Wednesday 30th November 2011

A heartbreaking day brought our last tournament of this trip to an end as Mia, Julia and Jack were all knocked out of the doubles before they picked up any ranking points.

After a bit of a lie in I met the guys for breakfast at 8.15am and then we had an hour to relax before we started our warm up at 9.30am. Jack Oswald joined us for our training session this morning as it was all based around doubles tactics in preparation for their matches today. We had a good 50 minute session and were even joined by something trying to get involved with our training:

Jack Large and Jack Oswald were our first match on today taking on 4th seeds M Mohamed Hatem from Egypt and Gabra’el Teja from Kenya just after 12pm. Our boys started well and looked the much stronger team as they took care of their own serves well and kept the pressure on in their returning games. Eventually they got a breakthrough at 3-3 and firstly Jack Oswald held well and then Jack Large played his part by holding serve to take the first set 6-4.

During the second set the confidence that the “Jacks” had in the first set seemed to decrease as their opponents starting serving much better and taking their chances more. Jack Large was broken at *1-2 and, despite getting the break back, Jack Oswald was then broken at *2-3 which consequently saw them *2-5 down. Jack Large then held but their opponents played a solid game to hold and take the second set 6-3. The Match Tie-Break was really all over in the first 5 points as the “Jacks” struggled to recover from a 0-5 deficit. They fought hard to try to get back into it but eventually went down 10-5 to lose the match. It was a heartbreaker for both Jacks as this would have been their first ITF points – they got close and, with their work rate and professionalism, it won’t be long before their gain their rankings.

After lunch we played a bit of basketball to warm up and Mia and Julia took to the court around 3pm for their 1st round match against Lesedi Jacobs from Namibia and Elizabeth Kapari from Ghana. The opening games were of a very high quality and it was great to watch four girls who really knew how to play doubles. Mia held serve to start the match and then they broke to take a 2-0 lead but unfortunately Julia was broken back to put the set back on serve. At 3-3 Julia was broken for the second time and Lesedi and Elizabeth took full advantage by holding at 3-4* and 4-5* to take the first set 6-4. Mia and Julia had played well but were just not sharp enough on the key points.

The second set was a more one sided affair as, after Mia was broken at *2-2, their opponents won the next 4 games in a row to take the match 6-4, 6-2. It was definitely a match that Mia and Julia could have won but a loss of focus during the first set really cost them and then they never really got on top in the second.

After the match it was then the difficult job of changing flights and trying to get home as soon as possible. Luckily I have an amazing wife who, after driving 3 hours home, got straight on the case and managed to get our flights changed without a single charge – thank you darling x

Tomorrow will be a rest day before we travel home on Friday.

Next stop is the Wrexham U14 Tennis Europe event in around 10 days time so I’ll let you all know how it’s going from there.

If you have any questions about any upcoming trips or if I can help you in any way about an individual player please email me: Rob@itc-tennis.com and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Tuesday 29th November 2011

After another rain interrupted day it was Jack that ended up with a win while the two girls came up against two very tough opponents.

As the matches were so staggered today we ended up with 3 separate warm ups which kept me on my toes but also gave me a chance to hit some balls too! Julia was scheduled to be first match on so I joined her for breakfast at 7.45am before going through her physical warm up with her just after 9am. We then had a really good match warm up from 9.30 – 10am; it was actually the best I’d seen Julia hit the ball and considering she’d never played on red clay before this trip her game has really developed in the last two weeks.

As we finished Mia was going through her warm up and then I hit with her from 10.30 – 11am where we not only went through her pre-match hitting but we also addressed some specifics from her match yesterday. After we’d finished I met back up with Julia but just as we started to talk about the match it started to rain quite heavily and play was suspended.

In the next few hours the rain kept falling which gave us the chance to go back up to the Italian restaurant for a great lunch and then when we were done the players had the chance to get on with some school work. By 2pm the rain was starting to ease off and the local children helped to dry up the courts with lots of massive sponges – a messy job but very effective!. We thought it was going to take ages to dry but all of the tournament officials and helpers did a great job to clear the puddles and get the courts fit for a 2.30pm start. The scheduled had now changed with both Mia and Julia being 2nd round on after 2.30pm and Jack wasn’t far behind as all four players were out of the singles and ready to play their doubles.

Jack was next up for his pre-match warm up with Jack Oswald and a couple of the other WIN Tennis Academy players where they also managed to get a good set of doubles in too. As we finished Mia’s court was getting close to the end of their match so I had a good chat with her and set her match goals before she went on.

Mia was playing 5th seed Janet Koch from South Africa and from the start it was obviously that Janet was just going to be too strong and too experienced but that didn’t mean that Mia couldn’t still improve and develop her game. After losing the first set 6-1 Mia had game points in each of the next three games but they didn’t go her way and she ended up going down 6-1, 6-0. It was a very hard working and professional performance from Mia despite struggling to find her best form but she was very proud of her attitude and can set her sights on being at that level or above this time next year.

Julia had an equally tough match as she took on top seed Lynn Kiro from South Africa who is ranked inside the top 150. In the first set Julia struggled to test Kiro as she was going for too much which consequently lead to too many unforced errors. It’s sometimes the player’s thought process that they have to go out against the top seeds and blow them off the court but it normally results in errors which makes it even easier for their opponents. After losing the first set 6-0 Julia calmed down and started to play some very smart tennis working Kiro side to side and waiting for the opportunity to hit the harder flatter ball. This had an immediate effect and Julia’s level increased significantly even though the score line might not suggest it. In the end Julia went down 6-0, 6-1 but in the second set she served at 59% (a big improvement from last week), had three games in the set where there were more than 12 points in each game, had game points in 3 games and hit a total of 15 winners – as always there are lots of positives to take from even the toughest of losses.

Due to the girls both being on for singles I missed the whole of Jack and Jack’s doubles but I was getting regular updates from the WIN Tennis team and they did very well to get through to the Last 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 win.

After everyone was done he went back to the hotel to stretch out and change before getting a taxi to the Havana restaurant for dinner. Tough day with two singles losses but the girls learnt a lot and I know the improvements they’ve made over the last two weeks will help them in their upcoming matches when they compete next. Jack had a great win and now plays for his first ITF points tomorrow!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(4) M Mohamed Hatem (EGY) & Gabra’el Teja (KEN) vs Jack Large (GBR) & Jack Oswald (GBR) – 3rd match on after 9am, not before 11.30am

Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Lesedi Jacobs (NAM) & Elizabeth Kapari (GHA) – 5th match after 9am

Monday 28th November 2011

2 wins out of 3 today in the main draw but it was the loss that really hurt as Jack struggled against his nemesis from last week.

For all three players it was an early start today with breakfast at 6.40am before we were on court warming up at 7.40am. Everyone’s matches were scheduled after 11.30am but if we wanted to hit on the match courts then we had to do it before the courts were closed for matches at 8.30am. The warm ups were good and everyone was feeling confident going into their 1st round matches.

After practice Jack felt as though he needed a good meal inside him to boost his energy so we walked the short distance down the road to “La Fantasia” Italian restaurant where he got a big bowl of Spaghetti Bolognaise (not sure I could have handled that at 9.30am but it did smell good!).

When we came back we had some time to prepare before Julia took to the court at 12.30pm to take on Megdalene Mutua from Kenya. We knew this was going to be a straightforward match as Julia and Mia had played against her in doubles last week but Julia was still a little nervous as she really wanted some singles points on the board! After taking the first game (1st goal achieved – Julia said she never wins the first game in matches!) the rain came down heavily and play had to be abandoned. This lasted around an hour and a half and play resumed just after 2.30pm when Jack also took to the court to face the boy he lost to last week in three tight sets.

Jack and Julia were on courts almost directly behind each other so it made it a little easier to keep track of the scores. After Julia took a very comfortable 1st set 6-0 I knew she wasn’t going to be troubled so I then spent the majority of the time watching Jack.

After taking a 3-1 lead in the first set and looking in complete control Jack just let his concentration slip a little which allowed his opponent a foot in the door as he broke back – 3-2*. Jack then lost the next 2 games but managed to get the set back on serve with another break of his own as he levelled it at *4-4. By this stage his opponent was soaking up Jacks pace and not really giving him much back that he could attack which lead to Jack making a lot of unforced errors. Jack was then broken again at 5-5 and Andriatokiana held to take the first set 7-5.

By list stage Julia had won her match 6-0, 6-0 and she came straight over to cheer Jack on while Mia went onto Julia’s court for her first round match. Jack again had a good start to the next set going 2-0 up but again struggled with his serve allowing the Madagascan back into set. Jack went from *2-0 to 2-3* down but a break and hold at this stage settled himself down again. At 5-4* up my money was on Jack to break and take the set but his opponent was just too consistent resulting in a hold and break to lead 5-6*. I was still sure Jack would break back to take it to a tie-break and he had a point to do so but in the end his opponent held to take the match 7-5, 7-5. Another tough loss for Jack in round 1 but I believe he’s learnt a lot from his singles matches in the last two weeks and now the focus is straight on to doubles tomorrow.

Mia had been playing for a while and despite looking a little worried in the warm up (I think was shocked when the girl made a few balls in a row!) she was in full control and tried hard to improve her game throughout the match against a weaker opponent. In the end Mia had a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win and the experience she’s gaining out here against all of her opponents, strong and weak, will really help her develop as a person and a player.

As soon as Mia finished she wanted to stay on court to train so Julia and I joined her for a really good hours training. As a coach you can tell when I player’s not happy with a match performance even if they say they are and it’s great when they ask to do more training rather than you suggesting it. Mia really worked hard and her focus was superb which resulted in her best training session since we’ve been away. Julia was also happy with her level and so at 5.30pm we ended the session and moved over to the side of the court for Mia to go through her core exercises and Julia to stretch out.

After waiting for our taxi driver to turn up for 20 minutes we decided that again tonight wasn’t going to be the night to go to the beach for dinner and instead had it in the hotel. The waiting time for food is turning into an ongoing joke with all of the players and coaches – tonight it was an hour and a half! However we were entertained with a dance ceremony by a local tribe which is part of a big East African Community Council meeting that is going on at the hotel this week. The performance was amazing and something that you might only see once in a lifetime.

Due to weak internet to view the photos / videos please go to the ITC Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ITCtennis1

Schedule for tomorrow:

(1) Lynn Kiro (RSA) (146) vs Julia Weisel (USA) (1051)

Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) vs (5) Janet Koch (RSA) (632)

Stephen Bleach (RSA) & Ted Sindabizera Ntwari (BDI) vs Jack Large (GBR) & Jack Oswald (GBR) – 6th match after 9am

Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Lesedi Jacobs (NAM) & Elizabeth Kapari (GHA) – 6th match after 9am

Sunday 27th November 2011

Only the one match in qualifying today but Jack made light work of it while Mia and Julia tightened up their games in preparation for main draw tomorrow.

As Jack had a midday match he had a bit of a lie in while Mia and Julia were up early to get on court before the crowds arrived! After warming up we had a really good hour and a half training from 9-10.30am where we continued the work we’d been doing on finding a more consistent higher level. I managed to get a box of balls so we could add in some basket training as well as hitting a high volume of serves. As the girls were finishing the temperature really started to rise which was precisely the time Jack started his physical warm up! He then hit with Charlie Ridout from WIN Tennis Academy for just over 30 minutes to get him ready for his qualifying match.

By the time Jack went on it was really hot; I was sitting in the small stand by the side of court 4 and the metal roof made it seem like a sauna – I’m sure it was cooler on the court! We didn’t know a lot about Jack’s opponent except that he had struggled in qualifying last week but then got a Lucky Loser and ended up winning a round in the main draw.

Jack started the match well going 3-0 up but a slight lapse of concentration meant he gave up his serve cheaply in the next game. He responded well by breaking straight back and after dominating the majority of the points from the back of the court he took the set 6-2. Jack was in full control of the match but his opponent was making life a little tricky for him and Jack found it quite difficult to get into a good rhythm. Despite this Jack kept the pressure on when serving and after breaking a couple of times at the start of the second set the result was never really in doubt. In the end Jack came through 6-2, 6-2 to qualify for the main draw.

Jack wanted to go straight back on court as soon as he had finished and we had a good 20 minutes training which helped Jack find more of a rhythm at a higher level. It wasn’t perfect but it helped to get the match out of his system and we decided that we’d do a little more on court later.

 Pictures to be uploaded as soon as the internet can deal with it!!

At 4pm Mia, Julia and Jack were all back on court for the last session of the day. Julia trained for an hour with Ruby Grant on one court while Jack and I hit on another with Mia sharing half the court to work on her serve. After 20 minutes Jack was hitting really well and so decided to join Jack Oswald for a bit of doubles training while I moved over to work with Mia on her serve and return before we finished the session with a little more basket drilling. By 5.15pm everyone was happy with their own level so we stopped the session to cool down, stretch, shower and change. We then met back up at 6pm to go back to the club to check the draw and find out when everyone was playing tomorrow.

Draws to be uploaded asap!

We had planned to go to the beach tonight for dinner but our normal taxi driver wasn’t available and when the replacement tried to charge us $20 for a 5 minute journey I told him we weren’t interested! It was quite amusing how he went from $20 to $10 and then to $5 before saying he’d accept BIF 5,000 (less than $4) all in the space of 3 minutes!!

After dinner at the hotel the players all had an early night in preparation for their 1st round main draw matches tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(q) Jack Large (GBR) (UNR) vs Andriatokiana Ratsimandresy (MAD) (UNR) – 3rd round after 9am, not before 11.30am

Megdalene Mutua (KEN) (UNR) vs Julia Weisel (USA) (1051) – 3rd round after 9am, not before 11.30am

Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) vs Paige Mbugua (KEN) (UNR) – 4th round after 9am, not before 1pm

So . . . Jack plays the same opponent as in the 1st round last week and Julia and Mia play their 1st round doubles opponents from last week!

Saturday 26th November 2011

As one week ends the next begins and it’s quite handy that we don’t have to travel anywhere for the next event. Even though the players had week 1 consolation matches to finish today the fact that the qualifying sign-in was also today officially marks week 2 of the trip!

Due to the hot conditions plus the fact that all of the players have had singles, doubles and consolation matches this week it’s not surprising they were feeling a little tired this morning. I therefore gave them all the option of playing their consolation matches today, having a rest day or just having a light training day. Originally they all said they wanted to play but after training this morning Julia was feeling a little exhausted so she opted to rest leaving the other two ready to compete.

Mia was first up against Nelise Vester from South Africa and everyone was a little surprised when the match before them finished in 45 minutes with a score line of 6-4, 6-4! However they took to the court just before 1pm and Mia started with some fantastic tennis working the ball exactly as we’d been working on in training to take the opening set 6-2. Unfortunately her focus wandered a little at the start of the 2nd set as temperatures rose which Nelise took full advantage of breaking twice to take a 4-0 lead. Mia managed to break at that stage but the South African was too solid taking the next two games and the set 6-1. As they were a set all I asked the South African coach if he wanted to jump on court with me and do a bit of on court coaching (like in WTA events) to work with the girls – it was after all just a practice match and he thought it was a great idea. I had a good chat with Mia and she seemed confident when I left the court but obviously what I said didn’t quite do the trick as she made 10 unforced errors to lose the Match Tie Break 10-6. A disappointing loss as she’s twice gone close to beating two players with ITF rankings in the consolation but her focus has just let her down a little in the end.

Jack went on at the end of Mia’s 2nd set and by the time I got there with Julia he was 3-2 up against another South African; Keegan Sullivan. Jack was looking good at 3-2 but then Keegan really upped his game putting Jack under more and more pressure from the back of the court resulting in him winning 7 straight games. At 2-6, 0-3 Jack and I had a good chat at the back of the court which seemed to settle him down and regain some of the focus he had before. He then held, broke and held again to level the set with a much better serving percentage and much more aggressive play from the back. Keegan responded well by holding serve and then the rest of the set went with serve until 5-5. At this stage Jack’s service return had been working well but at 0-30 with Keegan serving he struggled to make his opponent play and Keegan went on to win the next 8 points in a row to hold and break taking the match 6-3, 7-5.

Both matches have been really beneficial for Mia and Jack and I hope they take the learning points into their respective tournament matches next week. Some people may have not wanted to play the consolation event but our team has benefited enormously from it and we’re very grateful to the referee for taking the time to arrange it.

After the matches it was around 3.45pm so we got some lunch from the supermarket and then by 5.15pm I was back on court with Julia for another 45 minutes of quality training. As we finished training so did the presentation for the winners of the tournament and then all of the winners stayed on court and hit with lots of the local young players. It was great to see so many of them working really hard while training with players up to 10 years older than them and with 6 players on 1 court. The club and the town have made such a huge effort this week and without a doubt it’s one of the best Grade 5 ITF events I’ve ever been to.

As Jack had signed in for qualies earlier in the day we then all showered and changed before heading off site for dinner tonight to the Havana Restaurant. Everyone had a great meal including Jack with his massive ¼ grilled chicken! Before they all went to bed I had an individual chat with each of the players to debrief the last 8 days, listen to their thoughts on their training and matches and then get them all set for the week ahead.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Boy’s Final Round Qualifying:

Jack Large (GBR) (UNR) vs Syed Kaleem (PAK) (UNR) – 1st match at 12pm

Friday 25th November 2011

It was a much lighter day today as the players were need of some rest after competing and training for the last 7 days in a row.

As matches were scheduled to start at 10am this morning we had a bit of a lie in and all met up for breakfast at 7.40am. Thankfully by this time breakfast was out and we even had the luxury of Rice Crispies!!

As normal the players warmed up 25 minutes before we were due on court and as I was joining in hitting during the session that meant that I was warming up too (got to be careful now I’m getting old!). Julia had the choice of who she wanted to hit with as she was the only one competing today (after Jack had a walkover) and to my surprise she chose me!! After a good 30 minutes Julia was ready for her match but Mia and Jack stayed on with me for another 15 minutes which concluded their training for the day.

The consolation event that the tournament has arranged has been absolutely fantastic for the players and for the coaches as it gives the players the opportunity for more competition. Every player in the draw can continue competing until tomorrow as, even if you lose, you keep going until you achieve your specific position from the main draw e.g. you’re placed between 17 – 32 (not great if it turns out you’re the weakest player in the draw though!).

Julia ended up going on with the 1st round of matches as there had been a walkover in the previous round so just after 10am see took to the court to face Mia’s opponent from yesterday. Julia was really up for taking some revenge on Mia’s behalf but she didn’t get off to the best start going 0-2 down. She then settled down and won the next 3 games in a row before being broken again at *3-2. Despite playing a much better set than any other she’s played so far Julia struggled a little to hold serve but was breaking serve easily. This pattern continued until Giselle held at 5-5 but Julia responded with a solid hold of her own with 3 winners from the back of the court to take it to a tie-break. Julia served at 83% in the tie-break which, after going 0-3 down at the start, helped her to fight back and take it 7-5.

She then relaxed in the 2nd set and played even better than in the 1st set clocking up 16 winners and 14 unforced errors on the way to taking the set and the match 7-6(5), 6-3. She was a little disappointed when she came off the court as she thought the match should have been easier but after hearing the stats, especially the serving percentage, she was a lot more upbeat.

Following Julia’s match I debriefed Mia on her match from yesterday and then we headed back to the hotel for some lunch. As we were done for the day by 1pm I suggested to the players that we leave the hotel and go just up the road to a small Italian restaurant. They all jumped at the chance to eat somewhere different and the food ended up being really good!

After lunch we went back to the club to cheer on the WIN Tennis Academy team as Robbie and Charlie Ridout were in the semi of the boy’s doubles while Ruby Grant was in the girl’s doubles final. Unfortunately Rob and Charlie lost 10-6 in the 3rd set match tie-break but Ruby and her partner won their match tie-break 10-8 to lift her first ITF trophy. Ruby’s had a great week in both singles and doubles; she’s worked very hard and truly deserved her victory today and the points that go with it!

Jack, Julia and Mia had a couple of hours from 4-6pm to get stuck into some school work before we all met up again for dinner in the hotel.

Schedule for tomorrow – Final Consolation Matches:

9th / 10th Place Playoff – Julia Weisel (USA) (1052) vs Lesedi Jacobs (NAM) (UNR) – 2nd match after 12pm

13th / 14th Place Playoff – Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) vs Nelise Vester (RSA) (1116) – 2nd match after 12pm

33rd / 34th Place Playoff – Jack Large (GBR) (UNR) vs Keegan Sullivan (RSA) (1741) – 2nd match after 12pm

Thursday 24th November 2011

Over the past few days it’s been the girls who have been getting the wins but the tables turned today as the girls struggled and Jack began to find his form.

The service at the hotel seems to be getting worse by the day and when we got down to breakfast at 6.40am there was only a few bits of fruit to eat. Eventually some bread came and we used the jam we had bought from the supermarket to make up our breakfast, it does feel as though we just living off bread though!!

After a good physical warm up the team hit from 8 – 8.30am and then Julia and Mia stayed on court to go through some doubles specifics until we got kicked off the match courts just before 9am. Julia was supposed to be the our first scheduled match of the day but due to a walkover Mia somehow moved up the list from 5th round on to 1st! She had already warmed up and was happy to play her consolation match early so on she went to play Giselle Umumararungu from Rwanda.

Mia started well and looked really up for the match even though she was completely dominating her opponent but at 2-1 things changed and she soon found herself 2-4 down. She was struggling with her consistency and gave away far too many cheap points resulting in her almost losing the set 6-3 – there was a mix up with the score but luckily the other girl was honest and said it was 4-5 rather than 3-6! The rest of the set was up and down before Mia lost it on a tie-break 7-2.

Mia then took a toilet break to compose herself and when she came back she raced away at the start of the 2nd set taking a 3-0 lead. This was cut back to 3-2 as her opponent broke and held but Mia managed to get the break back and take the set 6-4. On to a match tie-break for the 3rd set then! Unfortunately it wasn’t a good tie-break from Mia and after taking a 3-0 lead she was distracted by a line call and soon found herself 3-6 down. She managed to get another couple of points on the board before going down 7-6(2), 4-6, 10-5

Just as Mia was finishing Jack took to the court for his next round consolation match – Julia still hadn’t gone on and then was told that she had been given a walkover and that she should have been told 2 hours before – Thanks!! After struggling in his 2nd set of his 1st round consolation match Jack’s goals today were to maintain a better focus throughout, increase his winning count and hit more aces. He achieved all three and even when I threw him the goal of hitting 2 backhand winners in the last 2 games he ticked that one off in style too. His opponent could have been quite tricky but Jack got on top and never let him into the match taking it 6-0, 6-1.

After debriefing Jack there was about an hour to go before Mia and Julia were due on for their doubles so we warmed up and did a bit of doubles work on the court to get them sharp and focussed ready to go.

They went on at 2pm for their semi-final against Ruby Grant from WIN Academy and Janet Kock from South Africa and, after being broken in the first game they fought back to break and hold to lead 2-1. At this stage they were playing well and looked like a strong team but when Julia was broken at 2-2 the wind really came out of their sails. They lost the next 3 games in a row to lose the set 6-2 and by that stage they looked very flat.

The 2nd set was much a similar story but this time they managed to break and hold when they were 2-5 down however they didn’t have enough to break again and lost the final game on a sudden death deuce point going down 6-2, 6-4. It was a real shame as it should have been an easier match than the round before but neither of the girls found the same level or the same hunger to get the win.

After the match Julia wanted to get straight back on court which I was really up for and we spend the next hour and a half working on her level from the back of the court followed by a little mental work around her serve. She was hitting great by the end of the session and serving huge which will hopefully carry over to her consolation match tomorrow against the Rwandan girl that beat Mia today.

This evening we took a taxi to the supermarket to stock up on more water and then met up with the Kenyan team at the Havana restaurant. This made a fantastic change to the hotel restaurant where we’ve eaten for the last 7 lunches and dinners!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Jack Large (GBR) vs Charlie Ridout (GBR) – 1st round at 10am

Julia Weisel (USA) vs Giselle Umumararungu (RWA) – 2nd round after 10am

P.S. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY AMERICAN READERS (and Julia too!)

Wednesday 23rd November 2011

We had three really good doubles today and 2 out of the 3 went our way! Here’s my diary of the day:

6am – Wake up, check and reply to emails

6.40am – Breakfast with the Team

7.30am – Meet the players in reception and go over to the courts

7.35am – Take the players through their physical warm up

8am – On court pre-match warm up for everyone

8.30am – Make sure players know when they’re on and brief Jack for his 1st round consolation

9am – Jack goes on court, Mia goes through the video from her match

9.15am – Help the tournament staff to fix the net with my Centre Strap!

9.30am – Jack starts his match

11am – Jack takes the win 6-0, 7-5 with a good 1st set and shaky second (saving 3 set points!)

11.30am – After 20 minutes of trying to get enough balls together I went on court with Julia to work on her serve

12pm – Mia and Julia go on for their 1st round doubles vs Stephanie Mbaya (KEN) & Megdalene Mutua (KEN) (I eat lunch while stating the match!)

1pm – Girls win 6-0, 6-0 with a good performance

1pm – Debrief the girls on the match and set goals for their ¼ Final match

1.30pm – Brief Jack and Jack on their Last 16 match

1.40pm – Boys go on vs (6) Bjorn Scheepbouwer (RSA) & Keegan Sullivan (RSA)

3.30pm – Boy’s lost 7-6(3), 6-3 after serving at 4-2 up in the 1st set. Tough match but great learning experience and positive debrief afterwards

3.55pm – Girls go on for their ¼ Final match vs (4) Melissa Lang (RSA) & Nelise Verster (RSA)

5.40pm – Girls take a very close 6-4, 6-4 win with them both playing superb doubles throughout – the match point was a huge 30+ shot rally that Mia played unbelievably well!

5.45pm – Debrief, cool down and stretch out

6.10pm – Back to the hotel to shower and change

6.30pm – Order dinner, play some cards

7.45pm – Finally eat dinner – they almost got the whole order right!! Few more games of cards!

8.45pm – Players relax before going to bed around 9.15pm

It was a long day today in intense heat but all three players had a positive day; Jack came close again to gaining his first ITF points and the girls impressed everyone with their superb doubles display

Schedule for tomorrow:

Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Ruby Grant (GBR) & Janet Kock (RSA) – Not before 2pm

Consolation Event:

Jack Large (GBR) vs Shabani Kabura (BDI) – 4th round after 9am

To Be Arranged (around doubles):

Akshara Iska (IND) (855) vs Julia Weisel (USA) (1052)

Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) vs Giselle Umumararungu (RWA) (1326)

Tuesday 22nd November 2011

It’s was a tough day on the singles court for Julia and Mia today but Jack managed to get a win in doubles which ended our day on a high.

The players had a bit of a lie in this morning as the day was going to be a very long one so we all met for breakfast at 8.40am followed by a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on water and food.

Julia was first on today and she was scheduled to play ‘not before’ 11.30am so we warmed up off the court at 10am and then were on court hitting from 10.30 – 11am. As the matches before hers were only around an hour each she took to the court bang on 11.30am to play 6th seed Elizabeth Kapari from Ghana.

Julia seemed a little nervous to begin with and her 10 unforced errors in the first game didn’t help her get off to a great start as her serve was broken. She responded well though and fought hard to get back on level terms at 2-2 but it was only at 4-4, after being broken twice in a row, that she managed to hold serve to take the lead for the first time. I’ve said to all of the players this week that it will be the player who is the most consistent throughout the tournament that will come out the winner, not the player that looks the best or hits the ball the hardest but the one who makes more balls back in play. It was exactly the same with this first set and at 5-4* Julia played a very solid game and let her opponent miss to give her the game and the set 6-4.

Julia then had a poor start to the second set which, coupled with her opponent raising her level, lead her to be 3-0 down. She then looked as though the heat was really starting to affect her as he focus seemed to drift in and out too often. With that I reached for Mia’s “Emergency Jelly Babies” and she managed to get a bit of sugar into her system. From 0-3 down she was only able to get one game before Elizabeth took the set 6-1. By this stage Julia was looking down and her opponent was on a high so I suggest she take herself off the court for a (tactical!) toilet break and I got some ice to cool her down and a cold sugary drink to give her a bit of a boost.

It seemed to work as she came back on court with more of a spring in her step and broke her opponent to 15 in the first game. Unfortunately Julia really struggled with serve today and went from 1-0 up to 1-3 down before breaking back and holding for the first time since 4-4 in the first. At 3-3 she looked in control and was playing a much more solid game but 13 unforced errors in the next 3 games really cost her as she eventually went down 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. It was a really tough loss but her opponent did play well and I can see her doing very well this week.

While Julia was starting the 3rd set Mia took to the court to play 4th seed Nikita Dawda from Kenya. I know Nikita from when I was in Kenya in February and I explained to Mia yesterday that she’d have to really be focussed and show she’s up for a fight today as the Kenyan can be very competitive. Unfortunately Mia looked a little flat after going 0-2 down in the first set and despite holding serve in the third game she was just too inconsistent and didn’t test her opponent enough. After losing the first set 6-1 Mia had a chance to get on top at the start of the second as she broke Nikita and then had game points to go 2-0 up but didn’t take her opportunities. She was broken back and then went on to lose the next 5 games in a row as Nikita didn’t let up and was showing just how much she wanted the win by still getting pumped up at 6-1, 5-1 up. Mia was very disappointed with the loss especially as she felt as though she never really competed like she knows she can and in the end that gap between yesterday’s level and today’s was just far too big.

Jack was on for his doubles with Jack Oswald while Mia was still on court so after a quick debrief with Julia I went straight over to court 4 and for once I was in the shade! The two Jack’s have very similar characters and I thought that would make for a really good partnership this week. They are both very hard working, quite quiet but very determined and go about their business in a very professional way. The doubles was no exception and, after they both lost in the singles without picking up any points, they were determined to get through this one so they have a chance of points tomorrow. In the end they took a very good 7-5, 6-3 win to set up a clash with the 6th seeds in the last 16 tomorrow.

Mia and Julia were scheduled to be on for their doubles in the evening but at 5.45pm the referee decided it was too late to start more matches so they were postponed until tomorrow.

After a tough day it was a real bonus that the tournament has decided to run a consolation event on the spare courts for the losers of the 1st and 2nd round matches. This means that Jack, Julia and Mia all get a chance to compete against the other main draw players and develop the areas of their games that they struggled with under proper match conditions. It will really be a fantastic opportunity for them all to play more matches and prepare really well for the tournament next week.

Schedule for tomorrow (an even longer one than today and don’t ask me how we’re going to fit this all in!):

9am – Jack Large (GBR) (UNR) vs Emmanuel Gafilita (RWA) (UNR) – 1st Round Consolation

N.B. 11.30am – (6) Bjorn Scheepbouwer (RSA) & Keegan Sullivan (RSA) vs Jack Large (GBR) & Jack Oswald (GBR) – Last 16 Doubles

N.B. 11.30am – Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Stephanie Mbaya (KEN) & Megdalene Mutua (KEN) – Last 16 Doubles

N.B. 2pm – Winner of above vs (4) Melissa Lang (RSA) & Nelise Verster (RSA) – ¼ Final Doubles

To Be Arranged (around doubles):

Akshara Iska (IND) (855) vs Julia Weisel (USA) (1052) – 1st Round Consolation

Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) vs Giselle Umumararungu (RWA) (1326) – 1st Round Consolation

Monday 21st November 2011

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO INTERNATIONAL TRAVELLING COACH!

In the last 12 months I have travelled to 17 international tournaments and helped to make Tennis Europe and ITF events more accessible for a lot of players. In the next 12 months I hope to increase the number of events and introduce some senior events to my calendar. If you are interested in travelling to events or would like to be kept up to date on my plans please email me (rob@itc-tennis.com) your email address and I’ll add you to my mailing list.

Today was a mixture of emotions as the team took 1 win and 1 loss but it could have so nearly been 2 out of 2.

Play started today at 9am but when we arrived at the club at 7.30am to warm up we were surprised to see all of the match courts closed for practise – the reason being that they were repainting all of the lines on the courts! It was then a free for all to try and get on the back courts but luckily, with the help of the WIN Academy Team, we managed to have a solid 30 minutes so Jack and Mia were prepared to play.

The match before Jack’s was a very quick 6-0, 6-0 so at around 10am he took to the court for his 1st round match. Jack started well against a very talented boy from Madagascar and, after breaking for the first time, took a 4-2 lead. He was then pegged back to 4-4 after struggling with his consistency of serving but did well to maintain his aggressive play to hold and break to take the first set 6-4. At this stage Jack seemed in complete control but at the start of the second set he gave away too many cheap points when serving and returning to find himself 2-0 down. He then fought hard to get back on serve at 2-2 but in his next 3 service games he didn’t win a single point. Fortunately he was returning well and broke back each time until it got to 5-5. He then held serve and had 2 match points at 6-5* but failed to convert on both leading to the tie-break. Jack performed poorly in the breaker and hit 6 unforced errors out of the 7 points he lost to lose the second set 7-6(4).

The third set was a very close battle but the heat took its toll on Jack as he struggled to stay consistent in the long rallies with a player who was prepared to be out there all day long. Jack was broken at 1-1 and then again at 3-5 to eventually go down 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3. It was a really tough loss but Jack improved his level significantly from his match yesterday and showed that he can compete with the main draw players. I’m very positive that Jack will learn from his singles matches this week and be a much better player in the doubles tomorrow and the singles event next week.

As Jack was in the middle of his 3rd set Mia went on the court next to him to face Jone Kruger from South African. Both of the girls were a similar height and build and they were both playing for their first ITF points – it was really going to be a battle of who was going to perform on the day. From the start Mia looked the better player and it was only going to be a matter of time before she made a breakthrough. After being a little tentative at the start she broke the South African’s serve at 2-2 but gave up her own serve cheaply straightaway to level the set at 3-3. She then responded very professionally to break straight back and from there she never really looked in trouble taking the next 8 games in a row to win the match 6-3, 6-0 and earn her first ITF points! Matches like this one are a good way to get into the event but there’s no point winning them easily if you don’t improve your game so that you’re prepared for the next round. After the match I explained to Mia that if her level today was a 4 out of 10 then she might need an 8 out of 10 to win the next round and I asked her how we should go about increasing her level to that standard. She responded by saying she wanted to get back on court after lunch to work on the specifics from the match and find the level she would need for the next match.

At 5pm we were back on court for a solid hour until Mia felt as though she was ready to take on the 4th seed tomorrow. After training we cooled down, showered and changed and met up with Jack and Julia for dinner. The dinner, as always, took ages to arrive but then it took even longer for the girls to finish it so Jack and I went through his match in detail!

So . . . it was a pretty good 1st Birthday all in all, yes I would have loved Jack to take the win in the second set but it wasn’t to be and he learnt a lot about himself and his game from it. Mia gave us a nice birthday present with some points on the board and everyone is fit and ready for some more wins tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow (it’s going to be a long one!!):

Julia Weisel (USA) (1052) vs (6) Elizabeth Kapari (GHA) (712) – 3rd match after 9am, not before 11.30am

(4) Nikita Dawda (KEN) (495) vs Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) – 4th match after 9am

Jack Large (GBR) & Jack Oswald (GBR) vs Herman Abban (GHA) & Saidi Nkurunziza (BDI) – 5th match after 9am, not before 2pm

Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Stephanie Mbaya (KEN) & Megdalene Mutua (KEN) – 6th match after 9am

Sunday 20th November 2011

The rain came down again today for the third day in a row but Jack managed to avoid it as he made light work of his match to qualify for the main draw in his first ITF event.

Everyone was on time for breakfast this morning; Julia and Mia were first down as they were practising early and Jack came down a little later as he was only hitting for 30 minutes for his pre-match warm up.

When we arrived at the courts we found out that the draw had changed due to two of the Bisham boys playing each other when they should have been separated. This meant that Jack was now facing a local Burundian wildcard but as there were still only 5 matches in qualifying the start time remained the same.

The girls took to the court at 9.30am and worked hard to find a much more consistent level before Jack shared half the court to hit with Alistair from Bisham Abbey at 10am. Despite Jack shanking a few balls out of the court and making me climb up on top of the clubhouse roof to retrieve them he had a really good warm up and by 10.30am he was all done and ready to go through his pre-match talk. Jack was very specific with his pre-match sheet and set specific goals that he wanted to achieve during the match – I always think it’s good to set some goals as that way, win or lose, you can still come off the court feeling as though you’ve achieved something. I’ve seen so many players in the past win a match easily but not improve their game and these are the type of events where you have the opportunity to do both.

After doing some movement work to get Jack sharp he went on court at 11am and from the warm up it was obvious he was a little nervous. It was totally expected as this is his first ITF event and he did well to maintain a positive attitude after struggling with his consistency in the opening games. Despite being nervous and losing his serve from 1-0 up Jack worked hard to stay in the rallies and keep the local crowd quiet. At 4-1 he relaxed a little more and convincingly held serve and then broke to take the set 6-1.

Jack knew that his opponent wasn’t going to rollover after the first set and he upped his level to race to a 4-0 lead. He was playing a much more aggressive game by this stage but he did have a bit of a shocking service game at 4-1 as he managed to shank 3 serves in a row over the back fence!! By the 4th serve I was thinking he might be considering hitting an underarm serve but he managed to regain his focus to get the ball onto the strings and into the court!! After that blip Jack won the next two games to take the match 6-1, 6-1 and qualify for the main draw.

By this time it was around 12.45pm so we went back to the hotel for Jack to shower and change and then we all had some lunch. The plan was then to get back on court at 3pm to train but once again the rain came down so our plans changed to everyone doing some school work. After signing in for main draw we got on court at 4.30pm and had a really good hours training with me working primarily with Jack on areas to improve from his match and the girls working on their specifics together. We were then kicked off the court by a local Vice-President who wanted to use the 1st court for a bit of doubles. I was able to make them wait a little while so that we could finish our session but I wasn’t going to argue too much as he did bring his whole armed security team with him.

After Mia completed her fitness programme and Julia and Jack had a full stretch out we went back to the hotel to shower and change before going back to the club to see the main draw. It was then time for dinner which included a few games of cards and a couple of dares – I think me and Jack got off lightly with press-ups though as Julia had to go up to the counter to order some bread with some steak sauce on her forehead!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Andriatokiana Ratsimandresy (MAD) (UNR) vs (q) Jack Large (GBR) (UNR) – 2nd round after 9am

Jone Kruger (RSA) (UNR) vs Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) – 3rd round after 9am

Saturday 19th November 2011

It was a real sense of Déjà vu today as, after it rained everyday for two weeks in Vietnam, the heavens opened on us twice today to make it two days in a row!

A lot of people voiced their concerns to me before the trip about going out to Burundi and how safe it would be out here but after a lot of communication with the ITF, the East African Tennis Federation and one of the British guys who was playing a Men’s Futures even here a couple of weeks ago I was confident the trip would be safe. I was even more confident when I left the hotel this morning at 6.45am to go to book practise courts when I saw 4 policemen sitting outside the front door of the hotel with machine guns (I didn’t realise I was that important!!).

We all met for breakfast at 7.15am, well . . . we were supposed to meet at 7.15am but the girls were a little late and at 7.30am I had to knock on Jack’s door to wake him up – I love the way they all blame their alarms for not going off!! We warmed up at 8.30am before fighting off the local club members to get on a court at 9am (seems like court bookings are meaningless out here!). This morning we were joined by Jack Oswald from the WIN Academy team and the two boys and the two girls had a great session – everyone’s feeling much better today after a good nights sleep and the quality of the tennis is getting better and better. It’s not easy out here with the ball flying through the air much quicker and the courts proving to be very inconsistent but the players are getting out of the habit of setting too early (as they’re able to on hard) and are working very hard to adjust to the ball after it’s bounced. After setting the players up with specific drills for the first hour they took ownership of the next 45 minutes to work on whatever they needed to so that they felt prepared for their upcoming matches.

By 11.15am everyone had cooled down, stretched out and we were on our way back to the hotel to shower and change. The plan then was to have lunch and then get back on court at 1pm to play some sets out but it seems out here the weather determines what you’re going to do rather than your plans! Just before 1pm it rained heavily for an hour and the courts got absolutely flooded so it was laptops out and on with the school work much to the delight of the players!! It seemed as though the courts would be dry by 4pm so at 3pm Mia, Julia and Jack took it upon themselves to do some physical work by the swimming pool. This all went well until the heavens opened again and it rained for longer and harder than before.

The good thing was that the players had a great session this morning and none of them felt as though they weren’t ready to go and compete. Even Jack, who plays in qualifying tomorrow, was happy with his level and ready to get stuck in.

I went for a walk early this evening to try and find somewhere different to eat dinner as I thought eating the same food in the same restaurant for lunch and dinner for two weeks is not going to be very enjoyable! Unfortunately the other hotel that is close by had an even more basic menu than our hotel – never mind it was worth a go!

We met up with the Bisham team at 6pm to go and see the draw and then afterwards we all ate dinner together which was nice even though it did take almost an hour to get served! After challenging Julia to try and name more US States than me (we actually got all 50!) everyone headed off to bed.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Jack Large (GBR) (UNR) vs Nathan Lavanchy (SUI) (UNR) – 1st match at 11am

Friday 18th November 2011

It’s been a very long 30 hours since we left Heathrow at 7pm last night but the team are in good spirits and everyone worked hard today on and off the court.

After taking the train and underground across London I met up with Julia, Mia and Jack at 4.45pm at Heathrow airport. Julia has been training with Mia and me since she arrived from Florida last Saturday and Jack is from Brighton but is based at the MCTA Team Bath International High Performance Centre.

For some unknown reason we had to board the plane an hour before we were scheduled to take off but by 7pm we were all set and on our way to Nairobi. The first fight wasn’t too bad; the films were ok and we all managed to get some sleep – some more than others and some in the most uncomfortable looking positions I’ve ever seen (I have no idea how Julia was able to stand up after sleeping on the tray table for 5 hours!!).

We landed in Nairobi airport at 6.30am and despite Jack trying to knock himself out 3 times on the overhead lockers while getting off the plane we were all feeling pretty good. After a quick bite to eat we were on our next flight to Bujumbura and after 45 minutes we were in a very green looking Burundi. Everything was going quite smoothly when we got our Visas but on collecting our baggage we realised mine and Jack’s suitcases were missing. We were told it wasn’t a problem and they’d be on the next flight in a few hours time so we got in our taxi and headed the short 15 minutes journey to the hotel where we met the WIN Academy team from Bisham Abbey.

The rest of the day was good; our hotel is a little old but has everything you need including a good restaurant, the Club is a 30 metre walk from the hotel entrance and the courts were much better than in Kenya in February – we also got our bags back at midday which was a relief as Jack didn’t fancy training in his cotton tracksuit bottoms! After getting some lunch we took a taxi to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies and then at 2.30pm we all completed our physical warm up before we were on court hitting from 3.00 – 4.45pm. All three players worked hard and got to grips with the climate and the bad bounces on the court. Jack continued his problematic day; after hitting his head on the aeroplane and then in the taxi and the airline losing his bag he split his shorts warming up and then took an almighty fall on the court chasing after one of my lobs (great commitment though!). We had to stop the session at 4.45pm as it rained heavily but the players went straight into the individual fitness programmes before stretching out and returning to the hotel.

We had a good dinner at the hotel in the evening and then the players all did some school work before turning in for a good nights sleep. Jack has one more day of preparation before qualifying starts on Sunday but the girls have two days before their main draw matches commence on Monday.