Friday 8^th February 2013

It was a heart-breaking final day of the trip today as Holly and Alena failed to convert on two match points in the third set tie-break of the girl’s doubles final.

After a really tough semi-final yesterday the whole team were in good spirits this morning as we had a chance to take home a title for the first time. The day started as it has almost every morning this week with Anais hitting with Ria at 8am to warm her up for the girl’s singles final and following that Alex trained with Anais for a further 30 minutes while I went back to the hotel to help Holly move all of her bags out of her room. Holly then made her way across the cricket pitch to go through her physical warm up while I paid the hotel bill. At 9am I was back on court again as it was time for Holly and Alena to prepare themselves for their doubles final. Both girls were hitting well and after their 30 minute session we talked through the tactics for the match before they went off to watch some of the boy’s and girl’s singles finals.

At 10.45am Holly and Alena took to the court to play top seeds Dona Abo Habaga from Egypt and Nelise Verster from South Africa. After a couple of nervous service games which resulted in breaks of serve everyone settled down and the set went with serve until *3-4 when Alena was broken for the first time to leave Dona serving for the 1^st set. Holly and Alena did well in the next game to break back and after a further two holds of serve the set went into a tie-break. Up until this point the set was very even with neither pair really dominating from the back of the court or from the net, it was more about who would miss first rather than who would play the best doubles! As soon as the tie-break started Holly and Alena took control racing to a 3-0* lead. Dona and Nelise then brought it back to *3-3 before our girls got a mini –break at 4-4* and it looked like it would be enough to take the set. However, Holly dropped one of her service points and it was again looking nervy at 6-5*. Nelise then failed to control her nerves and a double fault handed Holly and Alena the first set 7-6(5).

As had been the case all week the 2^nd set was not good from Holly and Alena; they were broken at *0-0 and at *0-2 but managed to get back into the set following a poor service game from Nelise and a strong hold from Alena. Holly struggled again on her serve and was broken at *2-4 but it was a crucial hold from Nelise (who had really been finding it difficult to get a consistency on her serve) at 3-4* that seemed to upset our girls. Alena was then broken in the very next game to level the match at one set all. It was the same as it had been all week and I was hoping that Holly and Alena’s routine toilet break at one set all would work its magic again!!

Maybe the magic took longer to kick in today as our girls immediately went 0-3 down and looked completely out of it but some tough words to each other helped them to win the next couple of points to close the gap to *2-3. They then went 3-7 down and that’s when the fight back really started as they won the next 5 points in a row to take an 8-7* lead. By this stage we were all in full voice and Holly and Alena knew that winning one out of the next two points would set themselves up for the title. They won the point at 8-8* on Dona’s serve but Alena then threw in a big double fault to let their opponents back in to the tie-break. Alena held the next point and we were all expecting Nelise to double fault under the pressure but to her credit she put in a good first serve and won the point to save a 2^nd match point. Holly then served well at 10-11* to save a match point but a couple of missed chances to put the volley away at *11-11 set Dona and Nelise up for their 2^nd match point which they converted well. It had been a well contested final where both teams fought hard throughout even though the quality of the doubles wasn’t as high as it was yesterday in the semi-final when Holly and Alena played the Russians.

After the match Holly and Alena were bitterly disappointed but I said to Holly that she’s had an absolutely fantastic couple of weeks and made her first ever ITF final so there are so many positives to take from the trip.

After the boy’s had finished their doubles final we all gathered round for the presentation which involved different coaches giving out the medals to different players which I thought was a great idea. I was then on court with Anais from 3-4pm for an individual session to prepare her for the 3^rd tournament before she played a really good practice set with Elena Belenova from 4-5pm which she took 6-2.

There was then just about enough time for Anais and Alex to do the press-ups that they owed me and for Holly to complete the 180 Burpees that she owed me (don’t ask!) before we changed and headed out for dinner.

For only the 2^nd time in the two weeks it was just the four of us for dinner this evening as they competed with each other in the “Trip Quiz”! After the 38 questions Anais came out on top so she won the dessert and also won the bar of Dairy Milk for getting the most answers right on the Bonus Question but it wasn’t all bad for Holly and Alex as they got a Cadbury’s Flake to put in their milkshakes! We all had a fantastic last night and while having dessert in the lower restaurant we were joined by almost everyone else in the tournament!!

It’s been an absolutely fantastic two weeks; the players all worked hard on and off the court and we made sure they played hard in the evenings too! New friends were made and hopefully the players will all stay in contact over the years to come.

I’ve now got a quick turnaround as I’m off to Tunisia for the U18 ITF Grade 5 on Sunday afternoon!

Thursday 7^th February 2013

It was a fantastic day today as Holly and Alena made it through to the final of the girl’s doubles after a nail biting three set win against the two Russians that had beaten Anais and Ria yesterday.

As Ria had been doing well in the singles all week she wanted to stick to the same routine that she’s had each day which meant that Anais was up early to hit with her at 8am. Holly was also up early to warm Alena up for her singles semi-final against Ria and as Holly is still in the tournament I spent the whole warm up on court with her to make sure she was happy with how she was playing. Both girls finished at 8.30am and after a long couple of weeks Anais decided that she’d take the rest of the day off to recharge her batteries for the 3^rd event next week. Holly on the other hand had the doubles final to play and as she was feeling a little tired too she went back to the hotel to rest. I watched some of the boy’s and girl’s semi-finals before returning to the hotel to sort out arrangements for travelling back to England tomorrow night.

At 11.30am Holly and I sat down for some lunch at the hotel and were soon joined by Anais and Alex who had been watching the semi-finals where Ria had beaten Alena in three tight sets. While we were eating Alena came in for some food and made it very clear that there was no way that she was going to lose two matches in one day!!

After warming up and talking through the tactics and goals for the match Holly and Alena went on court at 2pm to face Elena Belenova and Elisabeth Lyukshinova from Russia. Holly and Alena didn’t start well and it was obvious that they were both a little tentative on serve and return in the first few games. After hitting 4 double faults in her first service game Holly was broken to go 0-2* down but the girls responded straight away by breaking Elena’s serve to get the set back on serve. Elena Belenova’s serve was then broken again at 3-3* and then the next two games went with serve until Holly played a great service game to take the opening set 6-4. It was a pretty good set from the girl’s despite some early nerves and after Holly’s first service game she ended up hitting 6 out of 6 first serves in at *2-3 and at *5-4 which was very impressive.

The second set was similar to yesterday’s ¼ final as Holly and Alena stopped moving as much at the net and the communication dried up a little between them. At *2-3 Alena was broken, however the girls responded by breaking straight back but at *3-4 Holly played a poor service game which included 2 double faults and 2 unforced errors and following that they lost the next 2 games in a row to lose the set 6-3. Not a lot had changed but we’d lowered our level while the Russians upped theirs.

After a lengthy toilet break (just like yesterday!) Holly and Alena emerged looking very up for the match tie-break. Unfortunately the nerves got the better of Holly and after losing her two opening service points the girls found themselves 1-4* down. Alena managed to hold one of her two service points but at 2-7 things were looking very bleak. Holly and Alena weren’t done yet though and when they looked across the net and saw Lyukshinova starting to get very tight their belief grew and the scoreline started to get closer. After Holly double faulted to give the Russians a 5-8* lead Lyukshinova missed a couple of very easy balls close to the net and suddenly the momentum started to shift our way. From 5-8* down Holly and Alena played some smart and confident tennis to win the next 5 points in a row and take the third set 10-8.

Both girls screamed with joy at the end while Alex, Anais and I were equally as pumped up – it was a really hard fought win and the match could have gone either way but it came down to the fact that Holly and especially Alena held their nerve when it really mattered.

There were high fives and hugs all around for the team after the match and now Holly will compete in her first ITF final tomorrow against top seeds Dona Abo Habaga from Egypt and Nelise Verster from South Africa – bring that one on!!

For the rest of the afternoon we all went about the jobs we needed to do; Anais had a massage to try and relieve a bit of pain in her back, Alex sorted out his room and got everything ready to pack and after Holly and Alena had decided what kit they were going to wear for the final tomorrow she cooled down and stretched out on the cricket pitch (priorities first of course!!). I on the other hand put some final touches to the all-important “Trip Quiz” that the players will do over dinner tomorrow night for some great prizes!!

After trying to escape some more embarrassing forfeits we all had a great dinner and then it was back to the hotel to pay off the room bills and get an early night ready for our last day tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

GIRL’S DOUBLES FINAL

(1) Dona Abo Habaga (EGY) & Nelise Verster (RSA) vs (4) Holly Hutchinson (GBR) & Alena Mashtakova (RUS) – 2^nd match after 9am

 

Wednesday 6^th February 2013

It was a mixed day today as Alex and Anais got knocked out in the ¼ finals of the doubles but Holly managed to go one better and make the semi-finals after a real rollercoaster of a match.

The day started at 7am with breakfast and then we had a succession of practice sessions starting with Anais and Ria at 8.30am followed by Holly and Alena at 9am and then ending with Alex and Olivier at 9.30am. During each of the sessions we managed to get some good quality doubles played to prepare each of them for their ¼ final matches.

Holly and Alena were scheduled 2^nd on Centre court and as the match before them went very quickly they ended up going on at just after 10.15am to play Iva Ivkovic from Serbia and Nina Van Oost from Belgium. Over the past two days Holly, Alena and I have had some good practice sessions where we’ve worked specifically on their doubles play but I wasn’t expecting what happened in the first set of their match today. From the start of the set both girls were superb in everything they did; Holly served at 70% during the set and Alena dominated the net with great presence. They broke Nina’s serve at 1-1* and then took a convincing 5-1 lead before they eventually took the set 6-2 – they played at a fantastic level but the hard part was now trying to maintain it.

As Holly and Alena finished the 1^st set Anais and Ria started their ¼ final match on court 7 so I repositioned myself on the side of Centre court so that I could watch both matches at the same time! Maybe it was the fact that I moved positions but the 2^nd set of Holly and Alena’s match was completely the opposite to the 1^st set; Holly really struggled with her serve, both of their returns became very erratic and neither of them seemed to want to commit to moving at the net! All of that resulted in them going 4-0 down straight away and even though they managed to break Iva’s serve in the next game they went on to lose the set 6-1. It was now down to the match tie-break to decide the match and the big question of who would be mentally strong enough to do what they needed to do.

3 out of the 4 girls on the court were very nervous during the match tie-break but luckily for us Alena was very tough throughout. Holly and Alena got a breakthrough at 3-3 and went on to take a 6-3 lead before their opponents fought back to get within one point at 7-6*. By this stage everyone was very tense; Holly and Alena let an 8-6* lead slip and at *8-8 it was up to Alena to serve to set up match point. She boomed down a big 1^st serve that wasn’t returned and then at 9-8* Alena once again stepped up to hit a great passing shot down the line to seal the win 6-2, 1-6, 10-8. Both girls were very pleased to get through the match and move into the semi-finals where hopefully they’ll recreate the level of the 1^st set throughout the whole match.

While Holly and Alena were fighting hard in their match Anais and Ria were having real difficulties in their ¼ final against Elena Belenova and Elisabeth Lyukshinova from Russia. Anais had not been feeling well before the match and she was finding everything very difficult; she was broken at *1-2 in the 1^st set and then despite getting the break back at 3-5* Ria failed to hold her serve so they ended up losing the set 6-4. Anais was still struggling in the 2^nd set but after letting an early break go they managed to break again at 4-4* and this time Anais served very well to take the set 6-4. Even though it was now 1 set all I had a feeling that the Russians had the edge slightly as they moved better at the net and were more comfortable at the baseline but once again the match would be decided by a match tie-break.

The tie-break went with serve until 4-4* when Anais and Ria got a mini-break but they couldn’t capitalise on it and went from 5-4 up to 5-8 down. They continued to fight hard but the Russians played some good doubles to eventually go on to take the third set 10-7. Anais was really disappointed at the end of the match as she felt as though if she’d been feeling ok then they would have easily won but I think she did really well to keep fighting throughout the match despite feeling so bad.

After a short break where Holly and I went through her match it was Alex’s turn to go on for his ¼ final match against fellow Brit and roommate Jay Clarke and his partner Mwendwa Mbithi from America. After doing the hard work yesterday Alex and Olivier had the chance to go out and really take the match to their opponents without any pressure at all but some very good serving from Jay and Mwendwa prevented them from really getting stuck into the 1^st set. Alex was broken at *1-1 and then the games went with serve until Alex and Olivier had the chance to break back when they were 40-15* up on Mwendwa’s serve at 3-5*. Unfortunately they couldn’t convert any of their 3 break points and they went on to lose the set 6-3.

The 2^nd set was very tight throughout and it was very similar to the 2^nd set that Alex and Olivier played yesterday; they served well and kept fighting hard to keep the game score close. The whole set went with serve until *5-5 when Alex struggled with a couple of double faults and ended up being broken after a sudden death deuce point. Jay then served very well to close out the set and take the match 6-3, 7-5. It was probably an even better performance from Alex and Olivier compared to yesterday’s match but Jay and Mwendwa played well and were very tough to breakdown.

We then had a couple of hours off to get some food and relax before I went on court with Holly and Alena at 4pm to work on their doubles in preparation for tomorrow’s semi-final. We were joined in the session by Emmanuelle De Beer and went through some good doubles work before ending the session with a set in which Emmanuelle and I just managed to scrape a win!!

Dinner tonight was a long affair with 18 of us eating together at the Fairview hotel. We had some good laughs though and after a mammoth game of Chase the Ace it was Emmaunelle’s coach Jono (who was joining us for the first time) who had to do the forfeit of crawling around the restaurant on his hands and knees!! Unfortunately for Alex and me sorting out a 28, 950 Shilling bill wasn’t quite as much fun!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(4) Holly Hutchinson (GBR) & Alena Mashtakova (RUS) vs Elena Belenova (RUS) & Elisabeth Lyukshinova (RUS) – 2^nd match after 9am (not before 2pm)

Tuesday 5^th February 2013

It was a very long but extremely positive day today as all three players won their doubles matches which meant they all moved into the ¼ finals and in doing so Alex picked up his first ITF points.

It was an early start this morning as Anais had arranged to hit with her doubles partner from 8 – 8.30am to warm her up for her singles match and then afterwards we were joined by Holly and Alex who had a bit of a lie in as their doubles matches weren’t until this afternoon. All four of us then warmed up at just after 9.30am so that we were ready for our tennis session at 10am. The first 30 minutes of the session was spent going through our normal pre-match warm up, then the next 30 minutes was spent working on doubles specific work so that everyone was sharp at the next and confident coming forwards and then we ended the session with 30 minutes of point play to make sure everyone was ready to go!

At 11.30am we all headed back to the hotel to shower and change and get some lunch before it was back to the club just before 1pm so that Holly was ready for her match. As the matches on court 2 had been moving quite quickly this morning we thought that Holly would be on at her scheduled time of 1pm but a few of the courts needed watering and re-lining so Holly and Alena Mashtakova didn’t end up starting the match until 2pm.

Holly and Alena were facing local wildcards Lonah Bhwenje and Chizi Mutsumi and from the start it was obvious that Holly and Alena were just going to be too strong for the Kenyan girls. They raced through the first set very quickly taking it 6-0 and it was looking like the 2^nd set was going to end up the same way until a lapse of concentration when returning at 3-0 cost them that game. They got back on track though in the next game and ended up taking a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win to take them through to the ¼ finals.

As Holly was finishing up the 2^nd set Anais and Ria Vaidya from Singapore went on the next court to play Lize Moolman from Namibia and Arki Truscott from Australia. Anais and Ria started the match very well and took a commanding 5-0* lead before taking the set 6-1. The girls had played together a couple of times before and they looked very confident as a pair but after breaking in the 2^nd set to take a *2-1 lead their concentration completely went which allowed Lize and Arki to get back into the match. From *2-1 up Anais and Ria found themselves 2-4* down and had to save two game points to prevent them from going 2-5 down but after breaking Arki in that game they got back on track and won the next 3 games in a row to take the match 6-1, 6-4. It was tighter than it should have been but at least the girls were tested in the 2^nd set which will help them to maintain their level and focus during the next round.

While Holly and Anais had been playing Alex had been sitting next to me cheering them on while he waited to go on for his match. During that time we talked a lot about his match, what his goals were and how to deal with the occasion as Alex knew this was a big opportunity for him to gain his first ITF points. As soon as Anais had finished Alex was straight on the same court with partner Olivier Huvigimana to face 6^th seeds Arian Ebrahimiyan from Iran and Aliaksandr Streltsas from Belarus. The first 2 games went with serve but then Alex was broken at *1-1 and then again at *2-4 before the 6^th seeds took the first set convincingly 6-2.

It wasn’t the kind of start that we’d been hoping for; Alex was struggling with his serve and his returns while the 6^th seeds played very confidently throughout. I knew that it was going to be really important for Alex and Olivier to stay close to their opponents at the start of the 2^nd set and fight really hard for every point. After Alex held serve at *1-1 for the first time in the match his confidence really grew which in turn improved the quality of his returning game and it just seemed a matter of time before him and Olivier would get a breakthrough. We did have a slight problem in the middle of the set as Olivier broke his strings and didn’t have another racket so he had to uses Alex’s!! That didn’t bother him one bit though and at 4-3*, 40-0* up it looked as though a break was on the cards but Alex and Olivier squandered their chances and once again the set was level. Olivier then put in a really solid service game and at 5-4* him and Alex finally got the break they deserved to take the match into a final set tie-break – game on!!

By this stage the crowds had grown and it seemed as though everyone left at the club was willing Alex on. Alex thrived off the encouragement and the normally quiet Olivier was getting pumped up too while their opponents seemed to have lost every bit of confidence that they had in the first set. With Alex and Olivier leading 2-0 in the match tie-break Arian Ebrahimiyan missed a smash right on top of the net and with the crowds cheering louder than ever they took a commanding 3-0 lead. Alex and Olivier then led 5-2 before the 6^th seeds clawed it back to 6-4 and at this stage everyone was starting to get a little nervous. We had no reason to though as Alex and Olivier got another mini-break and Olivier served two great points to set up match point at 9-4. Alex then pulled out a huge return off Ebrahimiyan’s 1^st serve and when the shot was not returned it was all over! The crowds went wild and so did Alex and Olivier on court – check out the video on the Facebook page – www.facebook.com/itctennis1.

Alex was ecstatic with the win and he really deserved it after the hard work he’s put in over the last two weeks. Sometimes getting your first ranking point is a lot harder than getting subsequent points but now Alex has that one under his belt I’m sure his confidence will grow and that will help his game develop very fast.

After everyone congratulated Alex he eventually made his way off the court to join Holly, Anais and I to get the biggest applause from his team. It was then back to business as Anais and Alex cooled down and stretched out before we returned to the hotel at 6.15pm with all of us still buzzing from the match! Almost 11 hours at the club today but it was all well worth it.

We were joined at dinner tonight by the Bath boys but it was obvious that the exploits of the day had really taken their toll on Alex, Anais, Holly and I as we all looked thoroughly exhausted! What a fantastic day though!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Elena Belenova (RUS) & Elisabeth Lyukshinova (RUS) vs (2) Anais Nussaume (THA) & Ria Vaidya (SIN) – 2^nd match after 9am

Iva Ivkovic (SRB) & Nina Van Oost (BEL) vs (4) Holly Hutchinson (GBR) & Alena Mashtakova (RUS) – 2^nd match after 9am

(3) Jay Clarke (GBR) & Mwendwa Mbithi (USA) vs Alex Hagon (GBR) & Olivier Havugimana (RWA) – 3^rd match after 9am (not before 1pm)

Monday 4^th February 2013

It was a day of mixed emotions today as Holly; our last remaining player in the singles, had a tough second round match while Alex got a good win in the doubles to mark his first main draw win of the trip.

We had a little bit of a later start to the day this morning with breakfast at 7.45am followed by our physical warm up before training at 9.10am. All three players trained together even though Anais didn’t have a match today and we managed to get just over 30 minutes on the court before the next players came on. Anais then stayed on court for another 30 minute to warm up Ria Vaidya for her singles match while Alex, Holly and I left the club to change up some money at the bank and to stock up on water and food at the supermarket.

As Holly wasn’t scheduled on until 4^th match and Alex wasn’t due to be on until 5^th match it gave us some time to watch some of the other main draw matches as well as have lunch at the hotel. Normally the food at the hotel can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half to arrive so we’ve been opting to eat at the club but the food there has dramatically gone downhill in the last few days and a few of the players have felt unwell after eating there. After lunch Holly and Alex returned to the club to prepare for their matches but due to some courts moving much faster than others they had to constantly keep up to date with what was happening on their court.

At around 2.30pm Alex and I had one final session on court to work on some doubles specifics while Holly kept out of the sun and completed her pre-match sheet ready for her match. Both players then went on court at almost exactly the same time so I positioned myself between the two courts to try and take in as much of both matches as possible!

Unfortunately Holly didn’t start well in her match and despite this being the 4^th time in two weeks where we’ve faced Sasha Alexander from Australia we still couldn’t get on top of her. Holly was broken in her first two service games and at 4-0 down things weren’t looking good but she managed to play better in the next game and had points to break Sasha’s serve but couldn’t convert them. In the end Holly’s consistency both with her groundstrokes and with her serve cost her as she lost the 1^st set 6-0.

Holly started the 2^nd set well and finally managed to break Sasha’s serve but it was her serve that again let her down and she gave the break up straight away. Sasha then broke again at *1-2 and once more at *2-3 as Holly’s serve continued to be too erratic. Something changed though when Holly was serving at *2-5; for the first time she seemed more relaxed and thought more about what serve she was going to hit and how hard she was going to hit it which increased her 1^st serve percentage and resulted in her holding serve. Holly then played her best returning game of the match and had chances to break back but 2 huge serves from Sasha at Deuce gave her the game and the match 6-0, 6-3.

Overall it was a disappointing match from Holly; she tried to play the right way but was just too inconsistent on the day and for a 4^th time in two weeks Sasha got the better of us.

Alex on the other hand was getting himself pumped up on the court behind me as he and partner Olivier Havugimana played some great doubles together against John Lutaaya from Uganda and Alex Meseguer from Spain. They broke in the 3^rd game of the first set to take a *2-1 lead and then looked very comfortable at 4-2* before their opponent held and broke Alex’s serve to level the set at 4-4. The boys remained positive and encouraged each other well which led to them breaking straight back before Olivier served out the opening set to take it 6-4. Both Alex and Olivier were playing much better than last week and looked as though they were having a lot of fun on the court. The second set went with serve until 2-2* when Alex and Olivier broke and held to take a 4-2 lead but this time they didn’t make the same mistake as in the first set and took the next two games to win the match 6-4, 6-2. Alex was very pleased to get the win and after looking over in my direction gave a “Sweden” to celebrate!! He will now be playing tomorrow for his first ITF points but they have a tricky match against the 6^th seeds – bring it on!

After the doubles Alex sat and supported Holly until the end of her match and then both players cooled down around the hockey pitch before stretching out together. On the way back to the hotel Holly and I had a short debrief but as the player’s emotions are always very high after a match I believe it’s always better to go through everything in detail the next day.

After another solid dinner of Mango Chicken at the Fairview hotel we returned to the courts to book practice for tomorrow and our focus now rest entirely on the doubles.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Lonah Bhwenje (KEN) & Chizi Mutsumi (KEN) vs (4) Holly Hutchinson (GBR) & Alena Mashtakova (RUS) – 3^rd match after 9am (not before 1pm)

Lize-Elfrida Moolman (NAM) & Arki Truscott (AUS) vs (2) Anais Nussaume (THA) & Ria Vaidya (SIN) – 3^rd match after 9am (not before 1pm)

Alex Hagon (GBR) & Olivier Havugimana (RWA) vs (6) Arian Ebrahimiyan (IRI) & Aliaksandr Streltsas (BLR) – 4^th match after 9am

Sunday 3^rd February 2013

It was a positive day for Holly and Alex today while Anais had a very tight 1^st round match that didn’t quite go her way.

Even though Holly was scheduled for 2^nd match on today we stuck to our normal routine of breakfast at 7am, warm up at 7.40am and then straight on court for our tennis session at 8am. As Anais was scheduled for 4^th match on she decided to hit later at 10am and Alex had decide to go with Jay to the Public Service Club to get a whole court for an hour so it was just Holly and I for her pre-match hit. We ended up training for around 45 minutes as Holly wanted to spend longer working on her serve and return but by the end of the session she was timing the ball well and ready for her match.

The match before Holly’s was moving very quickly but she completed her pre-match sheet and then we spoke about what she was looking to achieve in the match before she went on just after 10am. Having had quite a lot of experience of players I’ve travelled with playing against Kenyan wildcards I knew that the match was probably going to be quite straightforward but it’s always important for the players to play not just for the win but to develop and improve for the next round. Holly went about her business well today against Alvas Wahome and quickly rapped up a 6-2, 6-0 win in under an hour. She had a little difficulty with her serve throughout the match but she hit well from the back of the court and played a really good last game to finish off a comfortable victory.

While Holly was on court Anais hit with Ria Vaidya from Singapore who is another player that is a good friend of hers and also the top seed this week. After their session Anais watched Holly’s match and then it was time to go through her own preparations before she went on court at 12.30pm to face Sasha Alexander who had beaten her in the ¼ finals last week. Anais was really up for some revenge and her preparations for the match over the last couple of days had been excellent.

As the two players had played last week they knew each other’s games well but Anais was playing much better today and was finding a much more consistent level in each point. The whole of the first set went with serve with either player not really getting close to breaking the other’s serve; Sasha was serving much more consistently compared to last week and the double faults that had haunted Anais throughout the previous match were gone. When it got to the tie-break Sasha was the first one to step up and she immediately took a 3-0 lead. Anais won the next 2 points but a few too many unforced errors cost her as she eventually went down 7-2.

The second set was much the same as the first with Sasha doing most of the dictating but Anais fought hard to stay in the rally and was prepared to wait for Sasha to miss. Anais got a breakthrough at 2-1* when she broke Sasha’s serve but then she immediately gave up the break with some poor serving in the next game. It was looking like another tie-break was on the cards but at *5-5 Anais gave up a *40-15 lead and was broken which left Sasha to serve for the match. Anais responded superbly by playing a very smart game and got the break back to take the 2^nd set to a tie-break but it was Sasha that once again started the better out of the two of them. She took a 4-0 lead before Anais got a point on the board but it was a little too late as by that stage Sasha was full of confidence and she went on to take the tie-break 7-3.

It was a really tough match to sit through on the side of the court let alone play and to go down 7-6, 7-6 after two and a half hours of constant battling is always going to be a tough result to digest. Anais as always looked on the positive side of things and she knows she’s starting to find some better form which is why she made the decision after the match to stay on for another week on her own to play the third tournament. She’s got a very mature and professional attitude which is so refreshing to see and hopefully she’ll get the results she deserves next week.

After a quick chat with Anais she went back to the hotel to shower and change while Holly, Alex and I went over to the Public Service Club together so that Holly could work on her serve and Alex could work on his return. Earlier Alex had drawn himself out of the hat to get into the doubles draw; there were 3 pairs that all had the same entry priority but there were only 2 spaces in the draw so he was quite fortunate to pick his own number!

 

Holly served for around 45 minutes and found a really good level before I stepped in to bang down some serves to prepare her for playing Sasha tomorrow.

After the session we made our way back to the club to cool down and stretch out and then I met up with Anais to go through some tournament planning for the next 3 or 4 months. Dinner tonight was not as lively as it has been as most of us were feeling quite tired after a long day but it did include my first forfeit of the trip which saw me complete some swimming by the side of the pool!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Sasha Alexander (AUS) (1136) vs Holly Hutchinson (GBR) (1615) – 4^th match after 9am

John Lutaaya (UGA) & Alex Meseguer (ESP) vs Alex Hagon (GBR) & Olivier Havugimana (RWA) – 5^th match after 9am

Saturday 3^rd February 2013

It was another tough 1^st round qualifying match for Alex today while the girl’s trained hard and put the finishing touches to their preparation before their main draw matches tomorrow.

As Alex was scheduled for 1^st match on at 9am we met for breakfast at just before 7am and then made our way over to the courts to warm up at 7.40am. Once Alex and Jay had completed their physical warm up we walked over to the court to find that the lines had been put down but the net hadn’t been put up – it’s the same most days but today we decided not to wait for the groundsman to do it and so the 3 of us got stuck in!

Alex and Jay had a really good hit for 30 minutes and then Alex and I went over towards the clubhouse to go through his pre-match sheet and set goals before he went on. We both knew that it was going to be a tough match today as Marco Prochazka from Austria had made the last 16 in the first tournament but we were feeling positive as Alex was going into the match full of confidence after his consolation matches.

Alex began the match well breaking Marco in the opening game and then holding serve to take a 2-0 lead but Marco immediately stepped up his level to hold and break back to level the set at 2-2. At this stage Alex had to make a decision; did he continue to play to play the way that he had to go 2-0 up or did he sense that Marco was getting into his stride and then respond by upping his own level to be more aggressive? Unfortunately Alex chose to stick with the way that he started the set and that meant that Marco could step up and dominate most of the points to take control of the set. The next 4 games went against Alex as he lost the first set 6-2 but Marco’s 12 winners and only 8 unforced errors from 2-0 down were quite impressive stats.

Alex tried to respond in the second set by going for more and trying to get Marco out of his comfort zone but unfortunately the Austrian was well into his stride now and dictated almost every point. Alex ended up losing the second set 6-0 and despite being very disappointed when he came off the court he realised that his opponent was just a lot stronger both in terms of physical size and quality of the tennis that he produced. We had a good chat after the match and talked about the kind of game that Alex is aiming to produce at 15/16 years old and how each match at the moment is just adding to his development as a payer.

I left Alex at the hotel to shower and change while I went back to the courts to be on court with Anais for her first session of the day. Anais trained with Josh Liu who is the number 2 seed in the boy’s main draw and a good friend of hers. Josh and his dad had just arrived last night from Singapore but the altitude and the courts didn’t affect him at all which was great for Anais and both of them ended up having a really good practice for an hour. At 12pm Holly came on court so I left Anais and Josh to continue their practice while Holly and I went on the next court to start her training session. Despite the practice courts being in the worst state that I’ve seen them all week we ended up having a good session and ended with some really good points.

By this stage everyone was hungry so Anais and I went back to the hotel to get some lunch while Holly and Alex stayed with some of the other players at the club to eat there.

The next session of the day was at 3pm and this was the main session for the girls to get a lot of point play in so that they felt comfortable before their matches tomorrow. Alex joined the session to work on things from his match earlier in the day and we were also joined by Gil de Keyser from Belgium so all four players could compete against each other. By 4pm we were done so Anais and Alex went off to cool down and stretch out while Holly waited for her last session of the day at 5pm with Alena Mashtakova. Holly just wanted a short session to get more of a feel for the ball and both girls worked well together for 30 minutes before the groundstaff kicked us off the court to prepare it for tomorrow.

While we were at dinner the draw came out and can you believe Holly and Anais are once again in the same section of the draw?!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(WC) Alvas Wahome (KEN) (UNR) vs Holly Hutchinson (GBR) (1615) – 2^nd match after 9am

(5) Anais Nussaume (THA) (582) vs Sasha Alexander (AUS) (1136) – 4^th match after 9am

Friday 1^st February 2013

As week 1 leads into week 2 here at the Nairobi Sports Club Alex put the final touches to his preparation with two very good consolation matches while the girls had a lighter day.

As Alex was scheduled for 3^rd match on today we all had a bit of a lie in and then met for breakfast at 8.15m. Anais and Holly had the option of a rest day today as they don’t play until Sunday but Anais wanted to spend more time on court to get a better feel for the ball and Holly wanted to keep up to date with her physical conditioning programme so she planned in her injury prevention work.

We all headed over to the courts at 9.30am so that Alex could go through his physical warm up before he hit with Jay Clarke from 10 – 10.30am. During the session Alex hit very well and even though he had to deal with a very heavy ball coming off Jay’s racket he knew that it would prepare him well for his first match.

After completing his pre-match sheet we had a brief chat about what we wanted to get out of this set and then Alex went on court around 10.45am to play Shabani Kabura from Burundi. After losing the first game Alex really upped his level and played some of the best tennis I have ever seen him play; he was dominating the points from the back of the court and found a very consistent but aggressive level with his serve too. Alex won the next 6 games in a row to take the match 6-1 and his stats were very impressive; 65% 1^st serves in, 12 winners and only 8 unforced errors leaving him with a very good aggressive balance of +4. After the match Alex was very pleased with his performance and decided he wanted to play his final consolation match rather than just have a training session in the afternoon.

Not long after Alex had finished Anais and I went off to warm up for her only tennis session of the day and we were very lucky to get on one of the better match courts for a really good session for an hour and a half. Anais had been disappointed with her results last week and knew that her best tennis is still within her – our job now is to get her to perform at that level this week. During the training we worked on a lot of specifics around the quality of her groundstrokes and then we played a lot of points towards the end of the session so that she felt confident to do what she needed to do under a little more pressure. We played 3 sets of points and I just about managed scrape the first two up to 11 sets but for the last one we played up to 7 and her level was much too good which resulted in me getting my hands and nose dirty as we had 10 press-ups riding on it!!

Once we were done we just about had enough time to go back to the hotel, order some food, shower and change, eat the food and then get back to the courts before Alex went on for his last consolation match at 2.30pm against Tumaini Meshuko from Tanzania. Tumaini had taken the number 2 seed in the main draw to 3 sets earlier in the week so Alex was really up for another good match. The first 3 games went with serve until Alex got broken at *1-2 and even though he was struggling with the condition of the courts Alex still managed to find a really good hitting level against a good opponent. At *2-5 down Alex kept digging deep and fighting hard for each game which resulted in him winning the next 3 games in a row to level the set at 5-5. Both players then held serve to take the match into a deciding tie-break. Just like the 12 games in the set the tie-break was very close but when Alex managed to get ahead to lead *5-4 it was looking as though he would finished it off. Unfortunately Alex hit 3 unforced errors in the next 3 points to lose the set 7-6 but on each of the last 3 points he performed very well and his mistakes only came from going for the right shot at the right time which was great to see. It was another very positive match and if Alex can perform at that level in the Qualifying tomorrow then he has a great chance of getting through.

Following the match Alex signed in and then went through his prescribed injury prevention and stretching exercises which ended a very good day’s preparation. All three players then had some time to themselves but the girls decided that they wanted to play some Frisbee so out came my Aerobie Pro and we had some good fun throwing it around the cricket pitch!

Dinner tonight was once again at the Fairview Hotel and after having a few nights where the group was getting bigger and bigger it was nice to just have 8 of us – it was good for Anais too as there were less people to watch her forfeit of doing cartwheels around the swimming pool!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Marco Prochazka (AUT) (UNR) vs Alex Hagon (GBR) (UNR) – 1^st match at 9am

Winner to play last round qualifying later in the day