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Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Final’s Day!

Saturday 31st May 2014

It was a fantastic end to a great week here in Podgorica as Holly and Lauryn won the doubles title which we were defending from last year when Holly Hutchinson and Georgie Axon won it.

We had an early start this morning as we had to make sure everything was packed up and ready to check out by the time our taxi came at 7.15am. I had asked on numerous occasions yesterday for a large taxi to the club as we had quite a lot of baggage but for some reason they decided to bring a small one – much to Holly and Camille’s delight:

Holly and Camille are under there somewhere!

We arrived at the club at 7.30am and went straight on court to warm up. Lauryn joined us shortly afterwards and then at 8am we went into our training session to prepare the girls for their doubles final. Just like yesterday, Camille and I hit with the girls to warm them up and then we went into some cross-court drills with the main focus moving forwards and controlling the net. That was something that Holly and Lauryn did very well yesterday and I knew that they would need to do the same today if they were to take the title. At just before 9am we warmed up some serves and then went into some points so ensure the girls were planning points both on serve and return.

After the session we got some food and then waited for Oana Gavrila to finish her singles so that we knew what time the doubles final would go on. To keep themselves busy Holly and Lauryn decided to have a game of Chess . . . I couldn’t help but hope that their doubles tactics would be better than their Chess tactics!!

The focussed pair before their Final

At 12pm the girls went on to face Oana Gavrila and Nina Marjanovic and, following their opponents winning the title last week, we knew it was going to be a tough match. Holly and Lauryn started well and from the first game they put their opponent’s serve under a lot of pressure. After losing a very tight sudden death deuce point in the opening game, Lauryn held serve at *0-1 and then they broke Oana’s serve to take a *2-1 lead. From this point both girls relaxed more and started to play some very good doubles which saw them hold and break again to be in control of the set at *4-1. Lauryn was then broken after a bit of a loose game but the girls responded very professionally to break back in the very next game and then they went on to take the set 6-3.

Lauryn was broken again at the start of the second set following a few too many unforced errors from both girls, but from 0-1* down they refocused and won the next 3 games in a row to secure a strong 3-1* lead. Oana and Nina were hanging on though and kept fighting in every game like you would expect of a Romanian and Serbian. The next game went against our girls on another sudden death deuce point but from *3-2 they fought back the nerves to win the next 3 games in a row to take the match and the title, 6-3, 6-2.

It was a great match to watch and I was really pleased for Holly as not only did she take her first ITF title but she also played well all week and deserved the win today. After the match they had the trophy presentation – here are the Champions!

Montenegro U18 ITF Doubles Champions

Once Holly had cooled down and showered we went to the restaurant next door to get some lunch and then at 2.30pm we said our goodbyes and got in the taxi to take us to Dubrovnik airport.

The 3 hour drive was absolutely stunning; one thing I can never get over when I’m travelling is the amount of amazing places around the world that are tucked away in the corner of a country and are not well known. I would have never thought of going to Montenegro for a summer holiday but the places we passed this afternoon were beautiful:

Just one of the amazing views on the coastal road between Montenegro and Croatia

We also had a little boat trip thrown in; it was only about 5 minutes but we were all very impressed!

The view from the boat on the way to Croatia

At 5.30pm we arrived at Dubrovnik airport, checked in and then waited for our 8pm flight back to London.

It’s been another fantastic trip to Montenegro and I look forward to coming back next year. My attention now moves to the grass court season which, for me, starts tomorrow morning with a 6am drive to Nottingham for the women’s $75k.

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 7

Friday 30th May 2014

We had another good day at the Eminent Tennis Club today as Holly and Lauryn beat the number 1 seeds to advance to the Final of the doubles.

After having early starts for the last 4-5 days the team decided that they needed a lie-in this morning and so we met for breakfast at 8am and then got over to the club to warm up at 9.30am. The plan was to warm up on the indoor court and then train on there for an hour but once we’d completed our warm-up we lost the court to some private coaching! That gave Camille and I a chance to talk through her singles and doubles matches from yesterday before we managed to get on the clay to train at 11.30am.

We managed to get a full court to train on so on one half court Camille hit with Lauryn while on the other half court I hit with Holly. Once we’d warmed up everything we went into some doubles specific drills to work on a few areas that had been highlighted from yesterday’s ¼ final match and then we played a tie-break to finish off.

The girls then had a bite to eat and at just before 1pm they went on court to face number 1 seeds Wiktoria Kulik and Karolina Silwanowicz from Poland. Lauryn had lost to Wiktoria yesterday in a very close three sets and so today she was looking for revenge, while Holly was aiming for her first ever ITF Final.

Our girls started well and played a solid first 4 games, all of which went to sudden death deuce but went with serve. Then at 2-2* Holly and Lauryn took advantage of a poor service game from Wiktoria and got the very important break of serve. They then continued to play well and once Lauryn held (to another sudden death deuce) they took a 4-2 lead and ended up taking the set 6-4.

When the second set started both Holly and Lauryn looked very confident on the court and they both moved very well at the net to control most of the points in the opening 3 games. That resulted in them taking a 3-0 lead but at the start of the very next game the heavens opened and the first real rain of the week came down. During the rain delay we had a quick chat but the main message was to just keep doing what they were doing and dominate the points at the net. After a 15 minute break the rain stopped and the players went straight back on court. Lauryn was broken in the next game but our girls responded well to win the next 3 games convincingly to take the match 6-4, 6-1.

Both girls were pleased with the result as well as how they played but I think Holly was the most pleased as she finally broke her run of losing in semi-finals!!

Once Holly had cooled down and showered we headed back to the hotel to relax for the afternoon while the rain kept pouring down outside.

Dinner tonight was a rather long affair as one game of cards lasted almost an hour and a half! It was then time to pack up and get ready to leave the hotel in the morning as we have a flight home booked in the evening from Dubrovnik! Hopefully we’ll have the difficult task of trying to take a winner’s trophy on an easyJet flight!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(4) Holly Horsfall (GBR) & Lauryn John-Baptiste (GBR) vs Oana Gavrila (ROU) & Nina Marjanovic (SRB) – 2nd match, time To Be Confirmed

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 6

Thursday 29th May 2014

Camille’s tournament came to an end today after a tough battle with the 4th seed, but Holly and Lauryn are through to the semi-final of the doubles after knocking out Camille and Itana this afternoon.

After having an early breakfast we made our way to the club to warm up and get ready for our 8.30am practice court. Holly and Camille hit for around 30 minutes and both girls were hitting the ball well throughout the session. Then at 9am we came off the court and I sat down with each of the girls individually to go through their singles and doubles matches from yesterday. It took around an hour to go through all four matches but both girls gave some very accurate feedback and their post-match sheets made very interesting reading!

Once we were finished going through yesterday’s matches, Camille and I talked through the goals for her match today and then at 11am she went on court to face 4th seed Patrycja Polanska from Poland.

Camille started a little nervously and after a poor service she went 0-2 down but she then responded well and won the next 5 games in a row to take a 5-2 lead. By this stage Camille was playing very confidently and dictating most of the points from the back of the court while her opponent was getting more and more frustrated! Camille was broken while serving for the set at 5-2 but again responded professionally and broke straight back to take the first set 6-3.

At the end of the set Patrycja went for a toilet break and when she returned she was a completely different player; she was much more aggressive while at the same time making sure that she limited the amount of free points that she gave Camille. That led to her racing through the second set 6-1 in 30 minutes and even though the set seems very one sided, Camille’s winner count was the same as in the first set and her unforced error count was actually 5 better! Unfortunately her opponent had completely switched her stats and, after hitting 3 winners and 20 unforced errors in the first set, Patrycja hit 13 winners and only 10 unforced errors in the second.

Once that set was finished it was obvious that Patrycja was well into her stride and it was going to be very difficult to break the rhythm she had found. Camille continued to work hard and tried to dictate the points like she had done in the first set but her opponent was not going to give up the lead and went on to take the third set 6-0 while posting impressive stats of 8 winners and only 3 unforced errors.

Camille was very disappointed at the end of the match but to be fair to her opponent she did play very well, especially in the third set.

Once Camille had cooled down, showered and stretched we headed to the restaurant next door to get some lunch and relax before the showdown in the doubles between Camille & Itana and Holly & Lauryn!

The girls took to court 1 after a bit of a delay at around 3.45pm and from the first couple of games I knew it was going to be a big ask for Camille and Itana to come through the match with a win. I knew that Camille was more than capable of competing at the level that Holly and Lauryn were playing at, but unfortunately for Itana it was just too difficult. Holly and Lauryn raced through the first set 6-0 and even though Camille and Itana took a 1-0 lead in the second set after breaking Holly, it only lasted 1 game before they were broken back. Holly and Lauryn played some sharp doubles and once they took a 3-2 lead in the second set there was no looking back for them. They finished off the match 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals tomorrow where they’ll face the top seeds from Poland.

Holly, Lauryn, Camille and Itana shaking hands at the end of the match

Once Holly and Camille had cooled down and had a good 20 minute stretching session, we got a taxi back to the hotel. We then met for dinner at 6.30pm and after a few very long games of cards we decided that it would be best to have an early night!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Wiktoria Kulik (POL) & Karolina Silwanowicz (POL) vs (4) Holly Horsfall (GBR) & Lauryn John-Baptiste (GBR) – Time ‘To Be Confirmed’

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 5

Wednesday 28th May 2014

This is going to be a shorter Blog than normal as it’s now 11.15pm and we’ve just got back to the hotel after being at the club for almost 14 hours today.

We arrived at the club just after 7.15am this morning and, as we had no priority on the court (because they were only reserved for 1st and 2nd round matches), it was a case of jumping on one as soon as it became available. The girls warmed up and then managed to have a good 30 minute hit from 8-8.30am before the 1st round matches started.

The rest of the morning was spent trying to find a doubles partner for Camille and then at 12pm the draw came out:

Girl’s Doubles Draw

We then got lunch at the restaurant next door and then the early part of the afternoon was spent watching fellow Brits Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Lauryn John-Baptiste come through their 1st round matches. A big well done has to go to Mohamed who had a very difficult but rewarding win over the 7th seed from Israel who tried every trick in the book to get under Mohamed’s skin.

Camille then went on at 4.30pm to face Jasmin Buchta from Austria and she produced a very high level of tennis from the start of the match. Over the last few days her training has been going well but there have often been fluctuations in her concentration but today she was spot on from start to finish. Camille broke serve for the first time at 2-2* and then after taking the first set 6-3 she upped her level to win the next 6 games in a row to take the match 6-3, 6-0. It was a convincing win and we were both pleased with her performance.

Camille setting up for a backhand winner on match point

Holly then went on court at 5.30pm to play Milica Cubranovic from Serbia and from the warm up it was obvious that it was going to be difficult as her game did not match up well with her opponent’s. Milica changed the pace a lot and didn’t allow Holly to get into any rhythm which saw her take a 6-2, 4-1 lead. Holly wasn’t about to give up though and she dug really deep to win the next 3 games in a row to level the set at 4-4. Despite being broken at 4-4 and 5-5, Holly broke straight back each time and when the set went to a tie-break I really thought Holly would take it. Unfortunately Holly didn’t play well until she was 1-6 down and even though she got it back to 5-6 a double fault cost her the match 6-2, 7-6(5).

Holly finishing a point was a very good backhand volley

The next match of the day was Camille’s doubles with Itana Pejovic from Montenegro against Ivon Mihaleva (BUL) and Beata Swiatlon (POL). The girls went on at 7.30pm and I have to say it was one of the worst doubles matches I’ve seen in a long time! Luckily Camille and Itana pulled through the match 6-2, 2-6, 12-10 (after saving a match point at 9-10 down) which meant that even though the debrief wasn’t too positive, they live to fight another day and can work on all the things we talked about tomorrow in the next round!

Our final match of the day was Holly and Lauryn against Lisa and Jana Friess from Austria which went on at 9.20pm! I was really proud of Holly this evening as, after she was so disappointed with her singles performance earlier, she came onto the doubles court and played the best doubles match I’ve ever seen her play. The Austrian sisters were a good pair but Holly and Lauryn played a very high quality match and came through 6-2, 6-4 – it did get a bit tight in the 2nd set though as Holly and Lauryn lost 3 sudden death deuce games in a row from 6-2, 5-1 up but they remained positive and broke serve to take the match!

After the match Holly had some food that Camille managed to get from the restaurant next door and then we had to wait 20 minutes for a taxi that in the end didn’t turn up at all! Thankfully the coach of Camille’s doubles partner gave us a lift back to the hotel at 11pm and now it’s time to get ready to go again tomorrow morning at 7am!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(4) Patrycja Polanska (POL) (510) vs Camille Verden-Anderson (GBR) (1246) – 2nd match after 9am

Holly Horsfall (GBR) & Lauryn John-Baptiste (GBR) vs Itana Pejovic (MNE) & Camille Verden-Anderson (GBR) – After Rest

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 4

Tuesday 27th May 2014

It was a very good final day of preparation today and now Holly and Camille are all set for their first round matches tomorrow.

Another early start saw us get over to the club at 7am this morning to ensure that we got a full court to train on for the whole session. Following Camille losing at cards last night she had to wear my match kit to warm-up in, but I can’t help but think it was a lot easier for her than it would have been had I lost!!

Camille looking good in my match kit!

After a thorough warm-up Camille changed into her training kit and we all had a very good session for over an hour and a half. At the start of the session we trained in a 3 so that Holly and Camille could work on hitting through the corners of the court without the rallies breaking own too early. Then, as the session went on, we developed the drill into open point play and for the last 30-40 minutes we played points with serve to ensure both girls were happy with all parts of their games.

At 9am we came off the court to allow the players in qualifying to warm up and prepare for their matches while we cooled down and stretched out. We then got a taxi at 9.30am to go back to the hotel and have breakfast before relaxing for the rest of the morning.

After lunch and a few more games of cards, we headed back to the club at 2.45pm and met up with fellow Brit Lauryn John-Baptiste who had travelled out with her mum this morning. Lauryn joined us for our afternoon session which started at the top of the club on court 5 before we had to move onto court 2 due to members wanting to use the other court. Our afternoon session was just to make sure Holly and Camille were feeling confident about their games and so once again it was mainly point based. After a solid hour on court both players were happy with their levels and so at 4.45pm we called it a day and headed off court to cool down and stretch out.

Before leaving the club for the day both girls signed in for the Main Draw and then after a bit of confusion with our taxi, we eventually got back to the hotel at around 5.30pm.

Dinner tonight was a bit of a quieter affair without any major forfeits! We still played a couple of games but our focus was more on watching the French Open on TV before the draw came out:

Girl’s Singles Main Draw

Schedule for tomorrow:

Jasmin Buchta (AUT) (889) vs Camille Verden-Anderson (GBR) (1246) – 5th match after 8.30am

Milica Cubranovic (SRB) (1380) vs Holly Horsfall (GBR) (841) – 6th match after 8.30am

Doubles to follow after rest

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 3

Monday 26th May 2014

It was another very good day of training today and now there’s just one more day left before the Main Draw starts on Wednesday.

It was an early start this morning so that we could guarantee a full court for practice before all of the Qualifying matches started at 9am. We met for a small breakfast at 6.50am and then got a taxi to the tennis club at 7am before going straight on court to warm-up. Holly and Camille then trained together until 9am and, like yesterday, our morning session was based around consistency from the back of the court. Both girls were hitting very well and even though we had to share the court from 8.15am until 9am they still worked very hard and got a lot out of the session.

At 9am the Qualifying matches went on so we all left the court for Holly and Camille to cool down and stretch out while I saw the physio to try and loosen the tightness in my neck that I’ve had for the last couple of days. We then got a taxi back to the hotel at 9.30am and tucked into a well-deserved breakfast.

The rest of the morning was spent at the hotel relaxing and then at 12.30pm we met back at the restaurant for lunch. At 2pm we got another taxi back to the club and, as the Qualifying matches were still going in, we decided to go into the indoor tennis court (which was more like a sauna!) to warm up and then go through some strength and conditioning work. I was pleased to see both Holly and Camille have brought their own S&C programmes with them and I was even more pleased to see that they knew all of the exercises in the programmes!

At 3.30pm the first court of the afternoon became available and we were waiting court side to go on as the boys shook hands. This afternoon was another point based session so I joined in with the girls to add a bit of a competitive edge as I know that players hate to lose to the coach! As the session went on both girls started to feel a little tired and the level often fluctuated but it was still the best hour and a half of points that either of them have played since we all arrived on Saturday – and, much to the girl’s delight, Camille stopped me from winning overall by beating me in the last point of the session!!

Once we were done I went straight to see the physio again while the girls had another good stretch out on the balcony overlooking the river at the back of the club:

A nice relaxing place to stretch out after a long day of training

Our taxi driver collected us at 5.30pm and took us back to the hotel where we all showered and changed ready for dinner.

The girls are really starting to up the stakes with the forfeits and tonight’s ‘big one’ would see the loser having to warm up tomorrow in the kit of one of the other members of the team. Obviously that meant that if I lost I’d be in a dress or a ridiculously small skirt & ball shorts and if either of the girls lost then they’d be in my kit!! I had visions of Alex Hagon wearing Holly Hutchinson’s match kit while we were in Austria last year and to be completely honest when the game came down to either me or Camille I did start to feel a little nervous! Lucky Camille chocked first and I managed to pull through so I now need to sort out the biggest shirt and shorts that I can find for her!

After dinner we watched the end of the Bennateau vs Bagnis match which saw Bagnis, the Argentinian qualifier ranked 144 in the world, come through 18–16 in the 5th set after almost 4 and a half hours! It was a great match and a good example for the juniors that once you step on the court the ranking of your opponent means nothing. Another example of that today was 3rd seed Stan Wawrinka going out to 39th ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-0 in the 4th set.

Tomorrow will be a lighter day so that both girls are fresh for Wednesday but we’ll still have an early start to make sure we get a full court to play points on before everyone else turns up!

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 2

Sunday 25th May 2014

It was another good day of preparation today and, after Camille moved into Main Draw after the qualifying sign-in, she’ll have another two days of training before her first match!

I met the girls at breakfast this morning at 8am and then at 9.15am we got a lift with Sasha to the club. As we were there before most of the other players we had a choice of the courts and so we decided to go on the top courts which were newly built for the tournament last year.

After having a long physical warm-up we got on court just before 10am and then had a very good training session for an hour and 45 minutes. We had already decided that the main focus of the morning session would be a lot of consistency and drilling from the back of the court and with that in mind we once again worked 2 on 1. For over an hour both girls put in a really good session and just as I thought a little tiredness was starting to kick in, I changed up the session and we went into some points from the back of the court. We all won our up to 7 point game on our own but the girls weren’t happy that I won mine 7-0 so they challenged me to a re-match before we stopped . . . and they made sure I didn’t win for a second time!!

Once we had cooled down, showered and changed, we went next door to the restaurant for a very nice lunch with a beautiful view of the river (I’ll make sure I get a picture next time).

At 2pm we went back on court for our second session of the day which was totally point based just in case Camille did have to play qualifying tomorrow. We started with some conditioned points for around an hour and then towards the end of the session we went into some open points with serve. It had been a hot day and even though both girls were feeling a little tired they still put in another quality session from start to finish.

Camille serving against Holly during the points this afternoon

At just after 4pm we cooled down and stretched out to end our first full day of training. Camille then signed in and the referee said that she would easily move up into Main Draw which means both girls will spend the next 2 days training before their first matches on Wednesday.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel restaurant and without any delay the girls were both keen on getting me to do some forfeits! Tonight Holly managed to escape but Camille had to endure crawling from the restaurant back to her room while I had to hop next to her – the stairs were not pleasant for either of us!!

Montenegro U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 1

Saturday 24th May 2014

After a successful week in Podgorica last year where we ended up winning the doubles title, it was great to be back again and to prepare for U18 ITF Grade 5 at the Eminent tennis club.

I met Holly Horsfall and Camille Verden-Anderson at Stansted airport this morning at the ridiculously early hour of 5am and, after successfully negotiating the Ryanair check-in desk (not an easy task with so much baggage!) we ended up clearing security just before 6am. We then got some breakfast and boarded the packed plane ready for our 3 hour direct flight to Podgorica. For me the flight went very quick but then I did sleep for probably 2 ½ hours of it!

When we arrived in Podgorica we collected our bags and then were met at the airport by Sasha, the hotel manager, who I had got to know last year. He took us straight to the official tournament hotel and then after checking in we unpacked and met at the hotel restaurant for lunch. Holly Horsfall’s memory of what was on the menu and what we ate last year was phenomenal, I just wish I’d listened to her and asked for tomato sauce with my chicken tagliatelle as there was way too much of the creamy sauce!

After a quick trip down the road to the supermarket to stock up on water, we got a taxi to the tennis club at 2.30pm and then got on court to start our warm-up by 2.45pm. Even though everyone was still tired from the early start and the long morning of travel we had a really good hour and a half of training.

Holly (left) and Camille (right) working hard on their volleys this afternoon

We practised this afternoon in a 3 so that the player on their own always got a quality ball coming back and both Holly and Camille worked really hard throughout the session. Some players find it easy to get used to playing on red clay but others find it more difficult and that is why we made the decision to come out here early to get a lot of training in before the girls have to play their first match.

When we came off court we had a good stretch out and then were picked up by Sasha at 5pm to go back to the hotel.

Like last year, we will probably end up having dinner most evenings at the hotel as the food is of a good quality and is pretty cheap – tonight I had a very nice (and big!) Mexican chicken and rice and it came to €7.50! During dinner Holly got the ball rolling on the forfeits and we introduced Camille to our daily games of ‘Chase the Ace’ – I’ve got a funny feeling that the forfeits are going to get a lot worse as the week goes on!!

Once we had finished dinner Holly and Camille went back to their room to complete some school work and then relax while I went to see a physio to try and alleviate some tightness in my neck that I’ve had for a couple of days.

We’ve got a full day of training planned for tomorrow and then we’ll wait to see if Camille will be in qualifying or if she has (more than likely) moved up into the main draw.

 

ABOUT I.t.c.

Since 2010 my aim has been to make it more affordable to travel to international tournaments with a coach. Over the past 20 years I have coached players at over 250 international tournaments ranging from U12 Tennis Europe events to a semi-finalist at a Grand Slam.

 

For more information please click here.

contact

Rob Smith

Tel: +44 (0) 7866 362251

Email: rob@itc-tennis.com

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