Thursday 14^th February 2013

It wasn’t a very happy Valentine’s Day for us today as Mia had a disappointing 1^st round loss in the singles and then Mia and Sofia got a walkover in the doubles – 4 days down and only 1 match played!!

We arrived at the club this morning at just after 8am and as soon as we started our physical warm up the rain started! It was only a light shower so we finished off the warm up and then waited in the player’s lounge until the courts were dry enough to train on. At around 9.30am Mia went on court with one of the Spanish boys to go through her pre-match warm up and despite the balls getting quite heavy Mia hit the ball very well from the back of the court and the issues that she had with her serve a couple of days ago seemed to have been solved.

After completing her pre-match sheet and going through her tactics for the match Mia went on court at 10.15am for her first round match against Chiraz Bechi from Tunisia. The match didn’t start well for Mia; she was *40-0 on her serve in the opening game before a series of unforced errors allowed her opponent to get back into the game. After losing her footing on break point Mia lost that game and then went on to trail 4-0 after a lot of inconsistent play from the back of the court. The Tunisia girl was quite solid but wasn’t really hurting Mia with a great deal and when Mia managed to hold serve in the next game and then get one of the breaks back I really thought that she would turn the set around. Unfortunately at *2-4 Mia’s serve let her down which led to her going 2-5* down but another break back kept her in the set. Mia struggled again with her serve at *3-5 and after 3 double faults in that game she lost the set 6-3.

This would normally have been a perfect time to take a toilet break and go and re-group as I got the feeling that Chiraz was starting to gain a lot of momentum. After holding serve in the first game Chiraz broke Mia to lead *2-0 and despite being 40-15 down in the next game she managed to hold to take a 3-0 lead. Mia held serve in the next game but by this stage the Tunisian’s confidence had grown considerable and she went on to win the next 3 games to take the match 6-3, 6-1.

The conditions in the match were difficult as it was cold and windy but Mia knows she should have done much better against a player who had very little to hurt her. It’s often the case at this level that players beat themselves with too many mistakes rather than an opponent beating them with a lot of winners and that was definitely the case today.

After the match we got some lunch and had a brief chat about the match before Mia showered and changed to get ready for their scheduled doubles. To our disappointment we then found out that Mia and Sofia had been given a walkover into the ¼ finals which meant they wouldn’t now play until tomorrow. With that news Mia decided she wanted to get back on court in the afternoon to work on her game so at 2pm we warmed up and then got on court for a very good session for an hour and a half.  We spent the first 45 minutes drilling and then played a set where Mia played a lot better than this morning and showed good patience, discipline and consistency throughout.

Once we were done Mia cooled down and stretched out and then the highlight of our day happened!! We were driving back in the taxi when all of a sudden I noticed black smoke coming out of the bonnet of the car; I mentioned it to the driver in French to which he casually replied “Oui, Oui J’ai vu!” (yes, yes I have seen!). A moment later flames started coming out from under the bonnet so we quickly pulled over and when he opened the bonnet it was obvious something wasn’t quite right!! Mia and I both jumped straight out of the car and ran to the side of the road before a local policeman came over to help. Unfortunately my phone battery died before the flames really got going (!!) but you can make out the burn marks on the edge of the bonnet!

We were really surprised to see so many people stop and help the taxi driver put out the flames but we did laugh when one guy pulled over behind us, jumped out with two bottles of water but forgot to put his handbrake on and then his car rolled off the road an into a wall!!

We eventually managed to flag down another taxi and got back to the hotel safely but that does have to be placed high up on my “crazy taxi journey list” alongside when a brick got thrown through the windscreen of our taxi on the way back from the US Open!

Before dinner we went through the match in detail and then for the rest of the evening we relaxed and made sure everything was packed ready to check out tomorrow. Our flight is booked for tomorrow night but if Mia and Sofia win in the doubles then we’ll change it to a flight on Saturday.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Tereza Melicharkova (CZE) & Ana Dominguez (ESP) vs (3) Mia Smith (GBR) & Sofia Sualehe (POR) – 3^rd match after 9am (not before 1pm)

Wednesday 13^th February 2013

Although there was some play in the tournament today for Mia and I it was a complete washout as she never quite made it onto the match court!

We met for an early breakfast this morning at 7am and by 7.45am we had left the hotel to go to the club. While we were on our way the rain started and it continued on and off for the next 5 hours which left us with nothing to do but sit in the player’s lounge trying to access the internet along with everyone else in the tournament!

At 1.30pm there was quite a long break in the weather so we warmed up and managed to get on Centre court at 2pm for a good 35 – 40 minute session. The wind had picked up and the court was still quite slippery but Mia hit the ball well and by the time we were done she was ready for her match.

Just over an hour later Mia checked her court and as it was nearing the end of the match before hers she went through another physical warm up and we finished by going through some movement work to sharpen her up. Just as we finished the heavens opened again and play was once again suspended – Mia’s court was at a set and 5-2 so we knew that it would be finished almost as soon as it re-started!

We had to wait until 5pm for the matches to go back on court but just as the match before Mia’s finished we were told by the referee that only unfinished matches would now go under floodlights so Mia would have to come back tomorrow to play her match. We were both very frustrated that we’d been waiting at the club for almost 10 hours and then just as Mia was ready to go on court they decide to cancel her match but at least she’ll be fresh in the morning.

We had dinner tonight at 7pm in the hotel and then relaxed in the lobby with some of the other players before heading off to bed for an early night . . . tomorrow could be another long day!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Chiraz Bechri (TUN) (1774) vs (4) Mia Smith (GBR) (709) – 1^st match at 9am

The winner to play Paola Gullino (ITA) (UNR) – 3^rd match after 9am

(WC) Oumeima Charrad (TUN) & Jihene Ftouh (TUN) vs (3) Mia Smith (GBR) & Sofia Sualehe (POR) – 5^th match after 9am

Tuesday 12^th February 2013

After a good training day yesterday we were all set for Mia’s first round match today but as the match time approached the whether changed and the afternoon became a complete washout!

As Mia was scheduled for 2^nd match after 2pm we had quite a relaxed morning and met for breakfast at 9.30am. We then went to the local supermarket across the road from the hotel to get some water for the day before getting a taxi to the club. The tennis club is situated on the site of the National Sports Centre in Tunis and it covers quite a sizeable area so not even the local taxi drivers can miss it.

We arrived on site at 11am so that we could sign in for doubles and watch some of Mia’s potential next round opponent but as the morning wore on the whether changed and the rain came down which stopped play. Once it had stopped and the courts were dry we decided to go straight out to warm up so that we could get a hit in before the next downpour. The conditions were tough as the wind had really picked up but we still had a good session from 1-1.30pm and Mia was hitting well and feeling prepared for her match. After the hit we went across the road to the small patisserie to get some lunch and while we were walking back it started to rain again!

At first the rain didn’t stop the matches but at around 2.30pm it started to come down a lot heavier so play was called off and everyone had to try and find a place to sit in the small player’s lounge. The rain continued for the next two hours and just before 5pm the referee suspended play for the day and everyone went back to the hotel. It’s always annoying when you prepare for a match and then it gets rained off but being from Britain we’re quite used to it as that’s how we spend most of our summer!!

Once we got back to the hotel we both relaxed in the lobby and tried as hard as we could to get some form of internet signal but it was painfully slow! We then had dinner at 7pm and afterwards it was time for Mia’s second instalment of some classic films; last night it was The Goonies and tonight was the start of Top Gun! Mia managed to squeeze in some of Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow but I’m going to make sure we watch the rest of Top Gun tomorrow!!

At 9pm we both went back to our rooms to get an early night as there is the possibility of playing 3 matches tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Chiraz Bechri (TUN) (1774) vs (4) Mia Smith (GBR) (709) – 2^nd match after 9am

The winner to play Paola Gullino (ITA) (UNR) – 4^th match after 9am (not before 1pm)

(WC) Oumeima Charrad (TUN) & Jihene Ftouh (TUN) vs (3) Mia Smith (GBR) & Sofia Sualehe (POR) – 6^th match after 9am (not before 4pm)

Let’s hope the weather holds out tomorrow!!

Monday 11^th February 2013

It was a manic 24 hours at home after arriving back from Kenya in the early hours of Saturday morning but by yesterday at 11am I was all packed again and at Gatwick airport to meet Mia Smith for this week’s event.

Yesterday was just a travelling day so it didn’t warrant its own Blog (!) but basically after being delayed for an hour we got underway at 2.30pm and arrived in Tunis just before 6pm local time. Originally I was going to book the airport transfer to the hotel through the tournament director but when I found out they wanted £45 for a 15 minute journey I decided we’d try our luck with a taxi from the airport . . . in the end it only cost us £9 – sometimes it pays to take a chance!!

Anyway back to today . . . we were woken early by the noisy traffic and police whistles outside our rooms at 7am and then we met for breakfast at 8.30am. There’s not a huge amount of choice for breakfast but they’ve got bread, eggs and juice which will do the job for us! After breakfast we headed out to the local supermarket to stock up on water before getting a taxi at just after 9.30am to the club. When I was planning the trip I read up on the local taxis and a lot of people were saying they’re always looking to rip you off but on both occasions today we made sure the driver used the meter and it cost us less than £1 for the 15 minute journey!

Once we were at the club we found out that the next available practice court was at 1pm – not ideal as we’d have to wait 3 hours but we did manage to find one court that they were not using for the tournament so after a good physical warm up we went on at just after 10am. The difference between the courts and the balls at high altitude in Nairobi to the conditions here was unbelievable but at least it meant the ball was a lot easier to control! We ended up losing the court after about 25 minutes as a match was going on but in that time I was very impressed by how Mia was striking the ball both in terms of how strong she looks behind the shot as well as how consistent she was.

After the session we spent a little while getting used to where everything was at the club and then we made our way down the road to a small French patisserie to get some lunch. Both Mia and I are not a fan of olives or very spicy food but it seemed like every sandwich they made in that place involved olives and a spicy sauce!

At 1pm we were back on court for the 2^nd session of the day where Mia trained with Sofia Sualehe from Portugal. Both girls trained well for the hour and after spending 40 minutes drilling and warming up all of their shots they finished the sessions with some points up to 11 which Sofia just managed to sneak 11-9. After the session Mia asked Sofia if she’d like to play doubles and we were both really happy when she said she could.

We then had almost an hour off before going back on court for our last session of the day to work on Mia’s serve. It had been quite erratic during the earlier session so we spent 45 minutes going through a few different aspects of her serve so that she could solve any problem that might arise during the match tomorrow.

By just after 4pm Mia had cooled down and stretched out so all that was left to do was sign in and then we were done for the day. Even though this event is only an ITF Grade 5 the way everything is run is superb; they have chair umpires for each qualifying and main draw match and there is bed & breakfast hospitality for main draw players and their coaches. I knew about the hospitality for the players but was surprised by them giving it for the coaches. When Mia signed in she was told that I needed an official letter from the federation in order to obtain the hospitality so I quickly emailed Leon Smith and Kirsty Thomson at the LTA who passed on the request to women’s team administrator Vicky Daniels and within an hour the letter had been sent through – great job guys and much appreciated.

When we arrived back at the hotel I went for a walk to find a bigger supermarket to get some supplies and then at 7pm we met for dinner at the hotel. After dinner Mia and I sat in the lobby of the hotel and watched “The Goonies” on my laptop – an all-time classic that Mia hadn’t seen before but I think she loved it!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Chiraz Bechri (TUN) (1774) vs (4) Mia Smith (GBR) (709) – 2^nd match after 2pm