Thursday 3^rd April 2014

It was a good performance from Katie today in her Last 16 match against 8^th seed Kaitlyn McCarthy but unfortunately for us the America played at a very high level throughout and went on to win 6-2, 6-1.

As Katie was scheduled to play in the 2^nd round of matches today we were up early to have breakfast at 6.45am and then got over to the site to warm-up just before 8am. Today was the first time we were actually able to practice on the match courts as earlier in the week all the matches had been starting at 8am which meant that any training after that time had to be on the college courts. Katie once again hit very well during our warm-up session and we’ve now got into a very solid routine of what we go through in practice before she plays matches.

Once the match before Katie’s had finished a long 1^st set we sat down to talk through the tactics for her match and also set some goals. Then at 11am Katie went on court to face 8^th seed Kaitlyn McCarthy from America.

We knew a little about Kaitlyn and knew that Katie would have to be on her game and dictate the points in order to go through a good opponent, but I don’t think either of us were expecting such a close first game of the match! It lasted over 15 minutes and saw both girls play at a very high level – it actually took 7 winners from Katie in that game alone to break Kaitlyn’s serve and take a *1-0 lead. In the next five games Kaitlyn really increased the pressure on Katie with some very accurate hitting despite Katie continuing to play at a very high level. Unfortunately those 5 games went against us and even though Katie kept fighting and competing hard, she eventually lost the first set 6-2 after 1 hour and 5 minutes. The set was probably the best I’ve seen Katie play in a match but Kaitlyn just played the big points better.

In the 2^nd set Katie maintained her aggressive play and produced some great tennis in the first two games but from 1-1* Kaitlyn stepped up the pressure again. She went on to win another 5 games in a row with probably the best level of tennis I’ve seen from any of the girls this week to take the match 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour and 45 minutes – normally you’d expect a 2 & 1 scoreline to be over in 50-60 minutes which just goes to show that the match was a lot closer than the score suggests.

Katie was obviously disappointed to lose the match but we both agreed afterwards that she had played some of her best tennis and now if we can increased her consistency at that level in the next few days then she’s going to be a real threat next week in Indian Wells.

After cooling down and stretching out in the gym we got some lunch and then watched some of the other Last 16 matches. Sofia Kenin against Claire Liu was a very close match which Sofia ended up winning 6-4 in the third, but 13 year old Claire is definitely one to keep an eye on over the next few years.

After the matches we headed back to the hotel to relax and pack our bags ready to move on tomorrow. I also managed to get a 30 minute interval session in and it suddenly dawned on me that there is now only 10 days to go until the London Marathon – please support the amazing charity that I’m running for by donating here – www.justgiving.com/robslondonmarathon2014 – THANK YOU!

This evening we had an early dinner and then went through the analysis of the match before heading to Yogurtland for frozen yoghurt – as I’m in training I managed to resist getting one but I was very jealous of everyone’s yoghurt and topping masterpieces!!

Tomorrow we head to Indian Wells to start preparing for the USTA Easter Bowl U18 ITF B1 which starts for Katie on Monday.

Wednesday 2^nd April 2014

It was another good day here in California as Katie stormed through to the Last 16 in the USTA International Spring Championships.

I think I’ve finally (after 5 days) got over my jet lag and this morning, for the first time, it was my alarm that woke me up at 6.30am rather than my body! After finalising the preparations for Katie’s match today, I met her downstairs for breakfast at 8am where she decided to go for the hotel’s buffet breakfast while I tucked into the tournament breakfast box.

Once we arrived at the tournament site we found out that some overnight rain had delayed the start of play but we still decided to warm up at 9.30am before getting on court at 10am for our pre-match hit. Katie’s level in the session this morning was probably the best I’ve seen her hit the ball all week; she was very focussed and the intent she had on each ball was excellent – I had to work very hard just to keep up with her!!

After the session we went to the main stadium to shower and change and I was able to sneak out onto the main football pitch to get a quick picture of the LA Galaxy home ground:

After lunch we watched some of the other 2^nd round matches before it was time to prepare Katie for her match. We discussed the tactics for the match based on how we had seen her opponent play on Monday but a big factor that we needed to take into consideration was the strong wind that was blowing across the whole site. Katie then went through her physical warm up and, after a few movement drills to get her sharp, it was time to play!

At 3pm Katie went on court 6 to face Elysse Graci from America and from the very first game it was obvious that Katie had adjusted to the windy conditions better than her opponent. Katie held serve well and then played some very solid tennis to win the next 5 games in a row to win the set 6-0 with the loss of just 3 points. In her previous match Elysse had played well in the wind but today she really struggled and it didn’t help her that Katie was ready to take on anything that dropped a little short.

The second set was a closer affair even though the score line doesn’t show it. At *2-0 Katie’s serve was under pressure following 2 big forehand winners from Elysse but after Katie managed to hold serve she raised her level in the very next game to stay on top. By this stage Katie was 6-0, 4-0 up and even though Elysse continued to work hard, Katie closed out the next two games to take the win 6-0, 6-0 in just under 50 minutes.

Once Katie had finished we had a quick debrief and then it was straight down to the gym to cool down on the bike and then stretch out. By the time we had finished it was around 5.30pm so we decided to head straight back to the hotel to have a well-earned dinner at 6pm.

After dinner we sat down to go through the match in detail and also start our preparations for the next match tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(11) Katie Swan (GBR) (109) vs (8) Kaitlyn McCarthy (USA) (83) – 2^nd match after 9am (not before 10am)

Tuesday 1^st April 2014

Katie and Chloe had a tough doubles match today as they came up against a strong team in the first round.

Having not quite got over the jet lag yet, I was wide awake at 5.45am this morning so I decided to hit the gym for one of my last 7 runs before the London Marathon on the 13^th April. I then met Katie at 8am for our ‘boxed breakfast’ which consisted of a carton of milk, a carton of orange juice, a box of cereal and a bagel – not really an ideal breakfast for the players (or the coaches!!).

Shortly after we had finished breakfast we headed over to the tournament site to watch some of the other first round matches and then at 10am we walked over to the college courts to get ready for our morning session. After going through a thorough physical warm-up I took Katie through a footwork and movement session for about 20 minutes to keep her sharp and maintain her fitness while she’s on the road. We then had a very good training session from 11-12.15pm where we focused on the learning points from yesterday’s match and also the tactics that we want to implement in her 2^nd round singles match tomorrow.

Once we were finished we were both pretty hungry (the breakfast this morning hadn’t really done the job!) so we went straight back to the tournament tent for some lunch. The lunch that the tournament are providing is better than breakfast but it just consists of a sandwich and either some potato or pasta salad – luckily it’s self-service so you can have as much potato or pasta salad as you can fit on your plate!

Most of the afternoon was then spent waiting for the matches before Katie and Chloe’s to finish – they were scheduled for 6^th match on but 5 out of the 6 matches went to 3 sets!! Before Katie went on court we went through the goals and tactics for the match and then at just after 5pm it was game time.

The wind had been picking up all day and by the time Katie and Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (USA) went on court to face wildcards Francesca Di Lorenzo (USA) & Caroline Dolehide (USA) the conditions were very difficult.

The first 6 games went with serve and even though Francesca and Caroline were playing some strong doubles, Katie and Chloe were holding their own and working hard to stay in the set. At *3-3 Chloe was broken following a sudden death deuce game, Francesca held well and then Katie was broken, again to sudden death deuce, which saw the girls lose the first set 6-3. There wasn’t a lot between both teams during the first set but when it came to the big points Francesca and Caroline just managed to edge them.

The start of the second set was a little flat; the strong wind meant that it had got quite cold and that made it even more difficult to get going. At *1-2 Katie and Chloe upped their levels and, after Chloe held serve well, they broke Caroline for the first time. At that stage I really thought that it was going to be a big turning point in the match but unfortunately Francesca and Caroline played a very good game on Katie’s serve to break her to love. Once they had that break back they increased their play again and won the next three games (two to sudden death deuce) to take the match 6-3, 6-3. Overall there were 5 sudden death deuce games in the match which shows how close it was – unfortunately Katie and Chloe only won 1 of those games!

Despite the loss there were lots of positives from the match including Katie raising her doubles level in the second set to move across the centre line 13 times (10 / set was our goal) and also finish 8 first volleys (8-10 was our goal). It was just a shame for our girls that they came up against a strong pair today who played good doubles throughout.

The match finished at 6pm and after a quick debrief with Katie we headed straight to the gym so that Katie could cool down and stretch out to maximise her recovery before tomorrow’s singles match.

We then went straight back to the hotel and straight into dinner which was thankfully the best meal of the day – chicken, mash potato and fresh vegetables – finally a hot meal!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(11) Katie Swan (GBR) (109) vs Elysse Graci (USA) (275) – 4^th match after 8am

Monday 31^st March 2014

It was a very good start to Katie’s tournament today as she fought very tough conditions to win her 1^st round match.

We started the day with breakfast at 7.30am and, following the problems with dinner last night, we managed to get a full buffet breakfast rather than just the normal ‘boxed’ breakfast due to the tournament supplying us with the wrong tickets!!

We then headed over to the site at 8.15am and started our physical warm-up on court at 9am. As always, it is the player that should dictate the pre-match tennis warm-up before their match so that they feel comfortable and ready to compete. That meant that my role this morning was mainly just a hitter but Katie and I did talk about specific tactics that we wanted to implement in the match as the session went on. Katie looked very good on the practice court and after about 35 minutes she felt ready to go.

As the two matches before Katie’s dragged on a little (the first match, which was finished in straight sets, took 2 and a half hours!) she didn’t end up going on until just before 12.45pm to face Jenna Friedel and by that time the wind had really started to pick up.

As I said yesterday, I’ve known Jenna since she played against Mia Smith and Georgie Axon in Guadeloupe last April but when she started the match it was obvious she’d improved a lot since then. The first two games went with serve as both girls played some very solid tennis but then it was Katie that raised her level first to hold well and take a 2-1 lead. Jenna responded straight away to level the set and then the next game ended up being the most important game of the set. Katie raised her game once again to start to produce the same level that we’d seen on the practice court over the last two days and, even though she was broken to love, it was only because she missed the final shot of the rally 4 times by a matter of centimetres. Because she knew that she was playing the right way she responded very professionally and that led her to break back in the next game, hold and then go 40-15 up on Jenna’s serve at 4-3*. Jenna fought back with some big hitting of her own to hold serve but the momentum was definitely with Katie who went on to hold serve to love and then break to love to take the first set 6-4 in an hour.

That set from Jenna was the best I had ever seen her play and as the second set began I got the feeling that while Katie’s confidence increased, Jenna’s dropped a little. The second set ended up being quite one sided and saw Katie win 5 games in a row from *1-1 to take the set 6-1. During that set Katie only lost 3 points on serve and one of those was a random miss-hit to double fault on match point!

It was a very good start to the tournament and both Katie and I were very pleased with the level she played at against a very tricky opponent in very windy conditions. After the match Katie went off to shower and change while I headed to court 10 on the other side of the site to watch Katie’s next round opponent.

Following that match we both headed to the gym so that Katie could have a good cool down and stretch out. By the time we had finished in the gym it was around 4pm and the doubles draw had been released:

At 5.30pm Katie and I met in the lobby of the hotel to go through her match in detail and then at 6.15pm we headed to the hotel restaurant for a well-deserved dinner – thankfully the hotel was ready for us tonight!

After dinner Katie got stuck into some Algebra while I updated the website with new pictures and the doubles draw – check out the Facebook page and give it a ‘Like’ – only 6 more needed to hit 600! www.facebook.com/itctennis1.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(WC) Francesca Di Lorenzo (USA) & Caroline Dolehide (USA) vs (8) Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (USA) & Katie Swan (GBR) – 6^th match after 8am (not before 3pm)

Sunday 30^th March 2014

Happy Mother’s Day to all the British Mum’s out there!

We had another very good training day today as we put the final touches to our preparation before main draw starts tomorrow.

As Katie had a long 19 hour day yesterday we decided that she would have a bit of a lie in today and so we met at breakfast at 8am. We then headed over to the tournament site and went through our physical warms up and a few footwork drills before getting on court at 10am. Once again Katie produced a very high level of training and she really built on the areas of her game that we had discussed yesterday. We spent the first 45 minutes hitting together where she warmed up and then went through some specific work based around her aggressive gamestyle before finishing the session by playing some points with Emilie Francati from Denmark.

Once we were done we headed over to the main football stadium to shower and change and then headed off site for lunch at Panera Bread – the food was pretty good but the portions were a little small for us!!

For our afternoon session we were once again joined by CiCi Bellis and, like yesterday, we knew that we were going to have a very good hour of practice with her. Katie and CiCi worked very hard together and it was great to see two girls putting everything into their training for the whole of the session. The format of the training today was almost identical to yesterday; the girls drilled for around 30-40 minutes at a very high level and then we finished the session with a service game each from either end of the court to get used to the windy conditions.

Once we had finished Katie and I sat down on the grass behind the practice courts to discuss the session in detail and also talk through the main areas we want to focus on tomorrow in her first round match. We then headed to the Velodrome to go through a light fitness session that is part of Katie’s fitness programme when she is on the road. I always find that a major difference between the juniors and the pros is the amount of physical training they do when on the road a tournaments – juniors tend to view their training as just on court hitting balls and the stretching whereas the pros know that they need to keep maintaining their strength and conditioning even when playing high level events. Even though the session for today was reasonably light it was still a very beneficial session and was an important part of Katie’s preparations for this week.

After the session we cooled down and went through a thorough stretching session to make sure that Katie would recover well for tomorrow. By the time we had finished in the gym it was around 5pm and, after checking that sign-in and everything had been completed, we headed back to the hotel.

We were both pretty hungry tonight and were looking forward to the hospitality buffet dinner but due to a mix up with the hotel and the tournament there wasn’t any meals arranged!! Rather than wait two hours until they sorted something out we headed across the road to Chipotle (along with half the players!) to have a very good meal there! During dinner the draw came out and Katie plays Jenna Friedel from America who I know well from the events in the Caribbean last year.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(11) Katie Swan (GBR) (109) vs Jenna Friedel (USA) (193) – 3^rd match after 8am (not before 10.30am)

Saturday 29^th March 2014

It was an excellent first day of preparation here in Carson, USA today and despite Katie having to wake up at 2am local time to get a flight to LA, she worked extremely hard on and off the court.

My trip began yesterday as I left London for the 11 hour flight to Los Angeles but Katie Swan, who lives in Wichita, Kansas, had a very early start this morning to get a 6.30am (4.30am Los Angeles time!) flight out here.

I met Katie at the airport at just after 7.30am and then we headed straight back to the hotel so she could check in and get some breakfast! We then headed over to the USTA training centre for western USA which is also the tournament site for the week. The site is huge and includes the StubHub Centre which is where the LA Galaxy plays their football (not soccer!!) games.

At just after 10.30am we headed into the USTA gym which is located at one end of the cycling track in the Velodrome – very impressive:

We went through an extended warm up to try and get the 3 hour flight out of Katie’s system and then spent the next hour going through firstly a footwork session, and then finished with some speed work to get Katie really sharp.

Katie worked really hard in the session and it’s obvious that her hard work and excellent attitude are two of the main reasons why in the last 12 months she’s gone from having no ranking to now being a few places outside the top 100.

After lunch it was time for our first on court session and because all of the 19 USTA courts were being used for matches we have to use the college courts which are around a 7-8 minute walk away. It might seem like a short distance but a sign like this one makes it a little more difficult!!

From 2-3pm Katie and I had a really good session; she adjusted well to the conditions and even though the first session at a new tournament venue should be spent just getting used to the surface, balls, environment etc. Katie did all that within about 10 minutes! That left us a good 45-50 minutes to go through a lot of the areas that we had talked about over lunch which were based on notes I had made from watching her play in South Africa recently. Katie worked very hard throughout the session and found a superb intensity which in turn transferred into a very high level of hitting.

Shortly after our session we were back on court from 3.30 – 4.45pm with CiCi Bellis from San Francisco. CiCi is currently the 2^nd highest ranked 1999 year of birth player in the U18 ITF rankings (Katie is currently 8^th!) and so I was really looking forward to another high level session. The girls didn’t disappoint; after warming up we went through some drills and the level the girls produced would have easily been comfortable at a $10k / $25k tournament. After around 40 minutes of drilling the girls decided to play a couple of service games each to finish the session. Once again the standard was very high and at 2-2 the players could not be separated (I think Katie edged it though … but I am biased!!!).

When we were finished we headed back to the gym to cool down and then I took Katie through some stretching and injury prevention work to make sure she recovers well from all of the training. While we were doing that the cyclist were training on the track and it was amazing to see not only the abled-bodied athletes train but also some of the Paralympic team – one athlete only had one leg and I’m sure he was going twice as fast as I would have been able to go with two!

After a quick shower and change at the hotel we went off to dinner at Benihana’s where the food was very good. We weren’t able to get a table where the chef cooks everything in front of you as it was very busy on a Saturday night but it was still a fantastic meal.

My day wasn’t quite finished there though and after talking through the plan for tomorrow with Katie I headed to the gym at 9.45pm for a 7.5 mile run! There are now just 2 weeks to go before the London Marathon and this year I’m running for the amazing Make-A-Wish UK. If you are able to support me and help to put a smile on the face of a child with a life-threatening illness please click on the link below – THANK YOU!