Thursday 5th May 2011

It was a day off training today as we left Daytona Beach and drove down the coast to Plantation via the women’s $50k event in Indian Harbour.

It was a much more relaxed start to the day as we had a late breakfast and left the hotel at 9.30am. It was just under an hour and a half’s drive down to Indian Harbour and it was made a little more exciting by Devan freaking out when we almost ran out of petrol (or so she thought!!). We arrived at the Kiwi Tennis Club just after 11am to watch some of the women’s challenger event –  I was at this event three years ago with Naomi Cavaday and have always remembered how friendly the club members were and how they all make a huge effort to make the tournament a success. A lot of the members get involved too and go on court as Ball Men and Ball Women!

We watched some of Mel South’s training session before watching some of the other women’s matches; as we watched we talked through the things we had worked on yesterday on the court and it was great to give Devan a live example of how committed and aggressive the players were to their shots without necessarily hitting the ball hard. Devan made a great comment about how some the juniors in Daytona Beach hit the ball much better than the seniors today but we both agreed that mentally the players in Indian Harbour were much stronger than the juniors and as we all know tennis is not all about having a good strike on the ball or a massive weapon!

Soon Laura Robson was on Stadium Court to take on Lucky Loser Aleksandrina Naydenova who had beaten 4th seed Julia Cohen in the first round. Laura was aggressive from the start and continued that way all the way through the match taking the win 6-3, 6-2. She looked really comfortable on the clay, I’m not sure how much she’s been working on her movement but it looked very good today. Naydenova did get a consolation prize though as she won $1,000 for “upset of the tournament” after being Cohen in round 1.

As soon as Laura had finished we were back on the road for another couple of hours of driving and finally arrived in Plantation at around 5.30pm. The drive down was pretty dull as there wasn’t much to see but we did take a couple of good pictures:

It’s back to training tomorrow as we prepare for the next event on Saturday.

Wednesday 4th April 2011

Superb day of training today as we had our last day in Daytona Beach and started the preparation for the next event.

It was strange to wake up this morning with it dark outside and even more strange when we had to wait for the restaurant to open for breakfast at 6.30am! We got to the club at 7.30am and didn’t struggle to find a practise court, we weren’t the first ones there though as a lot of the players competing this week are very professional and committed to becoming pro players. That obviously takes a lot of work and I can see that lots of the American juniors have got the attitude that you need to be good at a senior level as well as a junior level.

We started the session with an extended warm up which both of us found tough, I tried to make it look easy but I was feeling it too by the time we hit the first ball!! We then had the best two hours of training that we’d had since we arrived, Devan really put the work in mentally and it really showed as her level increased throughout the session. We spent a lot of time drilling from the back focusing on the effect each of her shots was having on me and exploring the difference between committing & being aggressive and committing & hitting hard. As we went into a lot of point play the focus turned to how many unforced errors were hit compared to winners and out of the unforced errors how many did Devan improve her game on. Missing is acceptable if you develop your game from it, if you miss and don’t improve it’s a waste of time and effort.

After working out for 2 and a half hours we went straight up onto the balcony and went through our pre-hab / injury prevention band exercises for the next 20 mins before showering and changing and leaving site for lunch.

The tennis centre is located directly opposite the Daytona Beach LPGA golf course and we had been recommended going to the golf club for some lunch. It didn’t disappoint; the food was great, as was the view but the best part was definitely the water!

One of the hardest things to balance when on the road is finding time to complete school work. Devan has been really good this week; she has set aside time more or less each day for work  and as we started early today it gave her a few hours in the middle of the day to again get stuck into work before we headed out to the beach for some fitness training.

We got to the beach at 4pm and started with a 30 minute run up the beach followed by a series of sprints in the deep sand, some specific medicine ball work, some core exercises and we finished the training with some tough work with the bungee cord. After the training we cooled down by throwing my Aerobie frisbee around – Devan almost took out some pedestrians on the promenade but it was all good!!

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By this time is was just past 6pm, we knew we’d finish quite late so we brought clothes to change into for the evening and managed to find somewhere to shower to try and clean all the sand off!! We had dinner in a really nice Italian restaurant called Rossellini’s and then had a walk along the promenade to end a fantastic days training.

Tomorrow we leave Daytona Beach to head down to Plantation but around half way down the coast there is a $50,000 women’s event on in Indian Harbour so I think we’ll stop there for lunch and check out how fellow Brits Laura Robson and Mel South are getting on.

Tuesday 3rd May 2011

It was a tough day on court today as Devan took on 9th seed Clementina Riobueno De Paola from Venezuela.

It was the same start to the day as it’s been for the past few days; 7.45am breakfast, 8.50am leave the hotel, 9.10am physical warm up and 9.30am pre-match warm up. Devan was hitting the ball great from the back of the court in the warm up but unfortunately we got interrupted after 15mins by the local senior ladies team who needed the court for their squad session!! We managed to get on another court to finish the warm up and everything was looking good leading into the match. We then went through our pre-match talk and set up our goals for the match as well as set the game plan based on the match we saw her opponent play yesterday.

The girls went on around 12pm and from the start it was obvious it was going to be a tough match up for Devan. Clementina had raised her level from yesterday and was finding a much better depth and weight on her forehand which was really kicking up off the clay and making it difficult for Devan to take control of the point. Devan had improved her level from her first round match and was being more aggressive but struggled to find the consistency that she needed to be effective against a tough clay courter. At 0-3 Devan did well to break back but couldn’t hold on to the break and Clementina held and broke again to take the first set 6-1. In the first three games of the second set Devan found a really good level but her opponent matched her shot for shot and just played the bigger points better. Devan kept on fighting hard and at 0-3 she held for the first time and then held again at 1-4 but just couldn’t do enough on her opponents serve to get the break back. Unfortunately Devan played a cheap game at 2-5 to go down 6-1, 6-2 but credit has to go to her opponent who only missed 16 balls in the whole match and was obviously very comfortable and confident on the clay.

While Devan was cooling down, showering and stretching out I checked out some of the other girl’s matches to make some notes ready for Devan to meet them over the next two weeks. When Devan was done we left site and to get some food and then later in the afternoon, once the match had been digested by both of us, we went through it in detail. Devan responded well to the feedback and what’s great about this trip is we can now work on areas of her game over the next few days in preparation for the next event and then continue that work through the second week and into the third week as well.

Tomorrow storms are forecast over Florida so it’s going to be an early start to get a good couple of hours in on court and then the plan is to head to the beach in the afternoon for a fitness session on the sand.

Monday 2nd May 2011

It was a very positive day at the office today as Devan played both singles and doubles and showed that she can compete with the likes of Sharapova.

I was up early this morning at 6.30am to put some finishing touches to Devan’s pre-match sheets and make sure everything was ready for her singles and doubles matches. We had breakfast together at 7.45am and to my relief Devan’s swollen glands had gone down and she was feeling much better than yesterday evening.

We left for the club at 8.50am and warmed up ready for our pre-booked practise session at 9.30am. The match warm up was very good, Devan was hitting great (which makes my job a lot easier!) and by 10am everything was warm and she was ready to go. She got changed after practise into her match kit and we then went over the plan for the match including setting some goals for her to focus on.

Devan was taking on Charlotte Thuries from France today and from the start she took control of the match putting the French girl under pressure from the back of the court. One of Devan’s goals was to keep the number of unforced errors down while still attacking to produce winners – she did this very well throughout the first set as she hit 12 winners and 11 unforced errors in taking the opening set 6-0. The French girl was not about to give up without a fight though and made the second set a little more tricky for Devan. Charlotte broke back to make it 1-1 and then a few tight games meant that Devan’s focus and attitude would be tested – it’s not always easy when you win the first set 6-0 as your opponent can easily come out in the second set swinging and then suddenly put you under pressure. Devan however stayed focused and showed a great attitude to accept Charlotte’s winners but then also showed great fight to come back a few times when she was down including the last game when she was serving for the set. At 0-30 Devan produced 2 aces and 2 unreturnable serves to take the match 6-0, 6-2.

Straight after her match she showered and changed and then joined me to watch some of her next round opponent play before we headed off site to get some lunch.

Doubles was a little later in the day and at 4pm Devan & Cassandra Vazquez took on Daria Sharapova and Zhanlan Wei. Daria is the younger cousin of Maria Sharapova and she has a lot of the same traits as Maria including a huge strike on her forehand. Devan and Cassandra fought hard in the first set but a couple of sudden death deuces went against them and Devan was broken twice to go down 6-2. From the back to the court they were both living with their opponents but it was at the net where the biggest difference showed. This changed in the second and Devan and Cassandra started to close out more points with first volleys, they got a break to go 2-1 but then lost the next 3 games to go 4-2 down. The broke straight back at 4-2 and then broke again and held at 5-3 to level the set. It was a much better performance now and the girls were within touching distance of levelling up the match when they went 5-2 up in the tie break but Daria and Zhanlan played some very strong points to take the next 5 points in a row.

It was a disappointing 6-2, 7-6 loss but only because they were so close to taking it to a third set, the actual performance was good and I was very pleased with how Devan was striking the ball from the back of the court. It’s great to really compete with someone who is 200 in the world and know that you can live with them all day long in the rally, hopefully Devan will take that confidence into her singles match tomorrow.

For dinner tonight we went to Chipotle, I’ve been a few times before and I love it but for Devan it was her first experience! The food in there is always very good and in Tim’s words it’s “legit food” so it must be good for you!!!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Devan McCluskey (USA) (958) vs (9) Clementina Riobueno De Paola (VEN) (326) – Not Before 11am

Sunday 1st May 2011

It’s been a good final day’s preparation in Daytona Beach today and we’re all set for the start of the main draw tomorrow.

It was more of a relaxed start to the day today and even though we weren’t able to book practise courts we managed to get on a full court at 9am and spent the next two hours drilling and making sure Devan had a really good feel for the ball. It was tough conditions today though as winds were between 10 – 20mph and the temperature was still pushing 30°C. The whole of the morning session was spent drilling groundstrokes and then we played out some points at the end in which Devan really raised her level, she beat be in the first up to 10 but I managed to sneak the second one!!

After the session we picked up some lunch and then it was back to the club to chill out and relax while we watched some of the final round qualifying matches. As we had a break for a couple of hours I took the time to have a chat with Tim Smith; the Assistant Coach for The College of Charleston, about the ins and outs of college tennis. Charleston is one of the colleges that Devan is actually looking at going to but NCAA rules does not permit the coaches to talk to the players until the start of their Senior year at High School so I thought I’d bend his ear and find out everything I could! He was a great guy, very relaxed, very positive and he stayed around to watch our second session of the day.

We went back on court in the afternoon just to hit a few groundstrokes, a few volleys and then thoroughly warm up Devan’s serve and return. The session was just all about making sure she’s happy and confident with all the areas of her game which she was and she continued the high level that she found this morning. Not a long session but we were both really happy and ready to go for tomorrow.

It was then time to sign in, stretch out and get off site to relax. We took the easy option of having dinner at the hotel this evening and then for Devan it was time to watch some TV and wind down and for me it was back to the club to check out the draw and the match time for tomorrow.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Charlotte Thuries (FRA) (1321) vs Devan McCluskey (USA) (958) – Not before 10.30am

Doubles to follow after 2pm

Saturday 30th April 2011

The temperature warmed up today both on the court and inside the clubhouse, but it all ended well (unless you’re a Spurs fan!).

We started the day today with a great breakfast at 7.45am and then we packed our bags again to check out of another hotel! There’s been a problem with our original hotel booking so we’ve had to spend the last two nights at different hotels but now we’re in the player’s hotel for the rest of the week.

We arrived at the club at 9am and went through our normal 30 minute warm up. The first round of qualifying had started early today at 8am but we had our practise court booked and had a really good session following on from the good work yesterday. After training Devan went through all of her band work and injury prevention exercises and soon it was 12pm and time for lunch.

It was a quick visit to Whole Foods again for a Turkey Salad wrap and an amazing smoothie before getting back to the club to watch a very stressful match between Chelsea and Tottenham.

 

Not too nervous then?!

As Chelsea scored a late winner I got a little pumped up much to the shock of Devan and the other guys in the clubhouse – well worth it though, now come on Arsenal do us a huge favour tomorrow!!

For our second session of the day we were joined by the Mexican team of Carmen Cordoba and her coach Francisco Mugica. Devan and Carmen had a very intense session and Devan put into practise all of the things we’ve been working on for the last two days so I was a very happy coach . Devan’s sessions with me yesterday and today have been very good but it’s always great for the player’s confidence to do it against a fellow player, especially against one of the seeds.

After the session we stretched out for 20 minutes and did some work to loosen up Devan’s back before going back to the hotel to change for dinner. I was over the moon when Devan suggested going back to Olive Garden and I had a much nicer (edible!) meal than last night. We went back to the hotel tonight via Dicks Sporting Goods and Sports Authority to get some supplies and now we’re all set for the week.

Last day of preparation tomorrow, so it’ll be a little fine tuning and then we’ll be ready to go.

Friday 29^th April 2011

It was a great start to the trip today, we had beautiful weather, two very good sessions on court and a great choice for lunch, shame dinner didn’t quite cut it!!

It was an early start today to watch a bit of the Royal Wedding, it was strange though as the running commentary of events was by American journalists and not the familiar voices of the English TV channels. We then had breakfast which brought back a lot of memories of training at Bollettieri’s – the standard Holiday Inn breakfast of a bagel, Raisin Bran and a strawberry and banana yogurt!! It was then off to the club at 9am.

The Florida Tennis Centre has a basic clubhouse but it boasts 24 American Clay courts which are all very well maintained and includes a stadium court. We went straight on court, had a very thorough warm up to get the flight and a little bit of jetlag out of our system and then had a very productive 2 hours of training. As always the first session is about getting a feel for the courts, finding out which way the wind is blowing and figuring out how the sun is going to cross over the court so we’re prepared for the match no matter what time of day it might be. Devan worked really hard throughout and as first sessions go this was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. She got a good feel for the courts, was moving well and despite a slight hiccup with a racket issue (!!) everything went very well.

After the session we had a drive around to check out the local supermarkets and find the best place to get some lunch. We settled on Whole Foods for lunch and it didn’t disappoint – a world class sandwich and wrap did the job nicely! I then experienced Devan’s uncontrollabl excitement of going around a supermarket in Wal-Mart before we returned to the club with all the supplies we needed including the world class Banana Boat Sport sun cream!

We were back on court for our second session at 3pm, the morning was more about consistency of groundstrokes so this afternoon we hit more serves and returns, volleys and drive volleys and played a few points out to finish off. After the session we did some interval sprints and then had a very thorough stretch out to end the day.

For dinner tonight Devan wanted to have a change from Olive Garden so we took a drive to the beach to see what it was like there. After looking for a while we settled on a place that was, hmmm . . . interesting!! I won’t go into the details but as soon as the waitress approached us and said “Hi, I’m Emily and I’ll be your driver this evening” I knew that it was only ever going to go downhill from there!

Qualifying starts tomorrow but it’s two more days of training for us to get ready for main draw starting on Monday.

Thursday 28th April 2011

It was a 12 hour day of travel today as we left London Gatwick at 11.15am this morning and finally got to our hotel at 6pm local time this evening.

It was quite a relaxed start to the day today as I met up with Devan and her parents just off of the M25 motorway and then we drove the short 40 minute journey to Gatwick airport. After having a few problems with our originally booked seats I managed to get the seats upgraded, we didn’t go up a class this time but we did manage to get a lot more leg room than we would have normally had. The Virgin Atlantic flight was good even though the plane was quite old and the TV screens were smaller than on the newer planes. It wasn’t ideal as we didn’t have on demand TV but we both managed to watch 3 films including The Fighter which I thought was pretty good.

Once we got to Orlando we collected our baggage and then it was straight into our hire car for the 70 mile journey to Daytona Beach. The journey went very fast, Devan did a great job as DJ and we had a good sing-a-long which made time fly by! We arrived at our hotel at 6pm, had a quick shower and got out to dinner by 6.30pm. As always when we get to a new town it’s nice to have a quick drive around to get a feel for the place and not before long we drove straight past the Daytona International Speedway which is absolutely massive! For those that don’t follow NASCAR you might remember the stadium from “Days of Thunder” with Tom Cruise? (it’s one of my favourite films so I was loving it!).

We found an Olive Garden restaurant which was perfect for our first night, they kept on offering both of us cheese on everything, including the salad, but we were quite happy with our standard meals!

It was then back to the hotel to turn in for an early night. First day of training tomorrow to prepare Devan for her first round match on Monday – can’t wait to get stuck in.