Sunday 14^th April 2013

Final’s Day!! And what better way to finish a fantastic trip than to get a singles winner on the final day!

Even though it was Final’s Day there was no lie-in for the team as we were up and at breakfast by 6.30am. We then got all of our bags packed and ready to go before we check out and waited for the shuttle to take us to the club for the final time. It would have been better if the tournament had sent the mini bus to pick us up but somehow we managed to squeeze four of us plus all of our bags into a saloon car!

When we got to the club we had a few team photos before Georgie and Alex went through their physical warms up.

Georgie hit for around 30 minutes and was striking the ball really well; as I’ve said before the pre-match warm up is very personal and it was my job to just make sure Georgie was comfortable and confident before going into the match. After the warm up Georgie went through the normal routine of completing her pre-match sheet and then discussing the goals and tactics for the match before she went on court at 9am.

The tournament this week has been really well organised and after Georgie had asked me if she’d have ball boys / girls (to which I responded “I wouldn’t have thought so!”) we saw 10+ kids run past us to the court ready to go! Georgie and Jenna Friedel followed them to the court and then it was “Game on!”

Both girls started the final very tentatively even though they must have known exactly what to expect from playing against or watching each other all week. Georgie drew first blood after breaking Jenna’s serve at 1-1* and went on to lead 3-1*. Before the match we knew that Jenna is a hard worker, feisty and that her coach likes to try and get under her opponent’s skin and when she started fighting back Georgie started to get down on herself. At 3-3* I had a few choice words with Georgie through the fence and with that her attitude changed; she became calmer and more focused on what she needed to do which resulted in her taking the next two games to lead 5-3*. Jenna fought back again to break Georgie at *5-4 and after two more games that went with serve, we were into a tie-break. Georgie went 4-1 down at the start but upped her level to win the next 4 points in a row to lead *5-4. The rest of the tie-break was extremely close; Jenna saved two set points at 6-5* and *7-6 before winning three points in a row to take the breaker 9-7.

The set took almost an hour and 15 minutes and both players were looking mentally and physically tired. At *0-40 down in the first game Georgie looked as though she was struggling but she showed a lot of heart to come back and hold serve. The next three games were the key to the whole match; Georgie held at *1-1 with some very aggressive tennis then despite losing the next game she still found a high level of hitting. It was the *2-2 game though that was the real turning point. Georgie produced 3 unforced errors to find herself *15-40 down but then turned the game around and, after hitting 5 winners in total in a game that was 16 points long, she finally held to lead 3-2*. That game had a massive impact on Jenna and Georgie took full advantage to break, hold and break again to take the set 6-2.

Georgie’s aggressive play had been the key to winning the second set; in 13 games of the first set she had hit 14 winners but in only 8 games of the second set she hit the same amount! At the start of the third set I asked her to hit at least 1 winner a game to maintain her aggressive play and at 5-0* up she’d totalled 9 winners and 5 unforced errors. Jenna had been quiet all set but at 5-0* she produced 2 big winners which fired herself and her coach up a little. Georgie then played a poor service game at *5-1 and it was obvious she was just a little nervous! When she changed ends she said to me “Should I be solid or aggressive?” and my response as always was “Be aggressive and win the points yourself”. Georgie did just that and having spent most of the session yesterday evening working on drive volleys and moving forwards to the net, is was brilliant to see her doing it when it mattered the most. Georgie “won” the final game with 2 winners and some very aggressive play to take the match 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2 in 2 hours 30 minutes.

It was absolutely brilliant to see Georgie win the tournament after 3 tough weeks but the most important thing to me is that the players work hard, compete hard and improve their games, which Georgie has done 100%.

After the match we walked on court to congratulate Georgie and then we had the presentation. Georgie was not impressed when I said before the match that she might have to say a few words of thanks to the referee and tournament officials but luckily for her she wasn’t asked to do a speech!!

As soon as we were finished with taking photos and telling Georgie how amazing she was (!!) she went off to cool down and change before we got some food at Paul’s – Alex had promised Georgie an Éclair if she won the event but can you believe they were sold out by the time we’d got there?!

At 1.30pm we said our thanks and goodbyes and got a shuttle to the airport. Before we checked in we had to do a bit of repacking to do to get Georgie’s trophy in and then there was the matter of finishing the press-ups that the players and I had accumulated during the trip (note to myself – Mia’s still owes me 215 as she refused to do them in the clothes that she was flying in – don’t tell Holly H. who had to do 180 Burpees in her Hollister stuff in Nairobi!!

After leaving Guadeloupe at 4.45pm we arrived in Paris at 6.20am and then made our way across the capital to the Gare Du Nord for our Eurostar train back to Ebbsfleet. Even though we arrived in time to get the 9.13am train, and there were seats available, I was not prepared to pay another €40 each to change the tickets! So we spent the next 4 hours eating and sleeping in a local café!

That brings another brilliant trip to an end, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the Blogs and if you have any questions on international tournaments or on any events that I would recommend please feel free to contact me.

Saturday 13^th April 2013

We had one win and one loss today in the semi-finals as Georgie came through 6-2, 6-4 against Madison Harrison while Mia went down 6-1, 6-1 to number 2 seed Jenna Friedel.

After a late finish last night in the girl’s doubles final the team were looking a little tired at 6.30am this morning when we met for breakfast. They soon perked up a little once they got some food in their systems and we made our way over to the club at 7.30am.

It was a nice feeling being first at the club this morning and after Mia and Georgie completed their physical warm up they then hit for around 30 minutes to get ready for their semi-finals. We hit on the same court as the doubles final last night and the funny thing was it was less than 12 hours since the girls were battling it out for the title – not sure Mia and Georgie saw the funny side though!!

Both girls then completed their pre-match sheets and I went through the plan for their matches individually. At this stage of the tournament all four players should be well into their strides so it really comes down to who is willing to fight the hardest and compete the best to go one stage further and make the final.

As both girls went on at the same time I positioned myself between the two courts so that I could keep up with what was happening in both matches. Mia was taking on Jenna Friedel from America and, having lost to her in the doubles final last night, I was hoping Mia would get some revenge today.

Mia was broken in the first game of the match but responded positively and broke Jenna in the very next game. Unfortunately that was the last game of the set that Mia managed to win as a mixture of Jenna’s consistency and Mia playing a little impatiently resulted in Jenna taking the set 6-1. The set had gone very quickly and Mia made a good decision at the end of the set to go off court to the toilet to gather her thoughts.

Mia played a good game at the start of the second set to break Jenna and take a *1-0 lead and I was hoping that she would start to build some momentum from that game. However, when Mia was broken in the next game her energy levels dropped and she struggled to compete with Jenna from then onwards. It may have been because she was a little tired from the doubles yesterday or that she didn’t believe she could get through a consistent player who wasn’t putting a lot of pace on the ball. In a similar way to the first set Mia lost the next 5 games in a row to go down 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour. It was a shame that Mia finished on a match like this one as she has competed well in her matches over the last 3 weeks but hopefully she’ll learn from it and it will help her in the future.

Georgie started really well against Madison Harrison from America and after Mia had played her last week we knew exactly what to expect. Georgie broke in the first game and after holding in the next game she kept the pressure on her opponent with some big groundstrokes from the back of the court. Georgie then broke again at 4-2* and served out the set well to take it 6-2.

We knew Madison had some fight in her so it was important for Georgie to stay on top at the start of the second set. Georgie did just that a raced to a 4-0* lead before Madison finally held to get a game on the board. At this stage Georgie threw in a poor service game and then suddenly started to get a little negative as she felt as though it gave Madison an opportunity to get back into the set. Madison held serve to make the score *4-3 but Georgie continued to fight hard even though the quality of the tennis wasn’t as good as in the first set.  Both girls then held which left it up to Georgie to serve for the match! Despite the last game being a little edge Georgie kept her nerve to serve out the match 6-2, 6-4. The look on Georgie’s face when she won wasn’t quite the story of the match but at least she’s through to the final!!

After congratulating Georgie I made my way over to the shopping centre to get on the internet to try and rebook flights so that we could try and fly home after the final tomorrow. It wasn’t an easy job but I eventually managed to get flights to Paris and then a Eurostar train back into Kent!

We had lunch together at the club at around 12.30pm and then returned to the hotel to relax for the afternoon.

As Georgie wasn’t happy with the level at the end of her match, we went back to the club just before 5pm to work on a few different specifics and then go through the tactics for the final tomorrow against Jenna. Alex and I drilled with Georgie for around an hour and then she finished the session with some work on her serve and return to make sure she was fully prepared.

We all then sat down together at the club for dinner and were the only ones left there after the floodlights went off at 7pm!! It was then back to the hotel for an early night to be ready to do battle tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Final – (1) Georgie Axon (GBR) (612) vs (2) Jenna Friedel (USA) (658) – 1^st match at 9am

Friday 12^th April 2013

It was a heart-breaking day today as, following Georgie’s ¼ final win in the singles, the girl’s lost a very close doubles final after having 2 match points.

The players all had an extra hour in bed this morning as play started at 10am today. We met for breakfast at 7.30am and then got to the courts just before 8.30am to warm up. Georgie and Mia then hit together until just before 9.30am where they went through their normal routine to prepare themselves for their matches today. Following the session, Georgie and I went through some notes from her previous singles match and then discussed tactics and goals for today’s match. Georgie was feeling confident and at 10am went on court to face 5^th seed Anna Wierda from America.

Both girls were tentative in the opening games as they tried to work each other out and after they exchanged breaks in the first two games, Georgie broke and held to take a 3-1 lead. At this point Georgie relaxed more and started to dictate the play from the back of the court which saw her break Anna for the third time to take a *4-1 lead. Georgie then lost her serve in the next game but continued to fight hard and play some good tennis to break again and then hold to take the first set 6-2.

Georgie increased her level in the second set and had even more of a bounce in her step as she raced to a 3-0 lead. Even getting broken in the next game didn’t faze her and as the set went on her confidence grew more and more. She won the next 3 games in a row, including hitting 4 massive unreturnable serves at *4-1, to take the match 6-2, 6-1 and join Mia in the semi-finals tomorrow.

Following the match we had a quick chat then Georgie stretched, showered and changed before we headed over to the shopping centre next to the club for a traditional “Paul’s baguette!”. Once we arrived back on site lunch was ready so we sat down together to eat and then got the shuttle back to the hotel to relax for the afternoon.

We got back to the tournament site at 4pm to watch some of Georgie’s next round opponent play her ¼ final match and then at 4.45pm all 4 of us got on court for 30 minutes to do some doubles drilling to prepare the girls for their final.

Following the boy’s final, the girls went on court at just after 5.30pm to face number 2 seeds Jenna Friedel and Michelle Valdez. Our girls started well and after breaking Jenna in the opening game then went on to take a 2-0 lead. Jenna and Michelle fought back though to level the set at 2-2* and then after another exchange of breaks the set went with serve until *4-5. Mia and Georgie then saved 3 set points on Mia’s serve in the next game and after 2 more holds on serve we were into a tie-break. The set so far had been very close with neither pair really dominating and the tie-break was another close affair! Mia and Georgie trailed 1-3* but then stormed back to take the next four points in a row and eventually held their nerves to take it 7-5.

The second set was just as much a rollercoaster as the first – both physically and mentally (especially for me!!). We got a good break at 3-2* but Georgie was broken in the next game and then the games continued to be close until Georgie was again broken at *5-5. Mia and Georgie stayed positive despite falling behind for the first time in the set and broke Michelle immediately to take the second set to a tie-break. Just like in the first set the girls had a slow start and when they changed ends for the first time they were 1-5 down . . . well, that was the correct score but the chair judge had made a mistake earlier in the breaker and he called 2-4 – bonus!! We took full advantage of the help with the score and went on to win the next 4 points in a row to lead 6-4 with 2 match points! Unfortunately Mia and Georgie couldn’t convert either of them and despite saving set points at 6-7* and *7-8 they went on to lose the tie-break 11-9.

In their first round doubles match Mia and Georgie responded well to losing the second set and came out for the match tie-break with a real spring in their step but after failing to convert their match points today was a different story. Throughout the match tie-break they were both very flat and after a couple of mini-breaks at the start they found themselves 4-1 down. Jenna and Michelle had become quite defensive with their play which frustrated Mia and Georgie and resulted in them forcing too much. The tie-break eventually went against us 10-4 and it was definitely an opportunity missed to get a title this week.

By the time we had finished and the presentation had been completed it was around 8.15pm so we quickly got some dinner and then returned to the hotel to lick our wounds. We now turn our attention to the singles semi-finals tomorrow and hopefully the girls can put aside their disappointment from today and get through to the finals on Sunday.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Georgie Axon (GBR) (612) vs Madison Harrison (USA) (UNR) – 1^st match at 9am

(3) Mia Smith (GBR) (764) vs (2) Jenna Friedel (USA) – 1^st match at 9am

Thursday 11^th April 2013

It was another successful day today as Mia took a close ¼ final match to advance to her first U18 ITF semi-final, while the girls moved into the doubles final after a walkover in their semi-final.

As Mia was scheduled for 1^st match at 9am we had an early breakfast at 6.30am and then got a taxi to the tennis club at 7.20am. Mia and Georgie then warmed up and hit for about 25 minutes until Mia was feeling the ball well and ready for her match.

We then talked about some of the key points from yesterday’s match with Arki Truscott while Mia completed her pre-match sheet. Then at 9am Mia went on to face Nanette Nylund from Finland.

The first game of the match was 18 points long as both girls struggled to find a consistent level but Mia came out on top to hold serve. The set then went with serve as neither girl was able to really impose themselves on the match but, as Mia was definitely the more aggressive of the two players, I knew it was only a matter of time before she got a breakthrough. Mia got a break at 3-2* but was broken back in the next game and, after Mia didn’t hear the chair judge call a serve out, the set was suddenly level at *4-4. At this point Mia took a deep breath and stepped up to play two good games where she hit 1 winner and 0 unforced errors to take the first set 6-4.

The first set had been a tight affair, not only in the scoreline but also in the level but when Mia took a *3-1 lead in the second set it looked as though the match was over. Nanette kept fighting though and I think thoughts of last week when Mia was 3-0 up against Madison Harrison started to creep in. Nanette took the next 2 games to level the set at *3-3 but Mia stayed positive and continued to stay patient in the rally. After holding serve in the next game, Mia then broke Nanette and finished the match well with another good service game to win 6-4, 6-3 and book her place in the semi-final.

It was a hard fought win against the type of opponent that Mia does not like to play but she stayed more patient than she has done recently and that made a massive difference. By winning that match Mia has now advanced to the semi-finals of a singles U18 ITF for the first time and hopefully she can go one better on Saturday.

After a break for lunch we got back on court just before 1pm to work on some doubles. By this stage we had not been told that Mia and Georgie had received a walkover in the semi-finals but we knew that it was very likely as neither opponent had been onsite all day. After warming up Alex and I took on the girls in a couple of full sets to work on the specifics that we identified from the ¼ final match yesterday. The girls didn’t seem too up for the challenge of playing us and after two quick 6-2 sets we decided to change the teams around. Alex teamed up with Georgie and I took on the challenge of playing with Mia!!

The final set started really well for us and we flew to a 5-2 lead but Alex and Georgie weren’t quite done there! They played some very sharp doubles and, even if they crossed and missed, they were definitely doing the right thing to develop their games. Alex and Georgie went on to win the next 5 games in a row and deny us 3 set point opportunities to take the set 7-5 – too good from them!!

Once we were done we got some food and then waited for the referee to return onsite to confirm that the girls had received a walkover. We then returned to the hotel at around 4pm to stretch out and relax before we had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant this evening.

Alex was keen to join in on the karaoke in the lobby tonight but instead we went on the search for an open supermarket to get some food and water . . . but we couldn’t find one!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Georgie Axon (GBR) (612) vs (5) Anna Wierda (USA) (840) – 1^st match at 10am

(1) Georgie Axon (GBR) & Mia Smith (GBR) vs (2) Jenna Friedel (USA) Michelle Valdez (DOM) – 2^nd match after 4pm

Wednesday 10^th April 2013

It was a very long but successful day today as 3 wins out of 3 saw the both girls advance into the ¼ finals of the singles and the semi-finals of the doubles.

We had our earliest start of the trip today as we met for breakfast at 6.30am and then got a taxi to the courts at 7.20am. We could have waited for the shuttle bus at 7.45am but that would not have given the players enough time to go through their physical warm up before hitting at 8am. As Georgie and Mia both had matches today they hit together from 8-8.30am while Alex started his strength and conditioning programme for the week.

Both girls were hitting well and looking confident throughout the session and once they had finished their pre-match warm up they completed their match analysis sheets while I went off to get some water. When I returned I talked through Georgie’s match plan with her and then at 9am she went on to face Morgan Bernabe from Martinique.

Georgie got off to a great start and was well into her rhythm after she broke Morgan’s serve in the first game of the match. She then went on to dominate most games during the first set and didn’t allow her opponent to get going as she flew through the set 6-0.

Georgie continued where she left off after the first set and went on to increase her level as she progressed through the second set. There were a couple of tight games towards the end of the match as Morgan produced some big backhand winners but Georgie went on to take the second set 6-0 with 14 winners and 12 unforced errors.

As soon as Georgie finished, Mia was straight on the same court to take on Arki Truscott from Australia. I met Arki for the first time a couple of months ago in Nairobi and having seen her play yesterday we knew exactly what to expect. Mia broke in the second game to take a 2-0 lead and found a very good level from the back of the court. Mia has struggled over the past couple of weeks to find the balance between being aggressive and maintaining her consistency but today she found it from the start of the match. Mia was broken when serving at *3-1 but immediately broke back and went on to take the opening set 6-2.

Mia then raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set but, like last week, a bit of negativity crept in and it was soon back on serve at 3-2*. Despite being broken at *4-2 and *5-3 Mia reacted well on both occasions and continued to hit well from the back of the court to eventually take the match 6-2, 6-4.

It was a big win for Mia after coming close to gaining a singles win in the last two weeks and hopefully it will give her a big boost before the ¼ final tomorrow.

After Mia had finished we had a quick chat and then got some lunch with Georgie and Alex. We then got the 12.30pm shuttle back to the hotel so that the players could get away from the tournament site and relax for a while before the girl’s doubles match this evening.

As Mia and Georgie were scheduled 2^nd on after 4pm we needed to get the 3.45pm shuttle back to the tennis centre in case the match before theirs finished very quickly. As it turned out we had a little wait before the girls went on which gave us a chance to go over some details from last week and set some goals for the match.

Mia and Georgie finally went on just as the sun was setting at 5.30pm to face Madison Harrison (USA) and Arki Truscott (AUS). It was a chance for Mia to get some revenge over Madison after she left a lead slip against her last week but it wasn’t a great start as Mia was broken in the first game. Both girls stayed positive though and played some very good doubles to brake twice in the next 3 games to take a *3-1 lead. Mia was then broken for a second time but despite the scoreline looking close it always seemed as though our girls were playing the better doubles. After Georgie held at *3-3, the girls then broke Arki’s serve for the second time and Mia held to take the set 6-3.

With the momentum definitely going our way, Mia and Georgie broke Madison in the first game of the second set but then over the course of the next couple of games the wheels started to fall off! Mia was broken at *1-0, then after Georgie was broken at *1-2 both girls stopped communicating and things got very edgy. Madison and Arki went on to win the next 3 games to take the set 6-1 in a complete turnaround of the first set.

To Mia and Georgie’s credit they raced out of their chairs at the start of the match tie-break and showed they were not giving this one up. The energy levels were much higher and both girls encouraged each other which made a massive difference to their belief in winning the third set. The match tie-break went with serve (apart from a couple of 1 point mini-breaks) until 5-4* when Mia and Georgie took both points off Madison’s serve to take a 7-4 lead. Mia then served well and Georgie moved well at the net to take the next two points before Arki threw in a double fault to give our girls a 6-3, 1-6, 10-4 win.

Both Mia and Georgie were relieved to come through the match and get their first doubles win of the trip but hopefully they have now learnt that they need to continue to play together as a team and remain positive in order to get the job done quickly!!

We were told by the referee that Mia and Georgie’s semi-final opponents may have to pull out tomorrow as one of them has had a death in the family but that will be confirmed in the morning.

After the match we had dinner at the club and then had a very squashed bus journey back to the hotel to have an early night before another early start tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Nanette Nylund (FIN) (1833) vs (3) Mia Smith (GBR) (764) – 1^st match at 9am

(1) Georgie Axon (GBR) & Mia Smith (GBR) vs Luna Meers (BEL) & Yasmine Xantos (AUS) – To Be Confirmed

Tuesday 9^th April 2013

It was a tough 1^st round singles match for Alex today which brought his event to a close while the girl’s still haven’t played a singles or doubles match!

We had a very early start today with breakfast at 6.45am before we got the 7.45am bus to the courts. The girl’s training session was scheduled for 10am-12pm so when they arrived on site they got straight into their school work while Alex went through his physical warm up. Alex then hit with Max Renke to prepare himself for his singles match and by 9am he was feeling good and ready to go!

After the session Alex completed his pre-match sheet with his game plan and specific goals while I took the girls across the road to the supermarket to stock up on water. When we returned Alex and I went through his pre-match briefing before waiting for the match before his to finish.

Alex took to the court at 10.15am to play French wildcard Constant De La Bassetiere. Alex played well in the first two games to take a 2-0 lead but he then put in a poor service game and was broken to allow Constant back into the set. Alex was broken again at *2-2 as Constant started to find his rhythm but Alex responded very well to break straight back. Many of the games were very close with both players finding a good aggressive balance but Constant stepped up his level at *3-3 to break and hold to take a 5-3 lead. Alex’s head had dropped a little but he dug his heels in and worked very hard to hold serve to make his opponent serve the set out. The next game was extremely close and it was by far the best game of the set but after three deuces Constant hit two big unreturnable serves to take the set 6-4. The set had taken almost an hour and 15 minutes and it definitely had a big physical effect on Alex.

The second set was much more one sided as Constant upped his level again and Alex struggled to find the same level as the first set. Alex went 0-3* down before getting one of the two breaks back but he couldn’t hold onto it and was broken again in the next game. Alex continued to work as hard as he could but a slight pull to his right quad meant that he struggled to stay in the rallies like he had in the first set.

He held serve at *1-5 but Constant served well to take the match 6-4, 6-2. The first set was definitely the best I’ve seen Alex hit the ball and now it’s going to be his goal to become physically strong enough to be able to maintain that level for 3 sets.

After the match I had a quick chat with Alex to reinforce all the positive points from both sets before I went straight over to the practice courts to be with Mia and Georgie. They had both trained hard for an hour and a half and when I arrived they were just coming to the end of their first match tie-break. They played one more up tie-break up to 15 points and at the end of it they were both happy with their level so decided to finish the session and get some lunch.

I was back on court with Georgie at 2pm for her second session of the day and the goal of this session was to help her feel the ball a little more and find the level she wants for the match tomorrow. Georgie hit the ball really well throughout the session and look very confident from the back of the court. I managed to sneak the match tie-break that we played at the end but I think that was only because I had the wind behind me after we changed ends at 9-9!!

Following the session we got the bus back to the hotel which gave the players a couple of hours to do school work and have a swim in the hotel pool before we went out to dinner. Tonight we went to a local African restaurant near the hotel where the food was very good.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to go through a psychology session for 30 minutes and then the players relaxed while watching the second half of The Goonies!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Georgie Axon (GBR) (612) vs Morgan Bernabe (MRN) (UNR) – 1^st match at 9am

Arki Truscott (AUS) (1872) vs (3) Mia Smith (GBR) (764) – 2^nd match after 9am

(1) Georgie Axon (GBR) & Mia Smith (GBR) vs Madison Harrison (USA) & Arki Truscott (AUS) – 2^nd match after 4pm

Monday 8^th April 2013

It was a tough start to the final week of the tour as Alex and George lost a close 1^st round doubles match after having set points in the first set.

Having arrived late last night we were told that none of the players would have a singles match today but Alex would have the first round of his doubles. We therefore had a more relaxed start to the day and met for breakfast at 8am before we got the bus to the courts at 8.45am. The shuttle bus is only a little 8 seater and, by just before 8.45am, there were probably about 15-20 players waiting for a lift. We managed to squeeze into the first bus and arrived on site just as the first singles matches were starting.

After a quick visit to the local supermarket the players warmed up at 9.30am and then we went on court at 10am with George Cartledge who is playing doubles with Alex this week. For the first hour all four players did a lot of drilling to get used to the court surface and then at 11am we moved to court 4 to play points for the second hour of practice.

It was quite a hot, humid and windy morning and the players were all a little agitated throughout the point play which was probably also down to a little tiredness after travelling yesterday.

We finished the session at 12pm and then the players cooled down, stretched and showered before lunch was served! It’s quite unusual to find a Grade 4 ITF that offers full hospitality to main draw players and national coaches but we’ve got it here and so far the food and hotel accommodation has been very good.

For the following couple of hours the players either relaxed, watched the matches or completed their school work before Alex and George went on for their doubles at 3.30pm.

Alex and George had played very well together in Trinidad and they started well today taking a 4-1* lead in the first set against Geoffrey Blancaneux from France and Maxim Renke from Germany. Maxim held serve in the next game but then Alex was broken to get the set back on serve. Our boys responded well by breaking Geoffrey for the second time to take a 5-3 lead and despite 2 set points on Georges serve they were broken straight back. At 5-4* Maxim held serve well and after Alex was broken again Geoffrey held for the first time to take the opening set 7-5.

George and Alex had played some good doubles to take control of the first set but after it went against them they began to look a bit flat. George was broken in the first game of the second set and then again at *1-3 to trail 1-4*. The good movement and sharp volleys from both boys had dried up which gave Geoffrey and Maxim a lot of confidence. Alex held at *1-5 but it was the last game our boys managed to win as they went down 7-5, 6-2.

It was a disappointing loss after such a good start to the match but hopefully both players will respond with a good singles performance tomorrow.

While Alex was playing, Mia watched the match that would determine who she would play in her first match. Once she had enough information on the winner, her and Georgie got stuck into some school work before dinner was ready at 6.30pm.

There was a lot of mosquitos around this evening, which wasn’t much fun, but we just about managed to finish our dinner before we got a bus back to the hotel at 7.30pm. We then sat in the lobby of the hotel and watched The Goonies for an hour following a request from Mia. Georgie and Alex were a bit sceptical to begin with but I think they were just starting to get into it when we stopped the film to go off to bed at 9pm. Part 2 tomorrow evening!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Alex Hagon (GBR) (1835) vs (WC) Constant De La Bassetiere (FRA) (UNR) – 2^nd match after 9am