the front of the train so I don’t get left behind. I finally reach Eschnede at about 11:30 and my next train doesn’t arrive until 5am. So I’m thinking whether or not to find a hotel room, staying at the train station, or take a taxi home. So I’m just sitting on a bench thinking about what to do when three security guards come walking over with some man in a red shirt, who looks like he is on drugs or drunk and sit him down next to me. Of all the benches! So they’re talking to him then two police officers come and ask him questions. Then one of the security officers asks me if someone is picking me up. I tell him the situation and he says I can’t stay here because the station is closing. So I take my things and walk outside and sit on the bench contemplating and about 5 minutes later the same guard comes out and tells me a taxi would be expensive to get back, try for a hotel because the area isn’t very nice to just be sitting around. So I look up hotels then just decide I want to head back, so I ended up taking about a 45 minute taxi ride back to Apeldoorn. The first 20 minutes the driver was texting probably his girlfriend because it was nonstop. I thought we were going to end up off the side of the road, or in the back of another car. Scary. Then he pulls into a gas station and asks if I want something, I say no but he insisted so I say a Coke. He comes back with a Coke and a Red Bull and candy for him. Apparently so he wouldn’t get tired. But I finally get to the house at about 1am after spending about half of my prize money. And in bed by 2am. Crazy day. Life is an adventure that’s for sure!

Ratingen, Germany

Last week I was in Ratingen, Germany for a 10k and did pretty well. I ended up making it to the finals of singles and the semifinals of doubles. So after my qualifying loss in Hechingen this makes up for it.

First round I was up against the 3^rd seed Kvatsabaia from Georgia. After seeing this I wasn’t too thrilled. Playing a top seed in the first round is always tough, but it is the best round to beat them. We were scheduled to play the evening match on Tuesday, so I had all day to wait. I went for a run in the morning then had a long warm-up around three and then continued to wait. I played so many games of solitaire on my phone that I won the achievement of 1,000 games played. Not kidding. I don’t know whether to be embarrassed by that or not. But of course I didn’t play 1,000 games that day, just ever since getting the phone in January. But still that’s a lot of waiting around for the eight months I’ve been over here. Anyway, the match scheduled before us finally ended and just as we walked out to the court the dark ominous clouds were rolling in and there was thunder off in the distance. It wasn’t looking good at all and both of us knew we weren’t going to finish the match that night. So we had our five minute warm-up and we started the match. She served first and I managed to break her serve and then I won the first point of my service game and the rain came pouring down. Play was cancelled for the rest of the evening so we had to start again the following day. From the first game I kind of got a sense of who she was going to play. More of a baseline game, run shots down, and every so often hit a big ball but not go for a winner on it. I figured if I play the way I’ve been practicing the last week days, with intensity and being unafraid to make a mistake I should do ok. But the next day when I woke up I felt like crap. Runny nose, headache, and nauseous. Not a good start for the day. In Hechingen the housing family had a son who was sick, so might have caught something there. But anyway I just tried to focus on the match and not how I was feeling. And it was working. I got up 5-2 in the first, but couldn’t serve out the set, then she got it back to 5-4 and she had a game point but I erased that with an ace down the tee, then won the next two point to take the first set 6-4. In the second set I went up 3-0 then she brought it back to 3-2, then I went up 5-2 and again I was serving for the match but couldn’t hold serve. So back to 5-4 and finally held for the win. Both sets when I was up 5-2 it wasn’t like I stopped doing what was working, I think it was more like this should be closer, I shouldn’t be winning this easily. Then you realize you’re ahead and you don’t want to lose now, so you get a bit nervous, you play the same but not as freely. So I think that was my mistake. But I played the match well. I served very well, and hit a lot of big forehands and played very aggressive.

In the second round I played a Polish player Baranska and won 6-4, 6-1. That match I still wasn’t feeling well. I was way more fatigued then the previous day, but no headache or nauseous feeling. During the match I got up 5-0 in the first set and it was like I hit a brick wall. To get to 5-0 I was trying to play it one point at a time. So like work really hard for one point, rest for the 20 seconds or so and do it again. Then my movement started to slow down, I wasn’t getting behind the ball enough to put any real power on my shots. So she was getting more back in the court and as the points were getting longer my legs started to feel like Jell-O. So she got it back to 5-4 and I was down a break point (so her game point Keri J) and I hit a forehand down the line that looked like it hit the line to me, but the umpire called it out, so I asked her to check the mark and it did in fact hit the line, so it was my point. Then I manage to win the next two points and the set. I got frustrated that set just for the reason of not feeling well and I didn’t want to play too many unnecessary games which I was doing. But the second set I again was winning 5-0 then I thought I don’t want a repeat of the previous set, but only lost one game then I won the set 6-1. I was lucky she started to miss more in that set. Had she kept the ball in play longer I’m not sure I would have been standing.

Third round I played against another Polish player, Zagorska and won 6-4, 6-2. I certainly wasn’t as tired as the previous day but it still was more my head that didn’t feel well. I would rather that then below the neck. But at the start of the match I broke her serve and held. But then I got broken my next service game but thankfully broke her straight back and we each held for the rest of the set until I won it 6-4. On set point I ended up serving and volleying and hit a low forehand pickup that I managed to drop just over the net for a winner. It was a lucky shot, but oh well, it won me the set. In the second set I went up 5-2 and 40-0 serving. I ended up hitting three double faults in a row to bring it back to deuce (a little nervous) but on my match point I hit a drop shot and came into the net and the whole time I thought please don’t get to it, please don’t get to it. But she just barely did and I hit the shakiest forehand volley of my life about 2 feet from her that she didn’t even try for so I won the match. Crazy way to end the match. But I have to say at the start of the match I kept thinking of Joan Rivers Fashion Police the ‘Bitch Stole My Look’ segment because we were wearing practically the same outfit. And obviously I wore it better! Hahaha It made me laugh throughout the match, so maybe that was why I played so well.

In the semifinals I was up against the number one seed of the tournament Lim of France. I saw her previous match and new it was going to be tough. She had a big forehand and a good serve, kind of like me, so it was going to be who could use their strengths better that day. Well we both held serve until 2-3 when I got broken. On her game point I hit a serve down the tee but she returns it to my backhand side where it hit a bump in the clay and bounced way up over my head and I barely get my racquet on it but it lands short and she hits a winner. Unlucky. But at 3-5 I have break points to get back on serve but she hit an ace and a forehand winner for the first set. 3-6. In the second set I just wanted to focus on serving well, which I didn’t in the first, and try to play a bit more aggressive and look for  more forehands. She was hitting mostly to my backhand side but I wasn’t running around them much, so wanted to change that. So we each held until 3-2 when on her serve at 15-15 she fell down and I hit a shot for a winner, so now 30-15 for me. She takes her time to get cleaned up. The umpire even takes one of my waters to give to her to wash away the clay from her leg. The physio comes and puts a Band-Aid on to stop the bleeding on her knee. But after that she comes out and double faults and then loses the next point and the game so I go up 4-2. I held and broke her again for the set 6-2. After her fall she kept complaining about the courts and how dry they were (which they were) and so in the back of her mind I don’t think she moved the same, worrying about falling again. But her fall helped me so I wasn’t going to complain. I did almost fall numerous times but I guess my balance is better. Hahah. Anyway so we go to a third set. We had the option of taking a 10 minute break between the sets because of the heat rule but neither of us took it, so they just watered and swept the court and we started up again. Like all the previous sets we each held until 3-2 where I broke her after a long deuce game. But during one point that was my game point a ball bounces into our court so we have to stop and replay the point, but a man watching tells me ‘shit happens’ in his German accent as I go and retrieve the ball. I thought it was funny and start laughing and then manage to win the game. So I end up holding the next game to go up 5-2 then its 5-3 and now I’m serving for the match. I win three straight points, up 40-0. Next point I slice a backhand deep and out down the line. So 40-15. Then I miss an inside out forehand well wide. Now 40-30. Then I hit my serve she sort of lobs the return deep up the middle I hit a high forehand back, but it lands mid court, short and she misses her forehand inside out into the alley and I win the match 6-3 in the third set.

In the final I was up against the second seed a German Siegemund who was a former top 200 player. She played German club league for the club the tournament was held at. I played doubles with her at the tournament in Wiesbaden earlier in the year. So we knew each other. But our match was scheduled for not before 3 and it was supposed to get to 100 degrees in the afternoon, so I made sure to drink plenty of water throughout the morning. The first set started off by each of us holding serve but then I got broken first at 2-3 and then again at 2-5 to give her the first set 6-2. I started off a bit slower than the other matches, but I also felt like I never really got into a rhythm. I always felt pressured by her, whether it be when I was serving, or just hitting ground strokes. She stayed close to the baseline and took the balls earlier and took a lot of time away from me. I was hitting good serving but she was hitting better returns. And during the points I would hit a good shot but she hit an even better one, and lots of drop shots especially on her forehand side and they were at times that you wouldn’t expect. Then in the second set she held and I when I was serving up 40-15 the kid on the court next to us (who I hit with before the match) fainted and started hyperventilating. People were running around yelling across the courts for help. I was just standing there I didn’t know what to do, whether to continue playing or to stop. But I certainly wasn’t concentrating on my match anymore. I was just worried about him. So I ended up losing the game and asked our umpire if they called an ambulance for him, which they did. Then she says to us that we don’t have to play anymore if it was too distracting, so we leave the court until the ambulance takes him away with an IV in his arm about 15 minutes later. But it was scary. He kept yelling something over and over, but I don’t speak German so I have no idea what it was, but his face was purple and someone was holding his legs up in the air and people were circled all around him. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Once the ambulance took him away we went back onto the court to finish, but it was still hard to concentrate. I tried thinking about my game plan while waiting inside but I still was worried about the kid. But I figured she kept killing me with her forehand drop shots so I tried to stay away from that side, so I would hit more to her backhand but that left me in more of a backhand cross court rally which I don’t really want. So it was more of a pick your poison kind of decision. So I kept with the backhand strategy thinking I could run around some and hit forehands, but not much chance of that. I ended up losing the second set 6-1. Didn’t play like in the earlier rounds, but I made it to the finals, so I can’t complain much about it. She saved her best for last and me my mediocre for last. Oh well. I got my points, my ranking should move up some more. So it was a great tournament. Hopefully this play from me continues in the weeks to come.

Hechingen, Germany

This week I was playing in Hechingen, Germany which is about an hour long train ride south of Stuttgart. It’s a small town located where mountains in the south transform into a sprawling countryside to the north. From the train the town looked to have a medieval feel to it but on the outskirts of town are today’s modern houses and buildings followed by fields as far as the eye can see. And atop the highest mountain lies Hohenzollern Castle looking down on Hechingen.

On my journey there I managed to make the sign in deadline by about 25 minutes. I planned out my trip and I would have gotten there at about 4pm but one of my trains was delayed and so I missed the next one and was forced to wait in line for 30 minutes at the ticket office to get on another train. During the wait I was trying to figure out the timing and panicking that I won’t get to the tournament in time and getting angry at the people behind the desk because they were just sitting there not helping anyone. (Like the USPS - Oh the line is out the door, I think I’ll take my break now.) Finally my number gets called and the man at the desk puts me on a train that was leaving in five minutes, so I run out of the office with my backpack, tennis bag, and big suitcase (thank goodness for wheels) and weave in and out of people and board my train just as the doors shut behind me. Usually I would rather miss my transportation than look like an idiot running through the station but I needed to get to the tournament before six to sign in.  So on this next train we arrived about five minutes late and I’m praying the next train didn’t leave. So I get to the platform and there isn’t a train so I thought great I missed it but on the board it said it was five minutes late. Thank goodness. But I managed to get onto that one, and made all the other trains and got to the tournament with time to spare.

First round of qualifying I played an Italian, Stefanelli and won 6-3,6-1. It was a good first round. I served well, I felt like I was hitting well and moving well. But the only bad thing was the court. There were many bad bounces and something like a trench right behind the baseline. So when you go to serve it’s like your back foot is two inches lower than your front foot. But other than that everything was fine.

After the match another player from Australia, Leah (who I met at a previous tournament) went to the castle to have a look around. Now for those of you who don’t care for a history lesson I suggest skipping down to the next paragraph. So the tournament driver, Günter (strong German name) tells us he’ll drop us off and then it is a ten minute walk up to the castle. Well the ten minute walk was straight uphill. I felt like I was walking on 10.0 incline on the treadmill. A few minutes in my calfs were burning, then I was starting to sweat, and then I was huffing and puffing my way up the hill. Once the hill was over with there were stairs probably 200 steps. I have to say the stairs were easier than the hill. And after the stairs were over there was one final hill but not as steep as the previous. Once at the top I felt like holding my arms above my head and jump around like Rocky. But anyway the castle was part of the Hohenzollern dynasty, which a book in 1267 described it as the “crown of all castles in Swabia” (Swabia is the countryside region of this area.) The Hohenzollern lineage was divided into the Swabian and Franconian after Count Frederick III. von Zollern’s (around 1200)  wife died and he inherited all possessions and titles. The Swabian lineage remained in the region while the Franconian lineage expanded. The Franconian lineage went on to bigger and better things. In 1701 Frederick III (1657-1713) crowned himself King of Prussia and King William I. (1797-1888) won the Franco-Prussian War and he was known as German Emperor in 1871. (I remember the Franco-Prussia War topic coming up in history class, but remember nothing about it.) The Swabian lineage on the other hand had an inheritance dispute between two brothers Frederick XII (1443) and Eitel Frederick I (1439) and after ten months of fighting they destroyed the castle in 1423. Then in 1454 Count Jost Nicholas von Zollern began reconstructing the castle. Now skipping a few hundred years the castle was taken over by the Austrians then the castle lost its military importance and soon was reduced to ruins. Then in 1819 Crown Prince Frederick William IV of Prussia visited and ordered his men to reconstruct it. Then because of financial difficulties a contract was written between the family branches for the upkeep. The crown prince carried two-thirds of the building costs, and the Swabian lines one third. As of today, still two-thirds is owned by the Prussian line and one-third the Swabian line. The castle was finally completed October 3, 1867 but was never a residence for the Hohenzollern family, up until 1945 family members only visited. It was just a symbol of the rise of the Hohenzollern… That was a lot of information taken out of the booklet I got. I feel like I’m back at school now writing a paper. Glad that part is over and done with. Now when this German history comes up on Jeopardy you’ll be ready! But the castle was amazing. As you entered the castle you worked your way up to the courtyard by a ramp shaped like a corkscrew which covered about 75 feet in altitude. In the three overlapping loops it had three different drawbridges each with deep ditch below. Once out of the ramp the tunnel opened into a large courtyard where you would find entrances to a chapel, the garden, the armory, and the residence rooms. Inside the rooms I was amazed by the detailing of just about every aspect of the room. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures of inside but there were marble columns, marble floors, painted gold and blue ribbed ceilings, three 50 candle bronze chandeliers, a library filled with oak book cases, murals painted in the 1800s, colored glass windows, a treasury room that held the red velvet, diamond laced Royal Prussian crown, three snuff boxes covered in precious gems, and another that saved the King's life as it stopped a bullet fired at him during one of his battles, medals of honor such as the Order of the Black Eagle, and gold drinking glasses and tableware. Needless to say, there were a lot of valuable items. I did manage to take some pictures when the guides weren’t looking, but they were roaming around like hawks in a field full of mice. It was a great experience that’s for sure. Going back in time to see how royalty lived is something I won’t forget. Well I hope I didn’t bore you to death with my history lesson, or completely confuse you. But now back to tennis.

My second round of qualifying I played against a Ukrainian and won 6-2, 7-6(0). The day started off a bit rainy so the clay was very slow and still had water underneath. But the first set went well. I hit a bunch of forehands and went after my shots. The second set she started to play better, making more shots in the court and I on the other hand started missing a lot. I was serving for the match at 5-4 but got broken then managed to get it to a tiebreaker where I won easily to win the match.

In my third and final round of qualifying I was up against a tough French player Ramialison who took out the 10^th seed in the previous round. The match started out ok, but I never got comfortable out there. When serving she just ripped returns deep into the corners to put pressure on me right away. She also moved really well and took time away from me by standing close to the baseline and moved diagonally into the court to cut the ball off. But I just didn’t play well, my shots just weren’t there and shots were landing short in the court for her to attack. So I was pretty bummed. But I keep trying to tell myself there is always another tournament next week which there is, in Ratingen. Hopefully I can put some wins together there.

Center Court

Courtyard

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