Wednesday May 18th 2011- Last Day in Delray Beach

Hey soul sisters! Well, it’s the last day of the trip and we are both a bit sad to be leaving. The entire trip has been amazing! It has exceeded my expectations and I hope Rob’s.  Florida has treated us well even though at the start of the trip apparently Rob was abducting me and going to kill me. If the immigration officer who helped me is reading this ‘I am okay and still alive.’

We raise our glass to Florida and bid you a farewell! I thank Rob for dealing with me for three weeks and I think I should get some credit for dealing with Rob- only joking! We have had a ton of fun singing to some tunes, listening to the radio, going to the arcade, the movies and constantly moving from hotel to hotel. This trip hasn’t been anything but memorable. These are the moments that I’m going to remember the most! Especially, the Cruisin’ Café, I don’t think Rob or I will ever get over that meal. I think Rob is still snapping even though it was three weeks ago!

Hot and dangerous if your one of us then role with us! Rob and I have driven constantly so we must give a little shout to our reliable car Vince- a VW! He has been very loyal and been with us during some hilarious moments. Like today when our SAT navigation (Tina) decided to take us to a residential neighborhood instead of the airport- nice one!  Vince was also with us when we enjoyed a hilarious radio prank on 100.7.  Let’s just say that the word ‘jackass’ was thrown around quite a bit a long with ‘are you an idiot?’ I don’t think the dad was too happy that his son sold one of- a- kind comics for $250. Apparently, they are worth $18,000!!!

Things are looking up- we’re just getting started! The trip ended well – I played really well in my last match and I’m pleased with how I’ve done. Sure it would have been great to get some points but that isn’t always the most important thing. My game has improved since I’ve been out here. I have a better understanding of what I’m capable of doing and what I need to do to improve. Again, thank you Rob! Our countless hours have paid off and I’m glad. Sometimes you’re on court and you wonder when it will come together and no matter how positive your coach is you have doubts. In the end, it came together and it was so worth all the hard work!

It’s just not the same since I’ve been away, I bet I’ve lost my accent. Well, I know mine has only gotten stronger but Rob could be going between Australian, British and American now. Just depends what mood he is in! I’ve loved being back in America, nice to hear familiar accents. Finally it wasn’t me getting weird looks but this time it was Rob. Any time Rob would speak the person helping us would smile- I guess Americans love the British accent, especially the girls!

Girls don’t like boys girls like cars and money, boys will laugh at girls when their not funny. I guess I can’t write this blog without mentioning some of the amazing food we have had on this trip. Tim recommended some ‘legit’ food- Chipotle, which was amazing! The steak is super duper spicy so beware and to make your burning lips better don’t rub ice on your lips- it doesn’t help! Along with Chipotle I have to mention the Lobster that I had and Filet Mignon with my Uncle and Aunt. Let’s just say it was epic! Rob’s favorite meal? Well, Rob is part Italian so of course his favorite meal would be pasta from Vic and Angelo’s where he enjoyed a big portion of yummy pasta! For dessert Rob would pick frozen yogurt as his favorite and I can’t lie it was pretty amazing but for me I’ve got to pick something different. Benjamin Davies told me about Coldstone’s and how amazing it was so we went there for my incentive and it was ‘legit’ ice-cream. Sadly, we didn’t go there again!

I can almost see it that dream I’m dreaming. These 3 weeks have gone by so quickly. I guess that’s what happens when you’re training hard and having fun. It will be nice to get back into training and just be at home. However, Rob burnt me a CD of the music from this trip. Anytime I hear the songs from this trip I will think of Florida. Did you notice the trend through out the blog? To everyone reading this and have read the previous Blogs- thank you for reading! You’ve enjoyed this trip with us and I hope you guys will enjoy the next trip Rob goes on. I’m sure the next trip won’t live up to Florida- again only joking! Till next time readers, I bid you good-bye! Adios,

The American- Devan McCluskey

Tuesday 17th May 2011

It was a very positive day today as Devan took on second seed Jennifer Brady in her second round match.

We had breakfast this morning at 8am, headed over to the site at 9.20am, started our warm up at 9.40am and then got on court as planned at 10am. I hit with Devan to begin with but after 15 minutes Peggy Porter asked if she could hit a few balls before she went on for her match so Devan ended up finishing her warm up with her. The session was good, Devan was striking the ball well and at just after 10.30am we were all done and ready to go. The next hour and a half went quite quickly as we spent some time planning the goals and tactics for the match and at 12.15pm the girls were called to the court.

We knew today was going to be a tough match but the most important thing was that Devan didn’t give the girl too much respect and also made her work hard for every point. After the first couple of games Brady knew she had a fight on her hands and she wasn’t impressed at how tough the match was turning out to be. Devan broke serve in the first game and then held to take a 2-0 lead before Brady got on the scoreboard. The girls then exchanged breaks until 4-4 when Devan went up 40-0 on Brady’s serve and looked in complete control but a high loopy ball from Brady hit the baseline and ended up on the top of the back fence which unsettled Devan. That point had a huge impact on the set and it resulted in Devan hitting 4 unforced errors and then a further 6 more in the next game to lose the set 6-4. The set had been the best one that Devan had played on the whole trip, she was aggressive, calm and really confident in what she was doing, it was only that slip in concentration that cost her. The second set started again with Devan breaking Brady in the first game but the next 3 games went against her leaving her 1-3 down with her opponent serving. The next game was massive, it was 20 points long with Devan withstanding a huge amount of pressure from Brady – she ended up breaking her serve and only hit 2 unforced errors in the whole game. I really thought this was a turning point for Devan but she struggled to hold serve as Brady upped her level to break, hold and break again to take the match 6-4, 6-2 in just under 2 hours. Brady hit a total of 21 winners in that second set and deserved to take it but Devan had her chances in the first.

It was a really good performance from Devan against a top 200 player and when we reflected on it later over lunch she agreed that it was one of her best performances over the past year. Her tennis level has increased week by week and her mental level is not far behind – another few matches like this one and Devan will be coming through them with a win.

We got back to the hotel just after 5pm and I then had two 45 minute telephone conversations with Virgin Atlantic as they were trying to charge us more than we should have been charged to change our tickets! It’s still not sorted but hopefully we’ll be able to do that in the morning and catch the evening flight back to London.

Overall it’s been a great trip and I think Devan has benefited greatly from having someone watching every ball she hits in training and in her matches over the past three weeks. It’s always hard work for the players when they’re away at tournaments and they’ve got someone pushing them to improve everyday; in three weeks we have competed in three events, put in a lot of training hours on and off the court and only had 2 full rest days. The experience that players get from a trip like this is invaluable; it’s not always about how many points that you pick up on a trip but how much you’ve learnt and how much your game has improved. If you keep learning and keep improving from every match you can’t lose.

The last word as always in left to the player so Devan will be writing the final Blog (hopefully from Miami airport) tomorrow evening but I’ll leave you with an interesting sign that I saw for the first time today (the courts are just behind the lake!):

Monday 16th May 2011

It’s been a very positive day today as the hard work that Devan has been putting in for the last two weeks started to come together at just the right time.

We arrived on site this morning at 9am as we wanted to make sure we had enough time to hit in case Devan wanted an extended session but we were told there were no practise courts due to the rain overnight. As soon as we heard that we immediately started our physical warm up so that we’d be ready if a court did open up and just as we finished warming up two players came off the court next to us so we jumped straight on. The court was in fact not being used for matches so we had a good pre match hit and after 35 minutes Devan was feeling ready to go. After getting changed Devan filled out her pre match sheet and we sat down and went through the game plan for the match and set some goals that Devan wanted to achieve.

At just after 11.15am Devan and Manoela Chiacchio went on court; the warm up was pretty solid but as soon as the first set started Devan struggled to find her rhythm and consistency. She was broken in the first game, broke back immediately but that turned out to be the best game of the set as Devan hit 19 unforced errors and only made Chiacchio hit 5 winners to take the first set 6-1. Throughout the set Devan’s attitude had been really good and it was no surprise to me when things started to click in the second set and she reduced her unforced errors, increased her winner count and started to make Chiacchio earn every point that she won (I really think that it was me getting soaked by the water sprinkler on the court behind that made Devan relax and play better!!). Devan’s depth of shot also improved hugely and it made it very difficult for Chiacchio to get on top on her in the rally – Devan took a 4-1 lead and despite being broken at 4-1 and at 5-2 she maintained a very professional and mature attitude throughout and immediately broke back on both occasions and took take the set 6-3. The third set followed the same pattern as the second with Devan’s attitude playing a massive part as many of the games were very long including an 18 point game at 1-0* (which Devan won I might add!!). Every game in the third was tight but Devan managed to win the important points and went on to take the set 6-0. Overall it was a great match; it was great to see Devan react in such a professional way to losing the first set and also find the level that she had been showing in training over the last week.

The match lasted just under 2 and a half hours so after showering and changing we went off site to have some lunch and then came back to relax and get prepared for the doubles 1st round match. This week Devan has teamed up with British junior Danielle Konotoptseva and they faced top seeds Jennifer Brady (who Devan also plays tomorrow in the singles) and Daria Sharapova (who Devan played against in doubles in Daytona Beach). The top seeds started very well racing to a 4-0 lead with some very strong doubles, Devan and Danielle responded by holding twice but went on to lose the set 6-2. The second followed the same lines at the first as Jennifer and Daria were just too strong from the back and from the net winning 5 of the first 6 games to take a 5-1 lead. Their level and concentration then went through the floor as I think they thought they had it in the bag resulting in Devan and Danielle fighting back to make it 5-3. Devan and Danielle then had 3 game points by couldn’t hold serve and lost the match 6-2, 6-3 – tough match but Jennifer and Daria just played better doubles and they’ll be a tough team to beat.

By this time it was almost 6pm and after a long day on site we headed back to the hotel and decided to have an easy dinner at Chipotle across the road. Devan had some issues with the legit food as the steak was a little spicy and it was quite amusing to see her sitting there with ice on her lips after each bite!! When we got back to the hotel we went through her singles match in full and talked a little about what to expect tomorrow and how we’re going to approach the match.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Devan McCluskey (USA) (973) vs (2) Jennifer Brady (USA) (173) – N.B. 12pm

Sunday 15th May 2011

It was a short but very productive day today as we completed our final preparations before the Delray Beach ITF main draw starts tomorrow.

We arrived at the Evert Tennis Academy at 9am this morning but couldn’t get into the gym as all the doors were locked so we warmed up on the court. We started with a ten minute run, then went through all of our dynamic stretching and ended the warm up with some tennis football. The other academy players arrived just after 9.30am and we started the session at 9.45am. It followed the same format as yesterday, Mandy took the session and the girls warmed up and then played as many tie breaks as they wanted to until they were happy with their level. Today Devan warmed up with Ana Belmar (she was the girl that Devan played on Tuesday that we didn’t get her name!) and the level was the best she’s found on the trip so far; she was relaxed, very focus and had a plan for each point that she played. The tie break went on for almost 15 minutes and Devan ended up taking it 14-12, not bad against a player ranked 450! We’d only been on court for 45 mins but the whole session was fantastic so we decided to call it a day there. By that time the gym had been opened so all the players went in to cool down and stretch out.

As we were all done by 11.30am it was nice to have a relaxing afternoon which included lunch at Whole Foods (Devan’s favourite by a mile!), some chilling out at the hotel and a chance to get some school work done.

We then headed over to the tournament site at 4pm to sign in and sort out a doubles partner before we took a drive out to the beach to check out the stunning houses and coastline.

Dinner tonight was on Atlantic Avenue which where it’s all happening in Delray Beach and is the same road that the ATP tournament site is located. There was a great atmosphere tonight as the restaurants were very busy and all of them have tables right on the side of the road – we had some amazing pasta from Vic & Angelo’s and then it was back to the hotel for an early night.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Manoela Chiacchio (BRA) (688) vs Devan McCluskey (USA) (973) – N.B. 11.15am

Devan McCluskey (USA) & Danielle Konotoptseva (GBR) vs TBC – sign in closes at 12pm, matches to follow in the afternoon