International Travelling Coach Previous Blogs

Barbados U18 ITF Grade 4, Day 4

Monday 30th March 2015

Unfortunately today ended up being the last day of our trip as Toby didn’t manage to get into the doubles but it wasn’t without its highs, lows and in-betweens!

We knew that it was going to be a tough ask for Toby to get into the doubles as he lost in qualifying but there’s always a chance if you manage to find the right partner. With that in mind we were up early, had breakfast and got the 7.30am shuttle to the club. We then warmed up and got on court to train before the Main Draw singles matches started. Despite the gusting winds we still managed to have a good hit and then at 9am when the matches started it was time to find Toby a doubles partner.

After two and a half hours of asking around and checking who had already signed in, Toby found an American who didn’t have a partner, the only problem was that he lost in qualifying too! Under normal circumstances there would have been no way that the boys would have got in as their ‘doubles priority’ would have been too low but as Toby’s partner had spent the last month training in Barbados there was the possibility of a wildcard.

We waited until just after 1pm for the doubles list to be complied by the referee but we were then told that due to the number of players from Barbados that had signed in we were not awarded a wildcard. It was disappointing not to get in but I think we both knew there was only a very slim chance of getting the wildcard.

As soon as we found out that Toby wasn’t in the draw we said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel to pack up and make our way to the airport.  Our flights were originally booked for later in the week but to try and save a bit of money we thought we’d try our hand at getting on today’s flight – the only problem was that because Easter is this weekend all the British Airways flights are full for the next 4 days!

After a few hours of negotiating, smiling nicely and a little bit of begging (!!) we managed to get a flight home for tomorrow … from Trinidad! It wasn’t a problem though as we got a late flight from Barbados to Trinidad and then we’re on the British Airways flight from Trinidad to London tomorrow afternoon – all that and we didn’t have to pay a penny in change fees – thank you British Airways!

So that brings our trip to an end, in terms of results for Toby it was disappointing but the guy that beat him was very good and there’s no harm in losing to a better player on the day.

Now we’ll go back home and get prepared for the next trip which is in 3 weeks to Botswana and Namibia. Toby did well out in Namibia last year and was close to picking up ITF points in both weeks so let’s hope that this week he can go one step further.

Barbados U18 ITF Grade 4, Day 3

Sunday 29th March 2015

After Toby lost in the 2nd round of Qualifying yesterday our attention turned to preparing for the doubles but the weather wasn’t agreeing with our training plan for today!

We were up for breakfast at 8am but even by then there had been two heavy downpours in the morning and the messages coming from the tournament site informed us that the courts were soaked. We decided to go to the supermarket at 10am to get some water and lunch but just before we were about to leave there was another storm and this time it lasted for almost half an hour.

Eventually we got out of the hotel and made our way into Oistins to the supermarket but as it was a Sunday they had closed the sandwich bar and the other options for lunch didn’t seem very appetising. So after picking up a few supplies we took a bus into Hastings and got some lunch before heading back to the hotel. On our way back we managed to book the tennis court at the Bougainvillea Beach Resort which is just down the road from our hotel – officially only residents can book but we smiled nicely and they let us book it from 3-4pm.

At 2pm the sun was finally shining so we walked down to a local court that we used last year and had a good physical warm up. We then hit for around 30 minutes before moving to the other court for a good doubles specific training session for an hour. The emphasis for the session was on first volleys and closing the net down in order to get Toby as sharp as possible in case he gets into the doubles tomorrow. The court was great to train on; there were houses either side so there was less wind and there was also a little bit of shade which always helps!

After the session we headed back to the hotel to shower, change and relax before heading out to dinner just before 6pm. We decided to go back to Mama Mia’s tonight and it didn’t disappoint; we both had a bit of a change from pasta and rice and went for a pizza instead and that definitely hit the spot!

On the way back to our hotel we visited Mia Smith and her mum who were staying just down the road. It was great to catch up with them both and I look forward to watching Mia play in the main Draw tomorrow.

Fingers crossed for Toby getting into the doubles or we might be heading home early!

Barbados U18 ITF Grade 4, Day 2

Saturday 28th March 2015

It was long day today with numerous rain delays but unfortunately, after winning his first round match, Toby came up against a very good player in the second round.

We were up and at breakfast this morning at 7.15am before getting the 8am shuttle bus to the National Tennis Centre. Practice this morning was only on the match courts until 9am when the matches started but there are two courts across the road that are available for practice all day … the only problem is they are rather shiny and quick!

Despite the speed of the courts and the hurricane winds that were blowing diagonally across the courts, we had a good 30 minutes practice and Toby felt ready for his first round match.

There was a short rain delay during the match before Toby’s but at 10am he went on to face Romani Mayers from Barbados. The wind was very strong throughout the match which probably favoured Romani being a local player but Toby started well and raced to a 4-0 lead. Toby was broken in the next game but got back on track straight away and went on to take the set 6-1.

Toby and Romani warming up for their 1st round match

The second set was a little tighter as Romani found a good consistency in the opening few games but Toby stepped up his level at 1-1* to break, hold and break again to take a *4-1 lead. By this stage of the match the temperature had started to rise and even though it was still very windy it was also quite humid – not the ideal conditions for the Europeans that have been playing indoors all winter! Toby was broken again towards the end of the set but broke back immediately to take the match 6-1, 6-2.

After the match we debriefed and then got some lunch while we watched Luke Purser come through his opening match. Luke was also playing a local player and had to not only deal with the heat, humidity, gusting winds, rain breaks but also his opponents supporters who started to find their voice as the second set got closer. Luke kept his focus though and managed to come through in straight sets.

Toby’s second round match was scheduled for ‘not before 2pm’ but because of the amount of heavy downpours he didn’t end up going on until 5.30pm which was just as it was starting to get dark!

One of the many rain delays today!

Toby was up against 5th seed Zummy Bauer from America and having watched some of Zummy’s 1st round match we knew that he was solid from the back of the court and took any chance possible to slice both forehands and backhands before coming into the net. Toby dealt with his opponents net rushing well for the first 4 games but at *2-2 Zummy raised his level and hit 3 winners in the next game to break Toby’s serve and take a 2-3* lead. After Zummy held serve there was a brief rain break at *2-4 which gave me a chance to discuss the match with Toby but despite holding serve when they restarted, Toby eventually lost the first set 6-3.

During the second set Toby tried to come forwards more and take the net away from Zummy but the America played a very good set and ended up hitting 16 winners and only 8 unforced errors on his way to taking it 6-1. Toby had actually played a pretty good match but unfortunately he came up against a very good player who, if he carries on playing the way he did today, is going to be very tough to beat.

The match finished at just after 7pm and after Toby had cooled down and changed we got the 7.30pm shuttle bus back to the hotel. We then met up with Luke, Alastair Grey and his coach Paul Fischer for dinner at Luigi’s. We had some good banter over dinner and Luke entertained all of us with his premature celebrations when he thought he’d worked out the answer to the riddles!!

Back to training tomorrow before doubles sign-in on Monday.

 

Barbados U18 ITF Grade 4, Day 1

Friday 27th March 2015

Sometimes fortune favours the brave and it turned out to be a very brave call to come all the way out to the Caribbean with a player who was originally 175th alternate on the first acceptance list!

On Tuesday Toby Huffer and I flew out to Barbados to start our preparation for the U18 ITF Grade 4 that starts tomorrow. As I said earlier Toby was 175th alternate when the first acceptance list came out 3 and a half weeks ago and since then we’ve kept a very close eye on it each day. When we left London Toby was 65th alternate and this morning he was 54th alternate but it just goes to show how many players enter these types of events and don’t bother turning up. Personally I think the ITF should find a way of punishing the players that do not withdraw from tournaments but if that was the case then maybe Toby wouldn’t have got in today!

For the last 3 days we’ve been working hard to get used to the heat & humidity and also getting used to playing outdoors as we haven’t been able to do that in a while in England! We’ve also had to overcome a little sunburn (I wish players would listen when I tell them to put cream on!), some crazy mini-bus drivers and being attacked by some waves!!

On Wednesday Toby and I trained together in both the morning and afternoon, then yesterday Luke Purser joined us for another 2 good training sessions and today we just decided to have one session on court so that Toby was fresh for his matches tomorrow.

Most of this morning was spent going through the entry list for this week and next week in Trinidad to try and predict who would turn up and what chance we’d have of getting in. We both knew that it was going to be very tight and I think I said to Toby earlier that I thought he’d either just scrape into the draw or he’d be a couple of places out – as it turned out he was number 29 of 30 players that were in the 32 draw.

So … it’s great to be back in Barbados after coming out here in 2013 with Mia Smith, Georgie Axon and Alex Hagon and I’m looking forward to Toby getting stuck into the qualifying tomorrow morning.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Romani Mayers (BAR) (UNR) vs Toby Huffer (GBR) (UNR) – 2nd match after 9am (not before 10am)

The winner to play Robert Hayden (BAR) (UNR) OR (5) Zummy Bauer (USA) (1729) – 6th match after 9am (not before 2pm)

 

ABOUT I.t.c.

Since 2010 my aim has been to make it more affordable to travel to international tournaments with a coach. Over the past 20 years I have coached players at over 250 international tournaments ranging from U12 Tennis Europe events to a semi-finalist at a Grand Slam.

 

For more information please click here.

contact

Rob Smith

Tel: +44 (0) 7866 362251

Email: rob@itc-tennis.com

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