Saturday 1^st December 2012

After a long week in very hot and humid conditions it was Finals Day and a chance for Mia to win her first ITF title but the number 1 seeds in the doubles stood in her way.

Today marked the middle day between the two tournaments so last night I asked the players how much they would like to train today. Every player needs at least 1 rest day per week and all of them had played every day since we arrived last Friday. Mason wanted to do 1 session for an hour and then rest in the afternoon, Holly also wanted to just do 1 hour so that she was fresh for qualifying tomorrow and Mia had no choice as she had the doubles final to play!!

After breakfast at 8am we walked over to the club as normal at 8.50am and then Mia and I immediately warmed up and hit from 9.30 – 10.15am. The main focus of the session was just to go through a pre-match warm up but we did concentrate more on Mia’s volleys and we talked through yesterday’s semi-final again to keep at the front of her mind what she needed to do in the final. While we were training Mason and Jonas trained on the half court next to us for 30 minutes until they lost the court – it was some of the best ball striking I’d seen from Mason and we’ve both got high hopes for him next week.

Straight afterwards Holly had planned to work with me for an hour but she wasn’t feeling too well and made the decision to rest for the day to try and shake it off. We’ve all been feeling a little under the weather for the last couple of days; nothing major just some dodgy stomachs!!

Due to a very long straight sets singles final Mia and Nikita didn’t go on court until 12.45pm to face top seeds Valentina Kulikova (RUS) and Jessica Simpson (RSA). We know Jessica quite well from seeing her play in Nairobi in February; she’s a good singles and doubles player who won the singles and doubles last week and lost in the singles final this week. We’d only seen Valentina play this week but she’s a typical hard working and intense Russian so we knew it was going to be a tough final.

Mia held serve in the opening game and her and Nikita were looking good from the start but at *2-2 Mia was broken at Sudden Death Deuce and from then onwards the top seeds took control. Valentina and Jessica won the next 3 games in a row to take the set 6-2 and then in the 2^nd set they continued to dominate the play and looked very sharp as a pair to again take a 5-2 lead. At this point Mia and Nikita got a bit of a breakthrough as they broke Jessica’s serve for the first time and it seemed as though the top seeds were starting to get a little edgy. Mia the held serve to make it 4-5* and after a double fault from Valentina on the first point of the next game it really did look like there could be a bit of a “choke” on the cards. Mia and Nikita managed to get the game to deuce but Jess was very sharp at the net on the match point when she crossed and finished off a good volley to take the match 6-2, 6-4.

Mia was very disappointed after the match and she felt as though she didn’t play well throughout but, in a similar way to Mason and Sacha’s semi-final yesterday, I think the pair that played the best doubles in terms of movement at the net, sharper volleys and dominating that points came out on top today.

After the match there was the prize giving ceremony where Mia and Nikita collected their runners-up medals:

From the club it was straight back to the hotel to meet up with Dave and the team who had already decided to go to the beach this afternoon. We weren’t sure if we were going to make the 2.30pm meeting time after the singles final went on for so long but we made it with a time to spare for everyone to have a shower before we got on the minibus.

I missed out on going to the beach last year as we had to fly to Nairobi straight after the doubles semi-final but I’m glad I got a chance to go this year. The sea was like stepping into a bath and the sand was pure white. We had been recommended a restaurant called Yuls which was situated right on the beach front and it was perfect for all of the players to relax and unwind after a tough week. Obviously we had the locals trying to sell us everything from Camel rides to Jet ski / Banana Boat trips but I think the real winner amongst the players were the souvenirs to take back home – they all loved a bit of bartering and a few of them had it down to a fine art!

At 5.45pm we left the beach and went to The Tamarind Restaurant which Dave had been to last week with his team. The views over the sea were amazing and the food was first class with not a single plate left unfinished between all the guys.

We were back at the hotel by 8pm to find out that Holly had received a bye through qualifying so tomorrow will just be a training day for everyone with the main draw starting on Monday.

Friday 30^th November 2012

It’s always tough to lose a semi-final; if you make the final and lose you’ve still experienced the Final’s Day atmosphere and maybe picked up a trophy but losing one round before that is very tough to take. Today we had Mason in the boy’s doubles semi-final and Mia in the girl’s doubles semi and our aim was to make it two finals out of two!

The players were up early this morning and we met at breakfast at 7am with the plan being to train on site from 8.30 – 9.30am to prepare ourselves as best as possible for the two semi-finals. Unfortunately when we arrived on site every court was taken so instead of waiting to see if we could jump on a couple of half courts we decided to go to the other club where we knew we’d get the whole court to ourselves.

When we got there some of the Kenyan team were already on court and we later found out that there session was from 6 – 8am – great commitment from those guys. After going through their own individual warm ups I took the team through a speed session for 10 mins and then it was on court to prepare for the matches.

Most of the session was geared towards the doubles matches so we spent a lot of time with the players drilling 2 on 1 with the player on their own working specifically on their volleys to begin with and then we turned it around so the two players were at the net working on their movement patterns as they closed the net down. Everyone seemed to enjoy the session and they all worked very hard.

At 9.45am we headed back to the Mombasa Sports Club where we had some time to relax, cool down and get some lunch before Mason and Sacha went on at around 12.15pm.

Mason and Sacha were up against top seeds Courtney Lock (RSA) and Ismael Mzai (KEN) who won the event last week so we knew that they’d have to be on their games to get the job done today. Our boys started with a poor first service game where Mason was broken but then they responded immediately with a break back to love to level the score. From then on they won the next 5 games in a row to take the 1^st set 6-1 but I always had the feeling that the 2^nd set was not going to be as easy as the 1^st – Mason and Sacha were getting away with a lot in the 1^st set including a huge amount of lobs that all came off and Courtney and Ismael missed a lot of volleys when they had the chance to finish the point.

From the start of the 2^nd set Mason and Sacha were under a lot of pressure; the top seeds were now moving better and not missing anywhere near as much as they had done earlier which lead to them taking the first 3 games. Mason and Sacha eventually broke back at 2-4* and went on to level the set at 4-4*. At this point I thought they were going to go all the way and take the next two games but Ismael served well to hold and Sacha couldn’t find enough 1^st serves which resulted in him being broken to Deuce.

The Match Tie-break was always going to come down to the most consistent and dominant team and despite leading 4-3* Mason and Sacha eventually went down 10-4. It was a tough one to lose especially after winning the 1^st set so comfortably but if I’m being honest I think the better doubles team came through in the end.

Mia and Nikita were next on the same court and it was a big opportunity to get some revenge against Oleksandra Shkorupeyeva who had beaten both of them on the way to the singles final. Mia and Nikita did exactly what Mason and Sacha did in their 1^st set; they were broken in the 1^st game but then dominated the next 6 to take the first set 6-1.

The Russian and the Ukrainian didn’t seem quite themselves in the 1^st set but after a long toilet break they were back on court and throughout the 2^nd set it was Mia and Nikita who didn’t seem right. They had stopped talking and had stopped dominating the net like they did in the 1^st set which allowed their opponents to feel more comfortable on the court. Mashtakova and Shkorupeyeva did exactly what Mia and Nikita had done in the 1^st set – they went 1-0 down and then won the next 6 games in a row to take the set 6-1 and level the match.

I did not have a good feeling for the Match Tie-break but Mia and Nikita started talking and encouraging each other more which raised their spirits and their level. They led the tie-break from the start and at 4-3* up they won 5 points in a row before eventually taking the set and the match 6-1, 1-6, 10-4. I was really pleased for Mia as she’s played great doubles all week and after the disappointment of a 1^st round singles loss she’s now in the final of the doubles and has a chance to win the title.

While Mia was on for her doubles Holly was playing her consolation quarter-final against Sarah Sarjoo (RSA) (861) but due to watching the semi-final I didn’t get a chance to see any of it. Holly said she played well during her 4-2, 4-1 win and she was especially pleased as it was the first ITF ranked player she’s beaten.

After both matches Mia and Holly were due to play each other in the consolation semi-final but they decided that it would be better for Holly to do a lighter session tomorrow to prepare for her qualifying of the 2^nd tournament on Sunday and better for Mia to rest up and put all of her focus and energy into the doubles final tomorrow. I was happy with their decision so we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel before going back over to the Royal Court Hotel for dinner.

On Friday evenings they have a BBQ buffet on the roof terrace of the hotel so along with the Euroelite team and the Berkhamstead boys we ate outside under the stars (and the bats!).

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Valentina Kulikova (RUS) & Jessica Simpson (RSA) vs (2) Nikita Dawda (KEN) & Mia Smith (GBR) – 2^nd match on after 9am

Thursday 29^th November 2012

It was another good day at the Mombasa Sports Club today; we ended up with 5 wins out of 5 matches but as Mia and Holly had to play against each other in the doubles one of them unfortunately had to lose.

The tournament organisation out here is generally pretty good and we’re very grateful that the players can have more singles matches in the consolation but yesterday we were told that those matches would be after the doubles. However, when we arrived on site at 9am we were told that the consolation matches could go on anytime and we’d need to be ready. With that we headed straight over to the Mvita Club to warm up and hit for 45 minutes before returning just after 10am.

The players were then expecting to go straight on but in actual fact Holly was the first one to go on at 12.45pm which gave them a chance to get some lunch and relax before they had to play.

Holly’s 1^st round match was against Stephanie Mbaya from Kenya who Mia played last year in Burundi. Holly had some specific goals for the match based around her return of serve and her movement forwards on short balls – it is very important to have specific goals especially against weaker opponents as it’s very easy to just go out and win comfortably without actually improving your game. Holly started well and won the 1^st set 4-1 but during the second set she lost her way a little and had to fight back from 1-2* down to take the match 4-1, 4-2.

Mason’s match immediately followed Holly’s and he was up against a potentially tricky opponent who is from Botswana and works incredibly hard for every point. Mason had 2 reasons why he was particularly up for this match;

Because he wanted to work on dictating the play more in the rallies and trying to hit through his opponent with more winners / forcing shots etc.

And 2 because this was the player who was in the umpires chair for Mason’s singles match and he gave Mason a few horrible calls!!

Mason started the match very well and flew through the first set 4-0 racking up 9 winners and only 3 unforced errors. It would have been very tough for Mason to keep up that level but he continued to work hard and apply himself really well physically and mentally. Mason won the 2^nd set 4-1 with a winner count of 7 and an unforced error count of 9 – if it hadn’t been for a poor returning game at 1-1 where he hit 4 unforced errors it would have almost been a perfect performance!

After a break (and a quick dash back to the hotel as Holly had forgotten her match top!) Holly and Hannah went on to play their doubles ¼ Final against Mia and Nikita. It’s always a difficult one for the coach when two of their players have to play each other but I told both players that they were to go out, play hard and focus on what they needed to do to win – the £1 a pin (or 100 Shillings) rule still applied so they could make a bit of money too!

Holly and Hannah started the better of the two pairs and took a 3-1* lead before Mia and Nikita started to find their games and dictate the play more. Holly was again moving well at the net up but at 3-1* she backed off a little and stopped doing it so much while Mia and Nikita began to move more. Mia and Nikita levelled the set at 3-3 after breaking Holly’s serve and then they won the next 3 games in a row to take the first set 6-3.

The momentum they had gained in winning those 5 games in a row flowed into the 2^nd set; they broke Hannah at *1-1 and then again at *2-4 before going on to win the match 6-3, 6-2. It was still a positive match for Holly despite the loss as she finished the match with better stats than any of the others with 14 crosses at the net and 9 1^st volley winners.

Mason and Sacha were on straight away after Holly and Mia’s match so I went over to court 8 to watch what turned out to be more of an exhibition rather than a ¼ Final! Mason and Sacha were never in any danger of losing as they raced through the match 6-1, 6-1. Like with all easy wins is very important that they both improved as they played so that they’re ready for a tougher next round match but Mason only managed 3 crosses in the match and 5 1^st volley winners while Sacha totalled 3 crosses and 6 1^st volley winners – surely Holly didn’t beat the boys?!!

I thought the day was done there but Mia decided she wanted a little more tennis and went on for her consolation ¼ Final against Gizelle Umumararungu from Rwanda. Mia and Gizelle have a bit of history as they played last year in the consolation in Burundi where Mia ended up losing after a bit of a lethargic match!! Today was a different story and Mia was out to gain some revenge – when I turned up after Mason’s doubles match Mia had already won the 1^st set 4-0 and continued to stay on top in the 2^nd set taking the match 4-0, 4-1.

The girl’s wanted to go straight back to the hotel when Mia was finished but after a long day we needed to cool down and stretch out properly to prevent any injuries occurring so, despite resistance from the girls we headed over to the cricket pitch and went through their cool down and stretching sessions.

We joined the Euroelite team and Nick and Ed from the Berkhamstead Academy in England for dinner tonight at the Royal Court hotel. The meal was great but the best part of the night had to be Dave’s dance on winning 5,000 shillings on one spin of the Roulette wheel in the Casino – he walked in, put the 5,000 shillings down on red, danced when it came in and then walked straight out the door – priceless!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Courtney Lock (ZIM) & Ismael Mzai (KEN) vs (5) Sacha Modica (GBR) & Mason Recci (GBR) – 2^nd match after 9am

Alena Mashtakova (RUS) & Oleksandra Shkorupeyeva (UKR) vs (2) Nikita Dawda (KEN) & Mia Smith (GBR) – 3^rd match after 9m

Consolation matches to be confirmed in the morning

Wednesday 28^th November 2012

Today was a very positive day for the team as they took 3 wins out of 3 which included a win for Holly’s first ITF points and a win for Mason which adds some points to his ranking.

The team were all up for breakfast this morning at 8am and leaving the hotel by 8.50am to go to the club. We originally only had Mason’s doubles scheduled but we were told that the consolation could start today so we’d have to wait and keeping checking with the referee to see if they could fit the matches in.

With that in mind we decided to head over to the Mvita Club straight away so that we could get a good session in there before the other players arrived. After another disrupted journey with a Tuk Tuk driver that had no idea where he was going I ended up having to direct the way and somehow we managed to get there in one piece!! We all went through our own physical warm up for 25 minutes and then went through some tough drills on court which really tested who out of the team would work the hardest in the intense heat. When asked at the end of the session who worked the hardest 2 of them put their hands up but then to my surprise one of them backed down and actually backed the other person!! Following the drills we had a brief break and then it was back on the court to sharpen up everyone’s net game to prepare themselves for their doubles matches. We went through some volley drills and then competed against each other – I just about managed to take Mason out while Mia beat Holly after a retirement! We finished the session with some 2 ball sprints for the losers but I stepped up to help Mason get his time under 30 seconds which almost finished me off for the day!!

Once we got back to the club Mia and I walked back to the hotel to shower, change and get some lunch while Mason and Holly opted for lunch onsite. We then spent the next couple of hours trying to work out when the doubles would be on and in that time Holly was told that she’d also have doubles today as the referee had forgotten to put it on the schedule – thanks!!

Holly and Hannah Brett from the WIN Tennis Academy went on for their doubles at 3.45pm to play Vicky Geurinckx (BEL) and Shanna Krimatschow (GER). Holly had played the German girl in qualifying so knew her game well and we knew the Belgium girl had qualified for the main draw so it was going to be a close game. Holly knew this was a chance for her to get her first ITF points on the board but the occasion didn’t faze her at all and her and Hannah raced to a 3-0 lead at the start of the 1^st set. Holly was dominating the net well and Hannah was playing very solid from the back of the court but a poor service game at *3-0 let their opponents back into the match. At *4-3 up Hannah played a good game to hold serve and then they broke Vicky’s serve to take the first set 6-3 – out of the 6 games they won 5 of them were to Sudden Death Deuce.

The second set started poorly from our girls and the good movement at the net which dominated the first set wasn’t happening as much. At *1-3 Holly held serve and it looked like they were going to level the set in the next game but this time the Sudden Death Deuce went against them and they found themselves *2-4 down. At this point Hannah served a good game and Holly started to take more control over the net which gave the girls the boost they needed to hold and then break to level the match at *4-4. Unfortunately Holly was broken in the next game and it looked like it could be heading to a Match Tie-Break but at 4-5* Holly and Hannah dug deep and managed to break straight back. In that game Holly hit a very late backhand straight into the side of Hannah face – you’d normally expect an apology for almost taking out your partner but instead Holly said “If you miss high volleys that’s what you get!!!”. It was all taken in the right spirits and from that moment onwards the girls never looked back as they won the next 2 games to take the match 6-3, 7-5. Holly was delighted with the win and the illusive first ranking points.

Mason and Sacha had been on the court behind Holly and Hannah’s playing their 1^st round doubles match but they were in complete control and when I turned up they were already 6-3 up. They dominated the 2^nd set and took a solid 6-3, 6-2 win to move into the Quarter-finals.

Immediately following that match Mia went on for her first round consolation match so it was back over to the court Holly had been on to see Mia wrap up a very easy 4-0, 4-0 win against Melissa Brown from Kenya.

It was great to have all three players get a win on the board today but it does now mean that Holly and Hannah will face Mia and Nikita in the Quarter-finals tomorrow – at least the team is guaranteed 1 semi-finalist this week and hopefully Mason and Sacha will make it 2.

For dinner tonight we decided to go to the other Official Hotel where the WIN Academy are staying. The restaurant at the Royal Court Hotel is on the 6^th floor and to our delight the food is even better than the views – I had an amazing spinach and ricotta ravioli which was a very welcomed change and we didn’t have to wait an hour for it either!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(4) Amadi Kagoma (BDI) & Joshua Luck (RSA) OR Carlos Fernandez (MEX) & Keshav Vellodi (USA) vs (5) Sacha Modica (GBR) & Mason Recci (GBR) – 4th match after 9am

Hannah Brett (GBR) & Holly Hutchinson (GBR) vs (2) Nikita Dawda (KEN) & Mia Smith (GBR) – 4th match after 9am

Consolation:

Mason Recci (GBR) (1019) vs Innocent Tidmane (BOT) (1735) – To be arranged

Stephanie Mbaya (KEN) (UNR) vs Holly Hutchinson (GBR) – To be arranged

Tuesday 27th November 2012

Today was one of those days that could have ended in huge elation but instead the result went against us and it ended in bitter disappointment.

Mason decided last night that he would like to warm up on the match courts at 8.30am this morning even though he wasn’t due on until much later in the day as he’d spent most of the time training at the Mvita Club for the last couple of days. We therefore had breakfast at 7am and were all set to leave the hotel at 7.50am when the Heavens opened and it poured down with rain!

The rain didn’t last too long but a huge amount came down both outside the hotel and inside my room – I’ve got an internal balcony attached to my room and the rain was pouring through the roof onto it!! By 9am the rain had stopped and it went back to 30+ degrees so we headed over to the club to see if the matches had started. When they got underway Mason’s opponents were playing so we both sat by the court and made notes about both players so he would be prepared for whoever won.

After they were done I took the girls over to the Mvita Club so they could train and play practice sets with Sunita and Arezo from the Euroelite Academy.

I left them there to play while I went back to the Mombasa Sports Club to warm up with Mason and then go through his pre-match on court session from 12.45 – 1.30pm. Mason was hitting well and very up for the challenge of playing a very fiery Portuguese player.

While I was on court with Mason, Dave had gone over to the other club to collect the girls and then we all sat down for some lunch. The girls said that they played well in the session and they both won their sets so were quite happy!

At 3pm Mason took to the court to play Felipe Cunha Silva and based on watching him play this morning we knew it was going to be a tough match against a player who’s not afraid to express himself!! Mason started very nervously and found it difficult to get into a rhythm as Felipe was taking big swings at everything and not missing too much. Mason was broken at *1-2 and it looked as though Felipe was really starting to impose himself on the match but Mason showed great fight and composure to break straight back in the next game. Unfortunately Felipe then went on a run of 6 winners and only 2 unforced errors in the next 3 games to take the set 6-2. There was not much Mason could have done about the end of the set as the Portuguese boy was just taking everything on and it all came off for him – if he kept that level up it was just be too good!!

At the start of the 2^nd set Mason really dug deep and after breaking serve in the 1^st game he found his voice which in turn increased his aggression and upped his level. He went on to hold and break again to lead *3-0 before Felipe found his range and won the next two games in a row. Mason continued to fight really hard for every point and even though he wasn’t dictating much of the play he was making sure his opponent had to earn every point. Mason got another break at 4-2* but was broken straight back and then at 5-3* he showed real determination to deal with some bad calls and break Felipe to take the set 6-3 (not 6-4 as the ITF result shows!).

There were a few very close calls at the end of the 2^nd set and start of the 3^rd so the referee brought on a main draw player to referee the rest of the match. This is quite common in countries where there aren’t many court officials but it would have been better if they had actually used one of the supervisors that spent the whole match watching from the back of the court anyway. Mason broke to lead *3-1 but was again broken straight back and then the set went with serve until *5-5. By this stage the players had been on court for around 3 hours and Mason had been battling mentally and physically very hard throughout the whole match. Unfortunately he then put in a poor service game as he really struggled to find enough 1^st serves at important times and Felipe was quite prepared to step up on the 2^nd serve return and really take it on. Mason again fought hard at 5-6* down but some calls went against him and in the end he didn’t quite have enough to take the match as he eventually went down 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in 3hrs 15mins.

It was a real heartbreaker of a match but Mason will learn a lot from it and it was tremendously positive to see him fighting so hard physically and mentally even when he knew he wasn’t playing that well.

While all of this had been going on for 3+hrs Mia had gone on for doubles with Nikita Dawda from Kenya and they comfortably beat Habiba Shaker (EGY) & Shannon Wong Hon Chan (MRI) 6-1, 6-3. I didn’t see any of it as I was over with Mason but Holly kept me updated and Mia told me afterwards that she was very pleased with the match.

After having a chat with Mason about the match we went back to the hotel to have a quick shower and change before we went back out to the Castle Royal Hotel for dinner. Mason was very hungry after his marathon of a match so we both decided to go for the buffet and it was well worth it!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Karl Hulten (SWE) & Jacob Svantesson (SWE) OR Chisomo Lumeta (MAW) & Ryan Wong Pin Young (MRI) vs (5) Sacha Modica (GBR) & Mason Recci (GBR) – 5^th match after 9am

Vicky Geurinckx (BEL) & Shanna Krimatschow (GER) vs Hannah Brett (GBR) & Holly Hutchinson (GBR) – 5^th match after 9am

Consolation matches to be arranged as players become available

 

Monday 26^th November 2012

It was a tough day for the girls today as they both suffered 1^st round losses but with every loss comes some positives and some learning points which will definitely help to develop their tennis.

Our normal timetable of breakfast at 8am followed by warming up at the club at 9am remained unchanged this morning but due to the crazy way that the referee decided to arrange the practice courts it meant that we then had to go offsite to hit.

The Mvita Tennis Club is only about a 5 minute Tuk Tuk ride away and yesterday we didn’t have any problems getting there but today we had 2 drivers who did not have a clue where they were going! After 10 minutes of driving around we eventually went back to the tournament site to get a local to come with us and show the drivers where to go! We had plenty of time though as our court wasn’t booked until 10am and once we got there Holly and Mia had a good 30 minute warm up while Mason and I trained for almost an hour next to them. It was then back to the tournament site to change and get prepared for the matches.

Mia was first up against Oleksandra Shkorupeyeva from Ukraine. We didn’t know a lot about her except that her backhand was the stronger side and she had lost in the Quarter-finals of the singles and Final of the doubles last week. Mia played the first game of the match very well; her level of hitting was aggressive, patient and very consistent and she looked as though she would be in full control of the match. At *1-1 Mia played a poor service game and that really seemed to knock her concentration as the patience and control she showed in the first game was soon replaced by harder, flatter hitting which the Ukrainian seemed to enjoy. Mia held serve at *1-3 but that was the last game she won in the set as she went down 6-2.

The level in the second set was similar to the first with Mia hitting more than twice the amount of winners that her opponent managed but at the same time she hit almost 6 times the amount of unforced errors too. Mia was finding it difficult to find the balance between hitting too soft, which wasn’t hurting her opponent, to hitting too hard and making mistakes. In the end Mia went down 6-2, 6-0 but there are always positives to take from matches and the experience of playing your first ITF as a seeded player at 14 years old will put her in good stead for next week.

Holly was next up but the court she was scheduled was moving incredibly slowly – the first two matches had very long 3 setters and fellow Brit Hannah Brett, who was scheduled the match before Holly (3^rd match after 9am), still hadn’t gone on at 3pm! We thought that Holly would be moved as she was the last match scheduled on that court and after confirming with the referee she went off to go through her pre-match warm up.

Just after 4pm Holly went on against Alena Mashtakova from Russia who just happened to be part of the same group as Mia’s opponent! Holly looked really up for it from the start and the nerves that hindered her at the start of the match yesterday were replaced by confident, clever tennis against a good player. The first set went with serve until 2-2* when Holly raised her returning level and played a very solid game from the back of the court to break the Russian and take a *3-2 lead. Unfortunately Holly was broken straight back and then the set went with serve until *4-5. Up until this stage Holly had looked confident in her service games but her serve let her down while she was serving for the set which resulted in too many 2^nd serves and her opponent took advantage to take the set 6-4.

Holly had played a good 1^st set and most players might think that things needed to change after losing a set like that but they didn’t and Holly stuck to her plan in the second set too. Her level was good, she was working and fighting hard in each and every point but the only difference was the Russian was just a little more experienced on the bigger points. Holly was broken in the 2^nd at *1-2 and then again at *2-5 to eventually go down 6-4, 6-2.

It was a very positive performance from Holly and despite being disappointed by the loss she immediately knew that she had played well and had put up a very good fight against a tough opponent.

After the match Holly went off to cool down and stretch out while Mason and Mia checked out the doubles draw and organised practice for tomorrow.

It had been a long day at the club today and we finally left site at 6.45pm when we went straight back to the hotel to shower and change before heading off to the Royal Castle Hotel for dinner.

Mason is scheduled for singles tomorrow and Mia has doubles but due to bad light Holly’s doubles partner has to finish her singles match tomorrow so they will not play doubles until Wednesday.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(q) Rahul Somani (IND) (UNR) OR Felipe Cunha Silva (POR) (1497) vs (15) Mason Recci (GBR) (1019) – 4^th match after 9am, not before 1pm

Habiba Shaker (EGY) & Shannon Wong Hon Chan (MRI) vs (2) Nikita Dawda (KEN) & Mia Smith (GBR) – 6^th match after 9am

 

Sunday 25th November 2012

It was a great start to our trip today as Holly won her match in qualifying to secure her place in the main draw of an ITF for the first time.

We were all up on time for breakfast this morning at 8am and then made our way over to the club to warm up at 9am. As it was match day for Holly she determined who she hit with, how long she hit for and exactly what she did in the session. Even at 9.30am it was very hot on court and both Holly and Mia were feeling a little drained from the start. The most important thing for Holly was just to make sure she hit a few balls to loosen up but after a couple of breaks and once the electrolytes in her water had kicked in she managed to have a good 30 minutes on court and by 10am she was feeling much better.

Matches in qualifying events in ITFs in Africa can often be quite weak especially in the first round so it was important that Holly kept an eye on the boy’s match scheduled before hers so that she would know when to warm up for her own match. At 6-0, 3-0 we went off to warm up and go through our plan for the match and by just after 11am Holly went on court for her match.

Holly was up against 17 year old Shanna Krimatschow from Germany and after the warm up we knew it was going to be a close match. The first four games went with serve but then Holly settled down and found her rhythm more from the back of the court resulting in breaking Shanna’s serve to lead *3-2. By this stage the temperature had risen and the balls were flying a little more so it was really important for Holly to keep a good shape on the ball and look to hit big targets on the court. When she did that she was in full control of the points but unfortunately she was a little erratic at *3-2 which cost her the next game. She responded very professionally to losing her serve to break straight back to maintain the lead and then she went on to serve out the set at *5-4 with some great tennis especially from *30-40 down in that game.

After a quick toilet break Holly took to the court for the second set and from the start really upped her level – she was returning serve much better and finding a more patient and consistent level during the rally which the German struggled to deal with. As she did in the first set Holly broke at 2-2* but this time she never looked back; she broke again at 4-2* and played a great service game at *5-2 ending with an ace out wide to take the match 6-4, 6-2. It was a good performance from Holly but most importantly it was really good to come through a match against a good opponent as she’s now better prepared for the main draw tomorrow.

Once Holly was finished we had a quick debrief before she went off to cool down, stretch out and shower while I got a quick bite to eat and then I was off in a Tuk Tuk with Mason to go over to the other club for his practice set with Jonas from Denmark. The other club has 2 courts which are slightly quicker than at the Mombasa Club but it was just great to get a full court to play on and also get a full set in. Mason played well to take a 4-1 lead and then at that stage he started to work on different areas of his game which resulted in Jonas finding his way back into the set. In the end Jonas took the set 7-5 but the most important thing was that Mason produced some good tennis, developed different areas of his game and got over an hour of good quality point play in. Mason now has at least 1 day more of preparation as he’ll get a bye in the 48 boy’s main draw so another practice set tomorrow will ensure he’s well prepared for this first match.

Next up was Mia practice session with Shannon Wong Hon Chan from Mauritius and they too decided to play a set after they had a good warm up. Mia started well and took a 3-1 lead as Shannon just couldn’t deal with the pace and penetration of Mia’s strike. Mia then had a slight slip up and lost her serve in the next game but then went on to win the following 3 games in a row to take the set 6-2. It was a solid performance overall and again some very valuable point play before her tournament starts tomorrow.

We then moved over to the cricket pitch to cool down and stretch out before heading back to the hotel at 6pm to shower and get ready for dinner.

Once again we joined up with Dave and his team for dinner which was great fun – everyone had a great time but it was all too much for Sunita who actually fell asleep at the head of the table (must have been Holly’s conversation!!)

After dinner we went back to the hotel where I sat down with Holly for a full debrief of her match and then at around 9.30pm the guys headed off for a good night’s sleep..

Schedule for tomorrow:

Oleksandra Shkorupeyeva (UKR) (1347) vs (5) Mia Smith (GBR) (729) – 3rd match after 9am

Alena Mashtakova (RUS) (1267) vs (q) Holly Hutchinson (GBR) (UNR) – 4th match after 9am

Saturday 24th November 2012

It was another good day of training today as we put the final touches to Holly’s preparations while Mason and Mia continued to get themselves ready for main draw on Monday.

We should have all been up for breakfast at 8am but Holly and Mia ended up having a little more sleep than they expected as their alarm wasn’t set properly! After breakfast we headed over to the club at 9am and by that time it was already very hot and humid. We warmed up for around 25 minutes and then were on court from 9.30am until 11am where we again spent time getting used to the high bounce of the court but also spent time focusing on the specific areas of each of the player’s games to prepare themselves for their matches. There wasn’t much shade around the court this morning and despite the intense heat all of the players did well to maintain a good level of focus and work rate.

After the session we watched some of the boy’s and girl’s singles finals from last week before heading back to the hotel to shower, change and then get some lunch.

As we draw closer to the day of the player’s first match I always believe it’s important for the player’s themselves to determine how much they train as well as the specifics that they focus on to make sure they feel 100% ready before they step on the match court. With that in mind I spent the afternoon session on court with Holly while Mason and Mia trained on the court next to us. Holly decided that she wanted to train on the court in the sun to get more used to the conditions and her focus this afternoon was on the consistency of her groundstrokes, especially on the shots after the first 3/4, as well as her footwork to make sure she’s not getting too close to the ball. She did this very well and it was great to see a high level of intensity in the tough conditions. Our session lasted about an hour and ended with some service points so she felt comfortable and ready for qualifying tomorrow.

Once we were finished I moved over to the court that Mason and Mia were training on and spent the last 15-20 minutes of their session working with them. It was good to see them both working hard whether I was on the court or not and despite getting quite tired towards the end of the session they both managed to stay focused on their own goals.

From the court it was straight over to referee’s tent for Holly to sign in before we all went over to the cricket pitch for a cool down jog and then a good stretch out to complete our day.

Once we got back to the hotel the players then had a couple of hours to relax before we headed out for dinner with Dave’s team at the Royal Court Hotel. The draw came out while we were at dinner and then when we were finished we walked back to the club to book practice for tomorrow morning.

After that there was just enough time for the guys to chill out at the hotel and play some cards before having an early night.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Shanna Krimatschow (GER) (UNR) vs Holly Hutchinson (GBR) (UNR) – 2nd match after 10am

Friday 23rd November 2012

This time last year I was heading out to Bujumbura in Burundi for the East Africa ITF Circuit but this year the circuit has moved to Mombasa in Kenya and has a total of 3 events of which I will have players competing in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.

Due to travelling to a lot of Men’s Futures events over the summer I hadn’t been out of the UK since May for an event so I was really excited about travelling back out to Mombasa for these two U18 ITFs. I was here in February 2011 and despite the courts at the Mombasa Sports Club being quite run down we had a great week and it enabled me to establish links with some players, coaches and most importantly a good cheap hotel which will save the players a lot of money over the next two weeks.

I met up with Holly Hutchinson (Everyball Academy in Halton), Mason Recci (Edgbaston Priory Academy in Birmingham) and Mia Smith (Bath Academy) at around 4pm yesterday afternoon at Terminal 4 (well … Mia actually fancied a tour around Terminal 5 before joining us in Terminal 4 but she eventually got there!). I then had a quick chat with their parents before we checked in and went through the long queue at security. We originally had loads of time before we were due to board but due to Holly’s hand luggage being selected for a random search, and it taking 35 minutes to get searched, we ended up getting to the gate just as they were starting to close it.

The flight went very smoothly; Mia, Holly and I managed to get a little bit of sleep while Mason had a good hour at the start of the flight and then managed to get 3 seats to himself at the back of the plane to sleep for another 3 or 4 hours more.

We landed in Nairobi at 6.15am local time and after obtaining our visas we walked over to the domestic terminal to catch our next flight to Mombasa at just before 9am. It was again a good flight and I just about managed to stay awake long enough to get the picture I’d been waiting for of Mount Kilimanjaro:

After arriving in Mombasa at around 10am we were met by our taxi driver and taken straight to the hotel. On the way the players had a chance to get a feel for the place and witness some of the locals hard at work. Holly later commented to me about how gruelling some of labour was as she saw a few men pulling carts filled with barrels of oil along the side of the road. It does make you appreciate the life that you have and realise that when things get difficult in our lives it’s never as difficult as some of the things others have to do just to earn a living.

By 11.30am we were all checked in and we decided to try and catch up on some sleep before meeting again at 1pm for lunch. There was then time to get out and about in Mombasa and get used to the heat and humidity before going over to the club to go through a long physical warm up to get the flights out of our systems. We then trained from 4.15 – 5.30pm on the newly painted courts and I was very pleased with how well everyone applied themselves to the training considering they were all very tired. We cooled down around the cricket pitch and then had a thorough stretch out to end a very good first training session.

We had dinner tonight with Dave Bandelin and the Swedish / Danish team at the Royal Court Hotel which had become a favourite of ours last year. Once again the flat bread was a winner but Dave and his team made a big unforced error by ordering 9 pizzas which could only be cooked 2 at a time in the small oven!!

Everyone was exhausted by 9pm so they retired early to their rooms to get ready for a full days training tomorrow. Holly has one more day of preparation before she starts in Qualifying on Sunday while Mason and Mia have an extra day of training as they start their campaigns in the Main Draw on Monday.